Harold Gregson Reserve upgrades unveiled | December 15, 2023
A slew of improvements at Harold Gregson Reserve, Maitland have been unveiled, including a full sized basketball court and playground. Video by Chloe Coleman
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NewsTranscript
00:00 So thank you to everyone for coming today. I guess just as we get started I just want to
00:07 acknowledge the Wurundjeri people who are the traditional owners of the land that we're on
00:13 today and acknowledge their elders past, present and future. I just want to welcome everyone to
00:21 the opening of this magnificent facility. I particularly want to acknowledge the presence
00:26 of our local member Jenny Aitchison, the Minister for Regional Transport and Roads,
00:31 and our Mayor Philip Penfold who is joining us today for the opening. So it's great to see this
00:38 facility come to fruition as part of our $27 million investment jointly between Maitland
00:46 City Council and the New South Wales State Government to see this whole precinct of
00:50 Howard Gregson, the Athletic Centre and the upgrade to the sports ground all come to life.
00:55 And it's really I guess complementing you know the enhancements that we're seeing along
01:01 High Street here obviously with the opening of the Maitland Administration Building and the
01:05 reopening of the Town Hall. There's some real investment and real I guess regeneration of
01:12 this part of Central Maitland is happening at the moment. It's great to see. So thank you all,
01:19 look forward to seeing our community come and enjoy this wonderful facility and yeah thanks
01:24 again to the State Government for their significant contribution to see this come to fruition. So
01:29 I might hand over to our Mayor Philip Penfold to say a few words.
01:33 Thanks Geoff, it's great to have you all here. I know you've all had an interest whether you've
01:40 worked or just been a resident of Maitland to see this all come to fruition. I'd like to
01:44 acknowledge the Minister for being here with us today. I was just saying to Geoff earlier,
01:51 not that it's all that long a length of time but it's five premiers ago. Barry O'Farrell first
01:56 stood on Old Smyth Oval and committed eight million dollars for this precinct and here we
02:03 are today at the end of this 27 million dollar project. So this seven million dollar improvement
02:10 is great for the people of Maitland and you know especially great I'm really glad to see us deliver
02:14 something for the people of Central Maitland especially. A lot of recreation opportunities
02:19 if you live in Central Maitland or South Maitland. So it's great for those people as well but you
02:25 know allowing families to come and spend half a day here to you know sitting at barbecue tables
02:31 enjoying a barbecue and having different age children enjoy different elements within this
02:36 space. As I think Geoff's already alluded to there's still some more elements to come and
02:40 when we're going to get to closer to Easter next year a six meter climbing tower on the other side
02:48 here as well but brand new toilet amenities great cycling paths throughout the place and obviously
02:52 the playground the skate element as well that's been refreshed after seeing next to no change in
03:00 the last decade or so for those people as well. So it's a great improvement when I was a little boy
03:05 back in the late 70s or early 80s there was a BMX track I don't know if any of you still remember
03:10 right right up the back corner and that was pretty much all this site had and it really
03:15 hasn't in the past many decades seen anything of significance. So to see this dead space come to
03:22 life is a thrill for the Councillors, a thrill for the Council and I know for the staff that have
03:27 invested themselves in this I'd like to thank Judy and her team especially and David and his team for
03:31 the delivery of it and I acknowledge that we have Bill here with us today and thank them for the
03:35 work they've done to make this all come together. So thank you very much thank you for being here
03:40 and I'll hand it to the member. Thanks Dylan and thanks Jeff. It is a great honour to be here on
03:52 behalf of the Minister for Planning Paul Scully who sends his regards. 5.7 million dollar investment
03:59 in this project, 3 million of that from the public planning spaces sorry public spaces legacy program
04:06 and 2.7 from resources for regions. So this has been a program as the Mayor said it's been a long
04:13 time in delivery and it's been really good to see that the Council has engaged so many people
04:20 the private contractors but as well as their own planning team to develop a site which is actually
04:26 so inclusive which does regenerate public spaces for our local community. We know that after the
04:33 last few years people really value their public spaces where they can go to have recreation and
04:39 our young people are always really keen and you know we've been hearing that some of them may have
04:43 been coming here before it was officially open and good on them. My personal favourite is the
04:49 xylophone I think that's a great thing if you're not as active as I am but just it is a place where
04:55 people can come here time and again discover it's got great amenities and facilities and I just want
05:00 to congratulate Council on the work that of all the teams involved in Council to deliver it and
05:06 of course thank the State Government successive State Governments I want to be really clear
05:11 for their commitment to Maitland and that is continuing and ongoing. Thank you.