It's a fair point: Could tennis club bounce back?

It’s been closed for a little over a week but there are calls for Wollongong Tennis Club to be reopened.

At its August meeting, Neighbourhood Forum 5 asked that Wollongong City Council investigate the potential to repurpose the club building for an entirely new use.

The forum suggested it could be used to accommodate indoor sports which are in desperate need of extra space. NF5 also suggested the building could become a community hub for the rapidly growing population in surrounding suburbs.

The meeting called on Wollongong City Council to retain ownership of the club building and resist any temptation to sell it. Council has said it is considering its options.

Crown Street upgrade

NF5 members welcomed the news from council that it would be upgrading an area of CBD footpath which is in extremely poor condition. The meeting called on council to add more advanced street trees on footpaths across the CBD to provide more canopy cover and shade to help cool the hottest part of the LGA.

Skate park concerns

NF5 added its voice to the Friends of MacCabe Park, calling on council to relocate the proposed skate park from green space alongside Church Street. The forum also called on council to expedite the MacCabe Park masterplan “after 50 years' waiting”.

Community engagement

NF5 members also called on council for greater transparency about its new partnership with multibillion-dollar business Canva, which is driving a new community engagement program across the city.

The forum has requested council present details of the arrangement with Canva in a business paper to open council “which publicly releases the contractural terms and data-sharing protocols”.

High-rise challengess

Concerned with the proliferation of high-rise building proposals, NF5 called on council to raise the issue of the NSW government over-riding community-based planning policies of councils at the NSW Local Government Conference to be hosted in Wollongong in November.

Council has also been asked to undertake a comprehensive supporting infrastructure needs assessment for the Flinders Street precinct and surrounds to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population.

Neighbourhood forums

NF5 members expressed their concer that council still hadn’t approved creation of a new neighbourhood forum to represent the needs of the communities of Unanderra, Farmborough Heights, Cordeaux Heights, and Mount Kembla.

A request was made to reinstate Neighbourhood Forum 6 this year. In its minutes, NF5 said “it was agreed council be advised that, in accordance with council’s charter for neighbourhood forums, the eight areas nominated in Wollongong LGA should each have an active representative neighbourhood forum, adequately supported by council''.