$1.2 million Federal funding for UNE sports ground

October 10, 2007

The University of New England is to receive $1.2 million in Commonwealth Government funding to build a new club house and amenities block at its Bellevue Sports Ground.

Plans for the building incorporate a canteen, change rooms, public toilets and a storeroom. It will enable UNE and the Armidale community to host regional, State and national competition matches at the Bellevue ground, which has one of the best playing surfaces for football in the New England region.

The funding has been allocated under Round 2 of the Government's Voluntary Student Unionism (VSU) Transition Fund for Sporting and Recreational Facilities.

NSW Nationals Senator Sandy Macdonald, who announced the grant earlier this week, said the new facility, in allowing the University and the community to host a range of competitions, would "promote sport across the region".

The Government introduced the VSU Transition Fund to help universities adjust to loss of revenue after the system of compulsory student fees for sporting and recreational facilities was discontinued in the middle of last year.

In February this year, in Round 1 of the funding program, it allocated $5 million to the University for the upgrading and further development of its sporting facilities. Sport UNE has used some of this money to buy new fitness equipment for its Cardio Workout Room, and will use the rest in work that includes upgrading the swimming pool and building a new weight-training gym. The Master Plan for this work is currently being completed.

Professor Alan Pettigrew, the Vice-Chancellor of UNE, said the University welcomed this latest allocation from the VSU Transition Fund. "It recognises the important role of Sport UNE in providing first-class sporting facilities not only for the University's students, but also for the people of Armidale and the New England region," he said. "More broadly, it recognises the University's continuing commitment to providing its students with a rich educational experience while contributing to the life of the community."

Posted by Jim Scanlan at October 10, 2007 09:29 AM