Polo clubs and go-kart track big winners as $3.3m of taxpayers’ money handed out to local sport

Some 13 sporting clubs and facilities across the Macquarie electorate are to receive more than $3.3 million in government funding to repair damage following the February and June 2022 floods, with $2.3m of that going to the Hawkesbury.

A hefty $600,000 of joint state and federal funding will go to improve the fields of two privately owned polo clubs – Kurri Burri Polo Club and Town and Country Polo Club.

Macquarie MP Susan Templeman at Wilberforce’s Greater Sydney Kart Club…

Wilberforce’s Greater Sydney Kart Club is set to receive $500,000 to upgrade their karting surface to make it safer for all who use it.

Deerubbin Park will see just over $1.3 million for new flood lights and new amenities.

And the Bensons Lane sporting complex will get $189,939 for the installation of a drainage system on the Lowlands soccer playing field, plus new amenities.

The Breakaway Oval at Freemans Reach will receive just over $50,000 for replacement cricket nets due to the originals being damaged by fast moving flood waters in both the 2021 and 2022 floods.

The money comes out of the Essential Community Sport Assets Program, jointly funded by the federal and NSW governments under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements, as part of the broader Community Local Infrastructure Recovery Package (CLIRP).

Announcing the funding windfall, Macquarie MP, Susan Templeman, said sport brought communities together.

“Whether you’re on the field, in the canteen or in the crowd, local sport brings people together and creates long-term connections.

“The last 12 months has been tough for a number of sporting groups, and this support will help them to rebuild.

“It also aims to make damaged sporting infrastructure more resilient in the future, including through drainage, irrigation and track improvements,” said the MP.