General News
25 July, 2026
Users renew push for SSAC redevelopment
COMMUNITY sporting groups have renewed their push for a long-awaited redevelopment of the Stawell Sports and Aquatic Centre, warning the ageing facility is limiting participation and failing to meet modern standards. Representatives from the Stawell Wildcats Basketball Association and Skene Street Specialist School recently joined Northern Grampians Shire Council to highlight the need for the proposed redevelopment during a media opportunity last week.
Basketball association president Greg Carter said the ageing stadium was no longer meeting the needs of the growing sport.
“The basketball court here is atrocious,” he said.
“It’s either stinking hot or freezing cold. There are no facilities for a decent amount of spectators, and where would you change? You’ve got to go down and use the public change rooms.”
Mr Carter said a Basketball Victoria regional representative had inspected the venue and advised it did not meet the organisation’s minimum facility standards.
“We’re running basketball competitions on a sub-standard court,” he said.
“We do have minimum standard requirements, and it doesn’t pass.”
He said Basketball Victoria had included the Stawell redevelopment among its priority projects following sustained advocacy from the association.
“I kept pushing,” he said.
“They’ve listed our project in their top future projects.”
Mr Carter said demand for basketball in Stawell was outgrowing the available court space.
“If we had an extra court, we’d probably double our participation,” he said.
Association representative Rod Smith said the shortage of court space meant some children were missing out.
“We just haven’t got the opportunity to give the kids the facility,” he said.
During the media opportunity, Mayor Karen Hyslop told WIN News the redevelopment was “an urgent need for our community”, describing the centre as outdated and saying the proposal would replace the existing 15-metre pool with a new 25-metre facility.
Skene Street Specialist School principal Belinda Wethers told WIN News the redevelopment would improve accessibility for students, including those who require hoist assistance to enter the pool, while also allowing greater participation alongside other community members.
Northern Grampians Shire Council says further information about its redevelopment advocacy and funding strategy will be released following a councillor briefing next week.
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