Media Release - Multipurpose Horse Sports Arena to play significant role in the community

Hinchinbrook Shire Council Chief Executive Officer Dan McKinlay advised that Council will shortly be issuing documents to market for an open tender "Design and Construct - Shed Only" for a Multipurpose Horse Sports Arena. It is anticipated that a resolution will go to Council prior to Christmas to award the tender. The construction period is anticipated to be around 10 weeks.

Council previously called for tenders for construction based on a pre-determined design formulated after consultation with various stakeholders. Due to funding constraints Council applied for and received additional State Government funding.

The open sided covered Multipurpose Horse Sports Arena will be approximately 46 metres wide and 86 metres long and will allow for all year round horse and other sporting activities within the district.

Mayor Ramon Jayo said that “The Multipurpose Horse Sports Arena is a significant project providing infrastructure to allow for more horse sports in the Shire and will generate jobs in the community during the construction phase.”

Councillor Maria Bosworth reiterated that “With the current mix of horse sports and community sporting activities taking place on the oval, there is an extended period of time, post horse sports activity, where community sporting activity cannot take place. This is due to the need to remediate the surface back to a suitable state for human use. This remediation is a significant cost to Council on an annual basis and the construction of the new facility will go a long way to reducing Council’s operating costs in that regard. Council is committed to offering year round facilities to all sporting endeavours within the Shire and look forward to the construction of the Multipurpose Horse Sports Arena playing a significant role in that for our community.’