Council to discuss budget allocation for final piece of Albany’s Youth Challenge Park

There will likely be some debate at Albany council this week as councillors consider allocating almost $200,000 to the final element of the Youth Challenge Park. A multi-use court in the north-western corner is the project’s final piece, with councillors deciding on Tuesday whether to allocate $199,900 to it in the City’s 2023-24 budget. The money will support the City’s application to the WA Government’s Community Sporting and Recreational Facilities Fund small grant program for $99,950, which the Council is likely to support as part of the same agenda item. CSRFF guidelines stipulate that the grant cannot exceed a third of the project’s total cost, a proposed $299,850. Earlier this month, council’s community and corporate services committee voted 11-1 in favour of adopting the officer’s recommendation to support the application with only Cr Greg Stocks voting against it. A vote on the officer’s recommendation supporting the budget allocation was less clear-cut with the committee voting 7-5 in favour. The CSRFF application must be formally ranked by the council before its submission to the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries. The application states the full-size multi-use court would “complete the Youth Challenge Park”. “The intention of the project is to create a publicly available multi-use court facility available for many different sports and activities,” the application said. “With no full-sized outdoor courts available to the public within the City of Albany, there is a need and a demand to do so. “Indoor courts at Albany Leisure and Aquatic Centre are at capacity, and there are no other additional spaces available with many sports unable to utilise the centre when desired.” The court will be available free of charge. The delivery timeline outlined in the application proposes the project will be completed by April 2024. Plans for the park, including the court, have been in place since 2020. The park was opened in September 2021, and the court is the last of the 11 stages included in the overall project.