In a victory for Wollongong and for common sense, last night the NSW Government agreed to a permanent place on the Venues NSW board for a resident of the Wollongong region.

NSW Labor fought for this change to the make-up of the board that will oversee sporting and entertainment venues in NSW, including the Wollongong Stadium and Entertainment Centre, so that Wollongong’s venues had a voice at the decision-making table.

Shadow Minister for Sport Lynda Voltz said that she was pleased that the Berejiklian Government had finally understood that this was a sensible and beneficial requirement of the Venues NSW board.

“The Wollongong Stadium and Entertainment Centre are important venues to not only the Illawarra but also NSW and the region should have a strong voice at the board table.

“Labor was unwilling to accept verbal assurances that this would be the case. We wanted it to be a requirement of the first board and all future boards of the revamped authority that will manage the state’s stadiums and entertainment venues”, she said.

Member for Wollongong Paul Scully said that this will help draw the attention of the new board to the needs of the region.

“This is a win for Wollongong.

“A permanent seat at the decision-making table means Wollongong won’t be sidelined by a Sydney-centric board”, he said.

Mr Scully said he looked forward to the new board making a visit to Wollongong a priority so that they understood the need to agree to and fast-track upgrades to the Wollongong Entertainment Centre to make sure that it is suitable for use for the September 2022 UCI Road World Cycling Championships and that it is part of the long-term future of Wollongong’s events economy, supporting and creating more local jobs.