A LONG-AWAITED sports complex at Oberon is a step closer to reality after artistic renders appeared in a recent report to the town's council.
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The multi-million-dollar complex will be the new home of the Oberon Tigers rugby league team and will include two league fields, three netball courts, hockey facilities, a clubhouse, seating and amenities, and a women's change room.
It will be on the corner of O'Connell Road and Albion Street on the Bathurst side of Oberon.
Oberon mayor Mark Kellam said the facility is about more than sport.
"It's a really, really good facility and I suspect what we'll end up doing is probably hosting a number of the minor sort of tournaments, particularly for underage representative things, that sort of thing," he said.
"Sport is really important in a small town, but this complex is more about the town; it's about getting facilities which people in the 21st century expect to have and we haven't had them."
Hockey is one of the fastest growing sports in Oberon and the new sports complex will mean players won't have to travel to Bathurst to train and play.
Cr Kellam said a lot of Oberon's young people, who go away to get educated and return to the region once they are married, weigh up whether they would like to live in Oberon or nearby Bathurst, which has better facilities.
"We'd rather have the facilities to attract families back," he said.
The Oberon community gathered in February 2024 to celebrate the turning of the first sod for the project, which arose out of the Black Summer Bushfire Recovery grants.
