Boost for Eastwood Rugby’s Castle Hill Plans
Council Opens Tenders For The Project
Eastwood Rugby’s elite sporting base in Castle Hill is on the verge of getting off the ground with the opening of the tender process.
The Hills Shire Council said there will be three playing fields on the former Pony Club site, which occupies about 6.8ha of the total 58ha Fred Caterson Reserve.
The council signed a MOU with Eastwood District RUFC in November 2020 to make this a premier rugby union facility. Eastwood rugby club will be moving from their current Marsfield grounds when the Hills venue is complete. These new fields are funded via the Developer Contributions.
Eastwood, one of the leading rugby clubs in Sydney and Australia, is confident their new venue will provide the ideal pathway for players in the North West and Hawkesbury regions. The move and new facilities has been approved by Rugby Australia and NSW Rugby Union.
Then Eastwood rugby general manager Robert Frost told us in 2023 that North West Sydney are massive growth areas and should boost the game for all the other clubs in the region. He said they were supporting the new junior rugby club at Box Hill.
“We run the NSW Rugby Waratahs Western Rugby Academy for aspiring young athletes,” Frost said. “We are very keen to ensure there is a pathway for young elite athletes which doesn’t require them to relocate in order to progress. So, you can see that we are very active in the Hills already and this will only increase in years to come.”
The Hills Shire Mayor Dr Michelle Byrne said an additional 140,000 people are expected to move into the area in the next 15 years and their sports fields are not keeping pace.
“This has been a long and careful process, and I can’t wait for work to begin,” the mayor said. “More people mean more teams and more demand on our local fields. We need 40 new sports fields by 2036 to accommodate our rapidly-growing population.“
“I want our residents to know that it is council’s top priority to preserve the natural environment of Fred Caterson Reserve, while providing access to recreational and competitive sport that our community needs.”
The council said the Master Plan reuses previously-cleared areas, minimises impact on endangered ecological communities, and carefully positions infrastructure to avoid disrupting bushland.
