The plan’s at an early stage but if the demand is there and if the finance adds up, the ambitious plan could include an upgrade of the King George Oval to make it capable of staging NRL fixtures.

An athletics facility at Wilson Park and a top-grade Equestrian Centre at the Glen Innes Showground might also be financed if council consultations indicate they would be feasible.

The council believes the money could be found from the NSW Regional Sports Infrastructure fund if a convincing case can be made.

The people who allocate the fund make some demands: venues should be capable of being used by more than one sport, and there must be a demonstrable need in the community.

If the hurdles are jumped, existing venues could be rationalized (implying that different sports might be asked to combine at one site).

Much work has to be done.  The first step is to talk to the people involved in sports across town to, as the council puts it, “gain an understanding of the current and future needs of the various sporting organisations that utilize these facilities”.  The second part of the project is to draw up a plan in detail to present to the people in the state government who hold the purse-strings.