Lake Macquarie named inaugural Local Council of the Year at 2017 NSW Sports Awards | PHOTOS

Honoured at the 2017 NSW Sports Award evening alongside entries like paddling superstar Jessica Fox, and record-breaking Sydney Football Club in the A-League, the council took out the award in its very first iteration.

It was an honour that proves Lake Macquarie is moving in the right direction, council’s Acting Manager for Community Planning Wes Hain said, and recognises the significant role that recreation facilities and sporting areas have already played in creating happy and healthy communities.

“Our community’s passion for active recreation didn’t happen by chance, but by Council developing a holistic approach to promoting opportunities for a variety of sports through planning, infrastructure, strategic partnerships and events,” Mr Hain said.

“This year, we’ve implemented a number of high-level strategies and delivered supporting plans that set out actions and timing of sporting projects, including the spending of more than $10 million on upgrading recreational infrastructure and it’s great for Council to be recognised for this hard work.”

As well as the upgrades to infrastructure across the area, Mr Hain also attributed the award win to the events that Lake Macquarie hosted over the past year.

“We’ve strengthened our commitment to ensuring everyone has access to sport and recreation activities in the City, having hosted a number of events and programs promoting inclusion and accessibility for all, in line with Council’s Disability Inclusion Action Plan,” he said.

“Council is proud to have received this award in a field of such strong finalists including Blacktown City Council, Central Coast Council, Coffs Harbour City Council, Fairfield City Council and Northern Beaches Council.”

The NSW Sports Awards have been running since its foundation in 1994, and has now added new categories.

2017 was the first year that the ‘Local Council of the Year’ award was included among the twelve other honours on offer.