WITH construction at the Barden Park Centre of Excellence for Athletics moving along at a rapid rate, plans are already being put in place for Dubbo to become a major venue for the sport in NSW.
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The existing facilities at Dubbo's home of athletics is being replaced by a 800-seat grandstand and a international-standard synthetic track as well as a range of modern facilities which are already obvious to see.
The construction forced the cancellation of this year's annual New Year Carnival as the Dubbo Athletics club moved to temporary facilities at Bob Dowling Oval.
The New Year Carnival brings more than 300 athletes and 1500 visitors to Dubbo but with Barden Park expected to be completed by October, Dubbo Athletics President David Williams is predicting those numbers to increase.
"There was nothing wrong with the facility we had but it's nothing compared to what we will have," he said.
"We had over 300 people last time and that's been building for the last few years. Numbers were down about 250 (earlier) but for the last three carnivals it has been increasing and about 320 athletes last time was good and I think it will go up more next year."
As well as an expected boost to the already popular New Year Carnival, Williams said he fully expected Dubbo to become a major player in state athletics and, with facilities better than most places outside Sydney there's no reason why big events could not be hosted here.
"We've got other things in mind, it won't be happening this year or next but we're working towards having our own Dubbo Gift," he said.
"The council is keen for big events and it's not guaranteed but I think we'll get the NSW Country Championships from 2016.
"I think it will be put into a rotation between Newcastle, Wollongong and Dubbo, I'm pretty sure that's what will happen.
"Newcastle is good but we'll be better than Wollongong, we'll be IAAF standard and the good thing about the Country Championships is they'll bring everything, there will be steeplechase and pole vault and events we don't usually see."
Williams believes the new look Barden Park and the ability to witness top level athletics in our own backyard will inspire more locals to take up athletics and he expects the number of Dubbo Athletics members to continue to rise.
"Our numbers went up this year to about 320 and that was substantial at a temporary venue so it's almost the sky's the limit for us," he said.
"There's also a lot of people who said they'd have a year off while we weren't at Barden Park so with the ones we've got, people returning and new ones I'm expecting to go past 400."
The synthetic track itself cannot be laid until the ground temperature is at least 16 degrees Celsius so the track will be completed once the weather warms up and Williams admitted he could not wait to see Dubbo's aspiring athletes achieving personal bests on the track.
"It's a good thing, for the local area and the region, it gives the kids a chance to run on the synthetic surface and the chance to try and qualify for state titles," he said.
Williams said he expected nominations for the 2015 New Year Carnival to be open from October.