The Men’s Shed and Dubbo Regional Council currently share Crown Land near Number 3 Oval. However, the Men’s Shed has asked for additional space.

The possible expansion of the Men’s Shed has gathered attention in the United States.

British-American actor Mark Sheppard – known for his role as Crowley in television series Supernatural –retweeted a tweet from the July committee meetings about the proposed changes which said: “The #Dubbo Men’s Shed is expanding. #DRCmeeting”.

It has since been seen by more than 37,000 people, the majority of which are located outside Australia.

The request from the Men’s Shed prompted a review of council’s sporting facilities operations, which shares the Crown Land.

A report on the review has found the facilities are not fit for their purpose, council’s manager operations Craig Arms said in the report.

“The facilities do not allow the operations team to function at a standard expected by the community. For example, the lack of water run off management means grass clippings essential for cricket pitch preparation cannot be kept dry during the period of wet weather, meaning pitch preparation suffers,” he said.

A $250,000 purpose-built shed will be constructed near Number 1 Oval for the operations staff. It will give the Men’s Shed the opportunity to expand into the space currently used by council.

Council will help the Men’s Shed to get grant funding to improve the area.

Councillor John Ryan said the Men’s Shed since its inception had done a fantastic job.

“I’m proud to be part of a council that can assist them in this needed expansion. They do a tremendous job activating a lot of men in the community who would otherwise be lonely,” Cr Ryan said. 

“I think anything we can do to assist community groups like this is a way that minimally impacts on council is something we should always look at.”