Parramatta Eels appoint Kane Constructions NSW to build Centre of Excellence
The Parramatta Eels have appointed Kane Constructions NSW to deliver its Centre of Excellence (COE) and Community Facility at Kellyville Park.
Construction is scheduled to begin by the end of the month; however, the initial launch phase and site establishment is already underway.
Kane Constructions NSW General Manager Brett Moore said the company is extremely proud to be partnering with the Parramatta Eels.
“Projects such as this are transformational, not only for the future generations of Eels and their support staff, but also for the wider community as a whole. Our Kane team look forward to an award winning outcome, and will take great pride in exceeding the expectations of everyone involved at every level,” said Mr Moore.
Upon completion, the Parramatta Eels Centre of Excellence will be the largest rugby league facility in Australia with five natural turf fields, a world-class gym, cardio and yoga rooms for players, theatre and review rooms, aquatic rehabilitation facilities and a café.
The Community Facility building will be part of an international standard match venue with a 1,500-seat grandstand, multi-purpose function and community education rooms to enable the club to expand its community programs and initiatives, gym, match day media rooms, change rooms, kiosk and parking.
Parramatta Eels CEO Jim Sarantinos said the project aimed to create a world-class rugby league facility that catered for the club’s NRL and NRLW teams, emerging football talent, staff and the wider community.
“From best-in-class high performance resources to community engagement, the Eels Centre of Excellence will be home to our NRL, NRLW and Elite Pathways teams,” Mr Sarantinos said.
“It will increase participation across all forms of rugby league for boys and girls from grassroots to elite in one of the fastest-growing regions in Australia, and will strengthen our connection with the Eels community of more than 35,000 members and 800,000 fans”.
Jointly funded by the NSW Government, Federal Government, Hills Shire Council and Parramatta Leagues Club, the Parramatta Eels Centre of Excellence is scheduled for completion in 2025.
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Parramatta’s Labor lord mayor has been ousted after just 18 weeks in the job as a bitter internal party dispute has left Sydney’s second CBD with its third mayor in five months.
Veteran Labor councillor Pierre Esber was elected mayor of the City of Parramatta Council at an extraordinary meeting on Monday night, after Labor councillors resolved at a last-minute caucus meeting to remove mayor Sameer Pandey from his post.
The result exposes a major chasm among the local Labor councillors, who were split over nominations for the position on the Labor-majority council. The party’s head office ordered a meeting of councillors, who voted 4-3 to not nominate Pandey for re-election and move that Esber be nominated for mayor.
Labor councillors who were involved in the caucus meeting refused to say why the party did not support Pandey. But Labor councillor Paul Noack, who voted for Pandey in the caucus, said during the council meeting that the mayor’s term had been “cut short”.
Sources with knowledge of the meeting but who were not authorised to speak publicly said councillors Pandey, Noack and Angela Humphries walked out of the meeting after the vote.
At the council meeting, Esber won the mayoralty with nine votes to independent Michelle Garrard’s six.
Labor’s Patricia Prociv was elected deputy mayor, winning by the same number against Georgina Valjak, a Liberal member who ran as an independent.
Pandey was voted on to the council in 2017 and was elected to the mayoralty in May after Donna Davis – the then-mayor elected to the state seat of Parramatta following the May state election – was pressured to stand down over allegations she could not fully commit to both jobs. She remains a councillor.
Esber, known locally as Pierre the Plumber, has served on the council for 24 years. Earlier in the day he expressed caution ahead of the vote.
“Anything can happen over the next five-and-a-half hours. If it comes off, it comes off. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t,” he said.
“I’ve been honoured to serve as lord mayor of City of Parramatta since my election as lord mayor,” he said. “I’m proud to have played a part in the ongoing transformation of our city.”
When asked before the vote if he felt betrayed, Pandey admitted he was disappointed.
“But I am grateful for the support of my colleagues and the community.”
Pandey played a key role in the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Parramatta and Harris Park earlier this year.
“To be mentioned by two prime ministers [Albanese and Modi] on the same day was a very humbling experience,” he said.
Pandey has been supported by Sanjay Deshwal, president of the Little India Harris Park Business Association, which has spent the week spruiking his achievements as mayor.
“This is a dark day for democracy,” Deshwal said of Pandey, who is the city’s first Indian mayor and is extremely popular among the local Indian community.
“There’s a lot of hope and positivity for Sameer Pandey being the lord mayor here. Now, it’s not even three or four months in the job, and they want to remove him.”
One senior Parramatta Labor member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely express their views, said the move would “destroy Labor in Parramatta”.
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