Surfing Australia News Winter 2017 | Page 11

The expansion project was made possible by the Australian Government ’ s investment of $ 2.536 million in funding through the Building Better Regions Fund and the New South Wales Government represented by Sport and Recreation within the Office of Sport who funded $ 3 million for the expansion .
The new expanded facility will be four times the size of the current HPC and will be opened in mid 2018 .
Once complete , the centre will become an Australian Olympic Committee ( AOC ) Recognised Training Facility , something AOC CEO Matt Carroll is proud of .
The expansion also signals exciting news that the facility is now a New South Wales Institute of Sport ( NSWIS ) National Training Centre , coming with a formal partnership with NSWIS as both a recognised training centre and also as a partner of our Olympic program .
The HPC will provide elite Australian surfers and their coaches with the opportunity to practice and train in a controlled , world class environment , pushing boundaries and ultimately defining the future of the sport at an Olympic and World Tour level , something Surfing Australia Elite Program
Manager Bede Durbidge couldn ’ t be happier about .
“ The facility at the moment is already amazing from an athlete ’ s perspective but seeing the plans for the expansion is just simply incredible . The surfers will have such an advantage with their preparation leading into events . There is nothing like it anywhere else in the world . I can ' t thank Andrew and his team enough for making this happen ,” said Durbidge .
Attendees on launch day included Senator for New South Wales John Williams , Member for Tweed Geoff Provest , The Hon . Stuart Ayres MP – New South Wales Minister for Sport , Australian Olympic Committee CEO Matt Carroll , New South Wales Institute of Sport Acting CEO Clare Prideaux , Surfing Australia CEO Andrew Stark , Surfing Australia Chair and 7 x World Champion Layne Beachley , Surfing Australia Elite Program Manager Bede Durbidge , World Surf League ( WSL ) Australasian / Oceanic Junior Qualifying Series Champion Zahli Kelly and 1979 World Champion Wayne ‘ Rabbit ’ Bartholomew . surfingaustralia . com | 009