Hinterland AFL and cricket clubs will have a new home with the completion of a $1.46 million clubhouse and change rooms at G Rae Oval in Palmwoods.

The new clubhouse will be used by players from the Hinterland Blues AFL Club and Palmwoods Cricket Club. It includes four female-friendly change rooms, umpire facilities, a new canteen, meeting room, storage area, first-aid room and an improved spectator embankment.

Member for Nicklin Robert Skelton said the new facilities were vital so clubs could keep pace with the growing popularity of their sports.

“Hinterland AFL Club has seen player numbers increase by 63 per cent over the last five years including a 30 per cent jump in junior numbers in 12 months,” Mr Skelton said.

“The old clubhouse has been demolished to make way for a modern clubhouse with dedicated male and female change rooms which will make a huge difference to a club that has played this season out of a six by three donga.”

The works were delivered by Sunshine Coast Regional Council through Murphy Builders who employed 70 local tradies throughout the construction works.

Sunshine Coast Division 5 Councillor Winston Johnston said the Jubilee Drive facility, affectionately known as “The Woods”, has been completed in time for the 2021-22 cricket season which starts next month (October).

“What a terrific kick-start for the Palmwoods Cricket Club’s junior and senior teams this season and a fitting finale for the Hinterland Blues AFL Club to mark the end of a challenging season which saw the seniors make their first grand final appearance in 10 years,” Cr Johnston said.

“Sporting clubs are a critical element of the social fabric of our communities and play an incredibly important role not only in enabling local residents – particularly children and young people – to get active, but they also help to bring communities together and reduce the incidence of social isolation.”

Hinterland Blues President Bruce Bell said the new facilities will provide a massive boost to their future growth and operations.

“Having four change rooms will make the girls more comfortable and increase female participation which is increasingly important as nearly a quarter of our players are female,” said Mr Bell.

“People are already taking a renewed positive outlook on the club and where it’s heading, and we have stemmed the flow of people looking elsewhere for clubs with better facilities.”

The club has 120 senior players and 130 juniors including two senior men’s teams, one senior women’s team and nine junior teams with plans to add another senior men’s team next season.

The new clubhouse and change rooms are jointly funded by Sunshine Coast Regional Council ($700,000), the Queensland Government’s COVID Works for Queensland program ($500,000), the AFL Grand Final Facilities Fund ($150,000), Queensland Cricket ($100,000) and Nambour and Hinterland AFC ($10,000).