To the Lord Mayor and Councillors,
Wollongong City Council

Dear Lord Mayor and Councillors,

Re:  Need for a multi‑purpose indoor facility in Helensburgh – gender equity  and community health

This submission is made by members of the Helensburgh community who participate in Zumba and their supporters (hereinafter referred to as the “Zumba Community”).

The Zumba Community and their supporters wish to express our deep concern about the lack of publicly accessible, multi-purpose indoor facilities in Helensburgh, particularly facilities that meet the needs of women and girls.

Seven years ago, the Council closed a hybrid multi-purpose hall in our community. That facility provided flexible, indoor, public space that could accommodate both community activities and physical activity. It appears that the current proposals for new community infrastructure in Helensburgh are being advanced without properly recognising or replacing the hybrid multi-purpose function that the former facility provided.

In a recent WIN News interview, aired on 12 February 2026, the Lord Mayor, Councillor Tania Brown, stated that “we’ve got other strategies that pick up the sporting facilities and cater for the growth of the suburb.” With respect, these “other strategies” do not appear to address a critical gap in Helensburgh: the lack of indoor, multi-purpose spaces that are genuinely accessible and appropriate for the way women and girls participate in sport and physical activity.

The Zumba Community and supporters request this submission be considered before final determination on the design of the community centre and library takes place.

Background

Nicole Hoffmann (“Nicole”) began running Zumba classes in Helensburgh in 2010. Nicole deliberately keeps costs to the bare minimum to cover her expenses to make sure her classes are affordable and accessible to members of our community who may not otherwise be able to afford to attend fitness and wellbeing classes.

On average, across the five (5) Zumba classes that take place every week the number of people attending is up to 80 per week.

Of the five (5) weekly classes, three (3) classes are “Zumba Gold”  which is heavily utilised by Helensburgh’s senior and aging population.

Zumba provides health, fitness and social benefits.  Our community is diverse and includes people of both genders but is predominantly women of all ages. 

Many people have expressed to Nicole that they participate in the classes not only for health and fitness but because of the inclusive nature of the Zumba Community which gives them social connections they would not otherwise have.

The benefits of Zumba and Zumba Gold include:

• improving cardiovascular health and mental health
• full body workout
• improving coordination and mobility
• improve balance
• cognitive stimulation
• social interaction
• affordability and accessibility   

Until its closure 7 years ago, the Zumba Community were long standing users of the existing Helensburgh Community Centre for its classes. The Helensburgh Community Centre was hybrid in nature, accommodating many different activities including Zumba. The space was large and flexible and suitable for all sorts of classes, meeting, events and performances.

Gendered use of facilities

Outdoor sporting facilities – such as ovals and sports fields – are, in practice, predominantly used by male-dominated sports and competitions. By contrast, many of the activities more commonly taken up by women and girls – such as group fitness, dance, Pilates, yoga and Zumba – depend on safe, affordable, indoor spaces.

Without suitable indoor facilities, women’s participation is constrained by:

• A lack of appropriate room sizes and layouts for group exercise.
• Limited scheduling flexibility, especially for women with caring responsibilities.
• Safety and comfort concerns related to lighting, weather and visibility in outdoor settings.
• Cost barriers where the only option is private gyms or studios.

The former hybrid multi-purpose facility - and what is missing now

Before its closure 7 years ago, Helensburgh had a hybrid multi-purpose hall that:

1. Functioned as both a community gathering space and an activity space.
2. Allowed local groups to run classes and programs without commercial-level fees.
3. Provided predictable, publicly controlled access for a wide range of users.

Any new "replacement" community facility that does not incorporate a large, open, mutli-purpose indoor space is not a true replacement of what the community has lost.

If Council’s current planning and “other strategies” only provide more outdoor fields, courts or male-dominated sporting infrastructure – while omitting a genuine indoor, multi-purpose hall – then the outcome is structurally unequal. It favours activities predominantly taken up by men and boys, and neglects the forms of participation more accessible and attractive to women and girls.

Questions for Council and requested commitments

Identify the strategies

1. Please specify which adopted Council strategies the Lord Mayor was referring to when she said “we’ve got other strategies that pick up the sporting facilities and cater for the growth of the suburb.”
2. Please explain how those specific strategies provide for an indoor, publicly accessible, multi-purpose hall in Helensburgh. 

Confirm indoor, women-friendly infrastrucutre

1. Will Council commit to including, in Helensburgh, at least one publicly owned, bookable, indoor space of sufficient size for group fitness classes and similar activities with a shock absorbing floor?
2. Will Council ensure that this space is available at community-level hire fees so that cost is not a barrier to participation?

Ensure genuine replacement of the former hybrid facility

1. In assessing whether the “replacement” infrastructure is adequate, will Council explicitly consider the hybrid multi-purpose function that the former hall provided?
2. Will Council publicly explain how the proposed new facilities deliver the same or better level of indoor, multi-purpose, women-friendly access as the hall that was closed 7 years ago?

Apply a gender lens to infrastructure planning

1. Will Council apply a gender equity lens to its Helensburgh infrastructure planning to ensure that women and girls are not unintentionally disadvantaged by a focus on outdoor, male-dominated sporting codes?
2. Will Council report on how the mix of facilities (indoor vs outdoor, community vs competition, public vs private) supports equitable participation by women and girls?

Conclusion

A growing suburb like Helensburgh needs more than additional ovals and fields. It needs indoor, flexible, community-controlled spaces that reflect how women and girls actually participate in physical activity. Replacing a hybrid multi-purpose hall with predominantly outdoor sporting infrastructure is not an adequate or equitable outcome.

We respectfully request that Council:

• Clearly set out which strategies it is relying on for Helensburgh’s sporting and community infrastructure; and
• Amend or implement those strategies in a way that guarantees a publicly accessible, cost-effective, indoor multi-purpose facility in Helensburgh.

Indoor community facilities play a critical role in providing equitable access to sport and physical activity, particularly for women and girls. Traditional outdoor sporting facilities such as ovals and playing fields are, in practice, still predominantly used by male-dominated sports and competitions. By contrast, many of the activities more commonly taken up by women – such as group fitness, dance, Pilates, yoga and Zumba – rely on safe, affordable, indoor spaces with appropriate heating/cooling and security.

At present, where suitable indoor spaces do exist, they are largely provided by private gyms or studios. Access to those spaces is not guaranteed for the general public and is often cost-prohibitive for many women, especially those on lower incomes, seniors, carers, new migrants, or women with intermittent work. This creates a real barrier to participation and undermines Council’s broader goals around health, inclusion and gender equity.

For these reasons, it is important that Council recognises the specific needs of women and girls by investing in publicly available, multi-purpose spaces for women. These facilities ensure that women have safe, affordable and predictable access to the kinds of physical activities they actually participate in, rather than relying solely on outdoor sporting infrastructure that is not used equally across genders.

Yours faithfully,

The Zumba Community and Supporters