An Illawarra shooters party lobbyist has welcomed the state government’s decision to foot the $4.1 million cost of building new shooting range at Brownsville.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The indoor facility will including two 50-metre ranges and two 100-metre ranges, each containing seven or eight shooting bays.
Shooters, Fisher & Farmers Party Illawarra representative Mark Banasiak said the funding announcement was a win for “10,000 law-abiding firearm owners from Helensburgh to Nowra who are going to benefit from this range directly”. He said his party had lobbied successive governments for the funding.
“It’s going to be a unique facility,” he said. “There are no other 100-metre ranges within reasonable travel distance for our members. That [100 metres] is the standard range that most shooters like to know where their firearm is shooting at.”
“There has been a severe deficiency in these sort of facilities. We only have the indoor air rifle range at Albion Park. Other than that our local firearm owners have to travel to the Southern Highlands or Sydney.”
Mr Banasiak is also president of the Sporting Shooters Association of NSW’s Illawarra branch.
The branch lodged a development application with Wollongong City Council in 2010 for a shooting range and car park at the Darkes Road site, which is owned by Wollongong City Council and zoned for public recreation use.
The plans, approved by council, show a two-storey complex with four ranges and spaces for 132 cars. They project 3000 members will visit the facility in its first year, increasing to 9000 visits withing five years.
The range will be owned and operated by the Association of Illawarra Clubs. Mr Banasiak declined to explain the make-up of the association, or how many members it represented, as did the group’s president Rick Loebler.
“I won't specifically identify our membership without their approval, however it is fair to say that the association represents five ... shooting clubs, the majority of whom are based in the Illawarra,” Mr Loebler told the Mercury.
Wednesday’s funding announcement appeared to catch Mr Loebler by surprise. He said the association had yet to confirm many details of the planned operation, including whether firearms would be stored on-site.
“There are obvious security implications and this would need the agreement of the NSW Firearms Registry.”
Mr Loebler said the facility would be come the “home range” for the area’s sporting shooters, allowing them to maintain a regular training schedule, and improve their competitiveness. Security guards and NSW Police are also expected to hire out the facility for training and accreditation exercises.