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A push to host Scottish and Welsh athletes near Phillip Island is another casualty of the decision to cancel the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, as the economic shockwaves spread beyond the regional host cities.
Bass Coast Shire has revealed that it was negotiating to secure an “innovative” accommodation package for 500 athletes and staff from Scotland and Wales for a two-week period of acclimatisation and sightseeing before the Games kicked off.
Meetings were held as late as last Sunday night, ahead of the cancellation announcement on Tuesday.
“We knew that athletes don’t just come for the Games, they come to acclimatise,” Bass Coast CEO Ali Wastie told The Age.
“The negotiations [with officials from Team Scotland and Team Wales] were pretty high level and we were literally closing the deal when we got the news [of the cancellation].”
It’s one example of the economic shockwaves being felt through Victoria beyond the regional host hubs of Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat, Gippsland and Shepparton, after the Andrews government cancelled the 2026 Games citing cost blowouts.
Under the $3 million deal, athletes and their entourages would have stayed at the Silverwater resort in San Remo for two weeks and shuttled daily to training facilities an hour away in the City of Casey before being dispersed to the different regional hubs around the state.
Casey Fields in Melbourne’s south-east was set to accomodate training international teams who would sleep an hour away at San Remo.Credit: Bass Coast Shire
“The key focus and messaging was providing a home away from home for athletes, where they could access top quality facilities in a beautiful location, whilst having the opportunity to spend time together as a team before going to their individual village locations,” said Wastie.
“We were very much wanting to partner so we could enjoy some benefit here – it was a pretty innovative plan.”
In a twist, Scotland is now weighing up whether to host the Games themselves, with First Minister Humza Yousaf saying earlier in the week he would investigate what might be possible.
“I have noted the comments from others that Scotland could look to be part of something bigger, part of a multi-city, multi-country host,” Mr Yousaf told Scotland’s STV News.
“I’ve asked my team to explore whether that’s a possibility or not but it may be difficult, but let’s see what the art of the possible is.”
The wider economic impact for the Bass Coast would be “hard to quantify”, said Wastie. But she believed the biggest bonus would have been exposing a large number of people from Commonwealth countries to the coastal area with hopes they would return for holidays.
But she insists the plans – which included glitzy promotional videos and material for prospective athletic teams – have not been in vain.
“It was at no cost to the ratepayer,” she said. “We are well set up to host events having significant experience with large-scale international events such as the MotoGP.
“We have already attracted the attention of other international sporting bodies who have expressed interest in the model.”
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