Redeveloping a football field in Sydney's north will cost Ku-ring-gai Council at least $24 million, according to a new report from NSW Public Works.
The project has been going on for five years and has been subject to several cost blowouts since originally being estimated at $3.3 million.
A Sydney council is facing another seven-figure cost blowout to upgrade a single football pitch five years after it closed to become a synthetic playing field.
The $24 million price tag is a $4 million increase from estimates earlier this year that the field would cost $20 million to complete.
Turning the washout-prone pitch into a synthetic pitch was expected to cost $3.3 million in 2021, before a dispute with the contractor and a move to change from an aggregate-based stormwater system to a concrete system caused cost blowouts.
Council voted in April this year to increase the budget to $20 million to cover a $4.4 million termination payout for the contractor and the new stormwater detention system.
In August, it was revealed council had spent just over $1.29 million since repossessing the site in May 2025 on dewatering, CCTV, fencing and labour costs to maintain the unusable field.
On Tuesday night, council voted to hold a representative survey on the synthetic and natural turf options.
ABC Radio 702 ABC Sydney approached Ku-ring-gai Mayor Kim Wheatley for comment.
In the report, the Northern Suburbs Football Association said the club would have 990 players using the ground.
Public policy specialist Bron Hanna said the project was "Australia's most expensive synthetic football pitch upgrade" and should be ended.