A business case calling for $150 million to "reinvigorate" Tairāwhiti's sport and recreation facilities will be put to central government.
Photo: LDR/ Gisborne Herald
Some of the region's sports facilities are being "held together with duct tape", many are in their "second or third waves of life", with some clubs operating "without much to call a facility" at all.
Sport Gisborne Tairāwhiti, Trust Tairāwhiti and Gisborne District Council have partnered to ask central government for the funding over the next decade, saying the goal for a complete revamp is "well beyond the financial resources" of the region.
After two years spent engaging with about 200 sporting groups, clubs, codes and individuals, staff behind it described presenting the business case as a "reasonably momentous" and "auspicious point" in the process.
Councillors responded with much enthusiasm, with councillor Bill Burdett even describing it as the "most positive" report he had seen in his 22 years on council.
The 200-page business case proposes the creation of four sports "hubs" which would provide shared facilities for several sports clubs and codes.
The case recommends an indoor and court hub on Childers Rd Reserve, an outdoor and field hub at Gisborne Golf Park, a river sports hub at Anzac Park and Marina Reserve, and an East Coast regional hub at Whakarua Park in Ruatoria.
Kent Duston, who presented the business case to Gisborne district councillors yesterday, said Tairāwhiti's sports facilities were in "fairly dire straits", with much of the investment last made in the 1970s and 1980s.
"Sporting participation has very high social and health benefits to the community. Adults and rangatahi who are involved in sport have better outcomes," he said.
But the level of sporting participation in Tairāwhiti was below the national average.
"As much as anything else, that has to do with access to facilities.
Tairāwhiti does not have the sport and recreational facilities that are enjoyed elsewhere in the country.
"There is a compelling reason why the Crown should assist us with this and it's that the benefits of improved wellbeing, of better health outcomes, better social outcomes, better education outcomes ... accrue to the country as a whole, not solely to Tairāwhiti," Duston said.
He asked the council to consider funding the concept planning and design work necessary to get to the point where procurement could start, along with a "renovation of the river" to clear up the invasive spartina grass to free up water space for river sports.
Duston also discussed potential implications of the recommended case, including Gisborne Park Golf Club losing nine of its 18 hole course.
Options include turning it into a nine-hole course, or reorientating the course over the edge of airport land which would come at a cost of about $3.5 to $4.5 million, which would need to be included in the overall cost of the project.
The other implication of the proposal would be the displacement of Thistle AFC from its grounds while the development of the indoor hub was taking place on Childers Rd Reserve.
Councillor Tony Robinson asked whether they had spoken to central government.
Duston said there had been discussions with MP Kiri Allan, Sport New Zealand, and "at a theoretical level" with Treasury.
"Until we have a proposal to bring to the table, it's difficult to get any further along the track than that."
Councillor Shannon Dowsing moved the paper saying there had been an incredible amount of work which had gone into this plan over many years. "It's an amazing piece of work".
Councillor Andy Cranston said it was "a great way forward", and he was glad it had reached this stage.
He noted at this stage it was about securing funding, not dealing with specifics.
"We're saying what could be, not what will be."
Councillors voted unanimously in favour of progressing the case on to central government at the Sustainable Tairāwhiti meeting.
It is two-and-a-half years since the council ratified its Community Facilities Strategy, prompting the investigation into what facilities were needed, where, and how it was going to be funded.
Whakarua Park Board chair David Goldsmith also spoke at yesterday's meeting, to explain the history and significance of Whakarua Park, where one of the hubs is proposed.
It was created in 1928 in Ruatoria as a park and recreation facility for Ngāti Porou.
"If you are Ngati Porou, Whakarua Park is part of you, and you are part of Whakarua," Goldsmith said.
"Every time we have to get somebody to do some work on the coast it costs gold. If there is funding around let's really make this place a bird so that everybody in Tairāwhiti benefits."
The purpose of the business case was to present a high-level community plan to secure funding. It did not provide feasibility studies for the facilities and land options or provide concepts and detailed designs for the projects.
The business case would be presented to the Tairāwhiti Funders Forum this month to establish the local funding capability.
Following this, local MP Kiri Allan and relevant government agencies would be briefed in January, before it would be submitted to central government.
Local Democracy Reporting is a public interest news service supported by RNZ, the News Publishers' Association and NZ On Air.