Councils differ on strategy for sport facilities

Tim Cadogan.
Tim Cadogan.
A series of new sports facilities is urgently required in some parts of the Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago districts, a regional strategy has found.

But the two district councils in the area have opposing views on the strategy, one having supported its development and the other being against it.

The Queenstown Lakes Central Otago Regional Sport and Recreation Facility Strategy was recently presented to the Central Otago District Council (CODC).

It was spearheaded by Sport Otago and funded by Sport New Zealand, the Central Lakes Trust, Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC), Otago Community Trust and the Community Trust of Southland.

The CODC was also asked to help fund it but voted against it earlier this year, most councillors concerned the study would see future funding go to towns with rapid growth, and that rural areas in Central Otago would miss out.

After this month's council meeting Central Otago Mayor Tim Cadogan said those concerns remained.

''It's not our report. We didn't fund it. It gives some information, a great deal of information, but we're not going to be bound by it or beholden to it.''

He said there was a risk funders could view the strategy as an indication of where new sports facilities should go ''and that wouldn't be terribly welcomed by me''.

The strategy recommends the CODC and QLDC adopt the strategy but the CODC has not opted to do that, instead only receiving the report. Mr Cadogan said the council would ''wait and see'' what happened next before discussing any memorandums of understanding with stakeholders, as suggested in the strategy.

In the Queenstown Lakes district, the study would be a ''guiding document'' for some other masterplans being done, QLDC sport and recreation manager Simon Battrick said.

''We propose to present the draft strategy to council's community and services committee in January and then put it out for public consultation. The final strategy will form a guiding document for the joint Queenstown Event Centre and Wanaka Recreation Centre masterplans now under way, as well as the future development of council's sport and recreation facilities.''

The strategy has used 2013 census data and will be updated with 2018 census data.

 

Regional sport and recreation facility strategy

  • Is a ''collaborative approach'' to planning and developing sport facilities in the two districts, report authors Global Leisure Group Ltd say.
  • Notes the ageing network of facilities needing refurbishment, repurposing, replacement or removal; the changing demographics within communities; and changing sport and recreation trends. Says there is a ''mismatch'' between supply and demand for some sports, and most facilities now need to be more multipurpose.
  • Also notes the Queenstown Lakes and Cromwell districts are predicted to grow at a much faster rate than smaller towns in Central Otago.
  • Says detailed, site specific investigations for individual projects will still be needed.
  • Identifies various areas and sporting codes where new facilities are needed urgently. Says there are acute shortfalls in facilities for half-size artificial practice and junior small-sided games for hockey; indoor courts for sports such as basketball, netball, handball, volleyball and futsal; and floodlit sportsfields for football training in Wanaka and Queenstown. Also recommends developing watersports shore hubs for Lake Wanaka and Lake Dunstan, and the development of more gymsports facilities.
  • Also says there is an oversupply of facilities for some sports, such as bowls (clubrooms and greens), rugby (clubrooms, in smaller rural communities); tennis (clubrooms and courts, in smaller rural communities); and golf (clubrooms and courses, in smaller rural communities).
  • Recommends five major park hubs be designated: Anderson Park, in Cromwell; Molyneux Park, in Alexandra; Queenstown Events Centre; Wanaka Recreation Centre/Three Parks; and Pembroke Park/Wanaka Camping and Showgrounds Recreation Reserve. Also suggests Cromwell's racecourse could become a regional hub park. No locations in the Teviot Valley or the Maniototo are recommended as hubs.
  • Recommends a ''multi-code sport partnership approach'' between clubs and sporting codes to reduce duplication, and consolidation to fewer facilities to enable higher use and occupancy.

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