Season over, scoreboard woes remain

The Volts had a lot of trouble keeping the scoreboard ticking this summer.

Now the Otago Cricket Association (OCA) is also having scoreboard troubles.

The association bought its electronic scoreboard, which had previously been used under the roof at Forsyth Barr Stadium, in September 2016 with a $70,000 grant from the Dunedin City Council.

The agreement was the OCA would retain ownership of the scoreboard for 12 months and then transfer ownership to the DCC for the princely sum of one dollar.

Rugby also uses the scoreboard, so it is considered a community asset. But the transfer had been delayed because the DCC was concerned the scoreboard housing was not watertight, OCA chief executive Mike Coggan said.

"What council staff are saying is they have had peer reports done and they are saying our scoreboard cover is not sufficient to protect it from rain and that is holding up the transfer," he said.

"We are saying we spent $25,000 [waterproofing] and we believe it is effective but their peer reviews, and there has been two of them, say that it is not.

"So we've got to have some discussion with them about that."

Coggan planned to bring it up with the DCC yesterday at its 10-year plan hearing but did not get it during his allotted time of five minutes.

"Rugby use it [during the winter]. It is our asset but they use it and we end up with potential costs if we have issues. So we'd rather the council help us sort this out, so it is their asset and for community use."

Coggan thanked the DCC for its ongoing support of the University Oval and brought the council up to date on its development plans for the venue.

He told the Otago Daily Times earlier in the day the OCA would like to add new practice pitches and put a picket fence around the playing surface.

"The picket fence would mitigate some of the health and safety risks as well as beautifying the ground."

Coggan was also keen to press the DCC on its commitment to the development of the Logan Park sporting precinct, which appears to have slipped down the council's priority list.

Meanwhile, Coggan said an independent review of the Otago season would get under way on April 30 and take about 10 days.

Alex McKenzie, of High Performance Sport New Zealand, will conduct the review. He has been given wide terms of reference.

"We've just asked him to assess and review the environment and look at a number of things from coaching to leadership to management staff and support.

"It is up to him to determine how he goes about that."

Otago coach Rob Walter is employed by New Zealand Cricket and his review will be conducted by the national body.