The concept designs for Leeston’s proposed new $16m library and community centre have been presented to Selwyn district councillors.
The designs for Whata Rau, a multi-purpose centre that has been beset by delays and cost escalations, were shown to district councillors on Wednesday morning.
Selwyn Mayor Lydia Gliddon said the specific project briefing is an opportunity to give more background on the project and to hear from the community reference group.
Whata Rau was an $8.9m project back in 2021, with construction originally scheduled to start in 2023 at Leeston Park.
Increased construction costs and inflation pushed up the project costs and then land remediation issues were also discovered that needed to be fixed.
Councillors will delve into those plans and the budgets today, much like they did for the new District Park in Rolleston last week.
Gliddon said that the discussion had raised questions of “is this right for us right now”.
At the briefing, open spaces asset manager Mark Rykers outlined that Rolleston is heading towards city status in 10-years based on current population projections and the increasing demand for green space and sports field were drivers behind the project.
“It provides the opportunity for a truly iconic park and a landmark for the district.”
The District Park site on the northern end of Rolleston was identified in 2009 and included in the 2015-25 long term plan.
The 99-hectare site, with an irrigation consent, was purchased for around $8.3m in 2016.
Gliddon said the budget to develop stage 1 was roughly $800,000 per hectare.
“We need to value engineer some of this as to what is acceptable for our community.”
While the project predominantly development contributions funded the council “needs to be pretty vigilant with what we do have”.
“There is a bit of work for us to do in this space.”
Gliddon also noted that the project has been in the work for over a decade and is now under consideration of a new council with its own ideas.
Cr Rhys Laraman said wanted to ensure the community is made aware of the “impact to their rates versus what they got from it” to cover servicing the $3.69m loan and annual operating costs.
Rykers said operating costs, estimated to be around $590,000 per year -lower than Foster Park in Rolleston which has multiple artificial surfaces, won’t kick in until completion of the park which will take 10 years to develop.
By then an estimated 14,000 more people will live in the district Rykers said.
“It is a growth project. It’s designed to meet the needs of people as they come into the district.
Developing the whole 99ha could cost around $80m while the 30-hectare Foster Park in Rolleston cost $32m – excluding the Selwyn Sports Centre, he said.
“This is actually a bit cheaper because of the type of development we are doing here.”
Cr Tracey Macleod said she could support “sports fields as part of a genuine hub”.
“A hub that is not dominated by rugby or cricket, where there is genuinely a sharing of all facilities and all fields.”
She had concerns about “Rolleston-centric thinking” with its location.
“Calling it a district park doesn’t make it a district park.
“We need to be careful about moving events from other parts of the district and into Rolleston for Rolleston’s economic prosperity at the cost of other places that are growing.”
“It’s not just all about Rolleston…and the district park isn’t all about sport either”.
Cr Aaron McGlinchey raised the possibility of scaling back the district park to free up funds for the purchase of Broadfield Garden to provide the “natural space” aspect of the park.
“It wasn’t available at the time that the park plans were developed. Subsequently it has become available.”
Rykers said Broadfield Garden is a formed gardnes, not a natural space, and is only 4.9 hectares.
“It’s not going to cater for the things that were identified through the needs assessment in terms of active recreation spaces.”
It would unlikely be eligible for development contribution funding and would need to go through an annual plan or long-term plan process Rykers said.
