Papakura Pony club has to go

The final hurdle has fallen for an equestrian club fighting for its survival.

The Papakura Local Board has voted to terminate Papakura Pony Club’s landowner approval to operate at Opaheke Park.

There are no plans to accommodate the club - which has a number of Franklin members - in the development of a multi-million dollar sports park facility and recreational area.

Stormwater mitigation for the adjacent Bellfield Rd Special Housing Area, run by Motleon Ltd, is a major part of the design and is being carried out in the area used by the club. The plan includes $4.25 million of Motleon’s own money going into the public reserve which includes payment to lift the 999-year encumbrance to build on the old Papakura Golf Course.

The pony club, which has 73 members and hosts programmes such as Riders Without Horses and Equine Skills, has until the end of December to find a new home. President Ruth Sinclair said the decision was ‘‘bitterly disappointing’’.

‘‘We take great pride in the improvements we have made to the park.

‘‘Of particular note are the events, both equestrian and the Tractorpull, that have enabled us to share this unique landscape with the wider community,’’ she said.

The club will work with Auckland Council to find an alternative site but there were no options at this stage, Sinclair said. ‘‘If we can’t find a place we will have to close.’’ The club was established in 1960 on private land in Karaka and moved to Walker Rd, Papakura. It has been operating on Opaheke Park since September 2013. Public submissions made to the local board saw 186 of 253 respondents ‘‘strongly disagree’’ with plans to move the club. Approval of the development was made at the local board’s August meeting.

Members Brent Catchpole and Katrina Winn voted unsuccessfully to defer plans until after local body elections in November. Catchpole said the consultation process for the development was a ‘‘shameful farce’’ and people were ‘‘denied the opportunity to participate in a hearings process’’.

Local board chairman Bill McEntee says public forums are open to anyone and he was expecting more opposition at the August meeting.

‘‘I have never refused a public forum...I was very surprised no one was there,’’ he says.