Public to determine future of Headon
The community should have a say on whether the failing Headon Stadium should be repaired or replaced, in the face of growing interest in a new sports stadium.
The issue of whether money should be spent on repairing the stadium came up again before the Matamata-Piako District Council’s Corporate and Operations Committee.
The council’s chief executive, Don McLeod, told the committee the stadium was not renewed on purpose.
He said the $2 million for Headon Stadium’s renovation was earmarked for 2019-20 but there was no money in the current budget to push ahead with repairs immediately.
It would be have to be flagged as an additional cost in the current budget.
Money for Headon could not come from the budget for building maintenance and renewal as it was stretched and it is not spent on embellishments, but basic maintenance of the district’s buildings.
‘‘We have a budget for building renewal and maintenance, we do good basic maintenance, not embellishments. It’s fully stretched,’’ McLeod said.
McLeod said the council confirmed it did see a future for the building but was also considering a proposal from Matamata Futures, to build a new sports stadium.
‘‘The report on how we believe we can best approach this is coming next month (November).
‘‘It’s not a case of giving you the answer, it’s a case of saying what matters: do we believe you should investigate further before you make a call about whether to proceed with Matamata Futures Proposition or not?
‘‘We are on the cusp of this particular project. We need to make a decision on the future of this building as a functional asset.’’
Matamata-Piako Mayor Jan Barnes asked that the decision on whether to repair Headon, and the proposal by Matamata Futures, be put to the community.
‘‘This money, $2 million, has sat in the budget for a very long time, while we discussed what we will do with Headon,’’ she said.
‘‘Now we jumped straight in and said we are going to do some repairs. We have not talked in direct consultation with users, I think the community is waiting.’’
Barnes said she did not think the council had all of the information to make a decision. It was time to talk to the community as the council was looking at funding for 2019, in its long term plan.