What should we do with Headon?
Readers offer their view over whether Headon Stadium should be repaired or demolished to make way for a new sports complex.
prime example.
They called for submissions and gave a closing date and before the closing date a decision came out that it was decided to give money.
Why was this money given to a sports facility out of Matamata when there is obviously a desperate need for a good sports stadium in Matamata?
Regarding Headon Stadium: As per our previous thoughts, which were recently published thank you, we would like to add further on this. We are surprised regarding Mr McLeod’s (council chief executive) comments regarding maintenance and renewal.
He states: ‘‘we do good basic maintenance, not embellishments.’’ Not sure what maintenance has been done other than paint the graffiti off the building. What we would like to know is where has the money been spent in previous years on maintenance – surely there was an amount in the budgets each year to cover this however from our observation there has been little or no maintenance spent over the last four or five years on basic maintenance.
To the point where there was a fire one evening which appeared to be caused by the lighting. Why has it taken so long for the council to make a decision as to what they spend this $2 million on – surely someone in the council, on inspection, saw that it was urgently in need of basic maintenance.
A question we would ask is: if a new stadium is decided, how long will this take to get off the ground and be completed?
During this time, where do the users of Headon go? Do they carry on, and nothing is done regarding the poor condition of Headon?
At this stage our answer to your statement is ‘‘yes’’, the council need to jump straight in and do some urgently onb required repairs and maintenance as it really is a disgrace that it has been left to deteriorate to the state it is in. And ‘‘yes’’ Matamata needs a new sports stadium but not at the expense of Headon Stadium as there is a definite requirement to keep it in a good state of repair.