Trafalgar Park breaking even but could bring in big bucks

Events at Trafalgar Park bring people, and their spending, into Nelson city. So should more events be hosted there?

Last year, the park or its facilities were utilised on just 33 days.

As more specialised venues have been built, such as the Saxton Oval and sports complex, the park has been primarily occupied by the Tasman Rugby Union (TRU) and the Tasman United Football Club (TUFC).

Last year the TRU hosted three Mako games at Trafalgar, and the TUFC hosted five games.

The other 24 days of use included Nitro Circus, South Island Masters Games track cycling, and a party in the back field hosted by Elsewhere Events.

The TRU ‘‘block books’’ the park over the rugby season, but any day a match isn’t scheduled the park is still technically available for other events, at a small additional cost.

Trafalgar Park costs the Nelson City Council about $100,000 a year in ongoing maintenance.

NCC communications adviser Scott Donaldson said the income and expenditure at the park were ‘‘very close to break-even’’.

Sports and recreation committee chairman councillor Tim Skinner said he ‘‘definitely’’ wanted to see the park used to give the ‘‘best bang for your bucks’’.

Skinner said events at Trafalgar Park brought a lot into the city, even if they were not-forprofit or non-professional sporting events.

Secondary school tournaments held at Trafalgar Park alone could bring ‘‘a couple of million dollars’’ into Nelson’s economy, and bigger events drew even more, he said.

‘‘It’s a flow-on effect; [the event] may be a loss leader at the park, but there’s a flow-on effect as people come into the region.’’

The Trafalgar Park grounds had a $260,000 refurbishment over summer to bring the main playing field up to the best standard ahead of the scheduled first All Blacks test to be held in Nelson, in September.

Skinner said new understanding and better management of the park and grounds in future meant Nelson would ‘‘get much more out of it’’ after the refurbishment.

‘‘It’s pretty much a premier sports field, but it’s also available for the community,’’ he said.

The re-sown grass meant the usual summer football games had to move to Saxton Field in the meantime. However, TUFC chairman Mark Sheehan said he was hopeful of an eventual return to the club’s traditional grounds.

‘‘We’re currently in talks with the council to discuss our use of Trafalgar for this and future seasons,’’ he said.

TRU CEO Tony Lewis said the upcoming All Blacks versus Argentina test match was ‘‘not just a sporting event, but the biggest event in New Zealand on the day’’.

‘‘It’s huge. People will be waking up in Britain, in Argentina, and people will be watching from Australia, and on the day there will be 18,000 people here in the stadium.’’

He said Trafalgar Park was a world-class field, and provided it was kept in good condition, it was a valuable Nelson venue for many events.

‘‘We don’t care who uses it [during the rugby season], so long as it’s left in the condition they find it,’’ he said.

‘‘Historically, Trafalgar Park is known as the home of rugby in New Zealand, but in this new age everyone knows it’s best to have multiple sports events.

‘‘If we all work together, we can bring huge events to Nelson. We should wake up the Monday after [the All Black’s test] and be saying, ‘What’s next?’.’’