Standoff over rec park charge
A disagreement over an old act has resulted in a standoff between a Golden Bay community group and the Tasman District Council.
The Golden Bay A&P Association has sought legal advice and is requesting mediation over a $500 fee it is required to pay for using the new recreation facility at the Golden Bay Recreation Park in Takaka during its annual show.
For almost 60 years, the association has had free exclusive use of the park for the show in January.
However, the council has said its hands are tied, since the construction of the new recreation centre meant an old law that gave the association free use was no longer relevant. The park is also a community asset, supported by all users through fees.
A&P Association chairman Noel Baigent said there was concern among its members at the way the association had been treated by both the council and the Golden Bay Shared Recreation Facility committee.
He said that until the issue was settled, the association would not negotiate a new lease agreement with TDC for land it used for car parking at the centre.
Baigent is also unhappy that the holdup in fully opening the new centre was ‘‘blamed’’ by council on his reluc- tance to sign the new lease agreement, due to the lack of parking associated with the ongoing dispute over the park’s historic grandstand.
He believed the ‘‘contempt’’ he felt was being directed at the association may have stemmed from its support for retaining the grandstand. Baigent is also a member of the grandstand restoration group.
The association and the council disagree over an interpretation of a 1959 Reserves Act. In return for gifting the land to the former Golden Bay County Council, two free days each year were given to the association for the annual show, as stated in the act.
Baigent said it was unfair that the association was now required to pay, as nothing had changed except the council’s latest interpretation of the law.
The dispute surfaced during an Environment Court hearing last year relating to the grandstand. Whether buildings built after 1959 were included in the act was scrutinised during the hearing. The outcome is disputed by each party.
Baigent said the ‘‘spirit of the act’’ was to give the association two days’ free use of the grounds and buildings in return for gifting council the land.
‘‘They have knocked down our booth, kitchen and lunch room and replaced them with the new building. As far as we are concerned, the law still exists – it gives us use of land and buildings, but it doesn’t mean [the buildings] have to be old or new.’’
Council spokesperson Chris Choat said the recreation centre was a community asset supported by its users through fees, and the A&P association was one of them.
Choat said the act was clear, and although it was still valid, it unfortunately did not apply any more. He said the council had tried offering mediation to resolve the issue.
The rec park committee did not wish to comment. The Golden Bay Community Board agreed to be involved in mediation.