New $5m home for football
A new sports complex costing at least $5 million is planned for Taranaki’s footballers, and other sports could also be involved.
Central Football is planning to build around 6 new fields and a football hub on a 13 hectare block at the corner of Airport Drive and State Highway 3, with construction starting as soon as 2019.
The privately-funded complex would provide a base for grassroots and development football in the region with room for night games and a mid-week league, as well as being able to accommodate regional and national tournaments, Central Football CEO John McGifford and Taranaki’s board representative Brent Dodunski said.
While the focus of the build would be on football, they were hoping other sports would become involved as the project grew and there was scope for other facilities such as a daycare centre, doctors and a gym to all be added into the plans.
‘‘As part of the due diligence process we have already engaged with a number of codes that can see significant benefits in the green field’s development,’’ McGifford said.
He said they had picked the location near the airport as it was flat enough to fit multiple fields and residential growth was expected in the area.
The project also tied in with the Taranaki Regional Sports Facility strategy, which identified a ‘‘significant shortfall’’ for football in Taranaki.
McGifford said football clubs would still be based at their various grounds around the region, although some had expressed an interest in moving into the new complex, and they still expected Yarrow Stadium to host bigger games such as Team Taranaki and international matches.
In a presentation to the New Plymouth District Council on Tuesday night, McGifford and Dodunski said the project was waiting on a decision from the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) around the intersection of Airport Drive and SH3, which could be moved closer to the intersection of De Havilland Dr.
They said the plans for the site couldn’t be finalised until after the new road is announced, to ensure it didn’t go through the new complex.
On Wednesday, NPDC Manager Transportation Carl Whittleston said there was an indicative arterial road in the district plan which showed developers the council intended to align Airport Drive with the end of De Havilland Drive.
‘‘Since late 2015, the NZTA has been working with council on options to improve SH3 between Bell Block and Waitara, which includes looking at improvements to the Airport Dr intersection,’’ he said.
‘‘Within 12 months NZTA should be able to indicate if their preferred option to address numerous intersection issues includes a realignment of Airport Dr as per the council’s District Plan. After this NZTA and the council will be able to firm up any funding and construction plans.’’
McGifford said once the plan was finalised, the new facility would be built in stages starting with around six fields and a main building at a cost of $5m, with extensions planned depending on the funding and other sports codes that came on board.
He said they were looking to build the project at a sustainable rate, and it wouldn’t be a ‘‘Rolls Royce model’’ overnight.
‘‘We’ve engaged in a number of commercial partners and we believe we’ve got the support for an infrastructure build,’’ he said.
‘‘At the moment there’s enough to get decent enough facilities for the development of our players.’’
Dodunski said the facility would be privately funded and wouldn’t require any input from council, besides resource consent and assistance in engaging with the other sporting codes in the region.
‘‘That’s our business model. That it’s going to be self-funded,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s a user-pay model but we’re not going to the council to ask for money.’’
Mayor Neil Holdom said the project was exciting.
‘‘You are masters of your own destiny,’’ he said, with other councillors also agreeing it would be something the region could be proud of.