Football ends plans for new hub
Plans for a $5 million ‘Home of Football’ near New Plymouth have been given the red card, with the proposed site being put up for sale.
Central Football is selling the 12ha of land on Airport Drive it bought in 2016 for a multi-pitch playing facility.
Up to five all-weather playing fields and a changing facility were proposed for the football hub, which would have provided a base for grassroots and development football, with room for night games and a midweek league. It would also have been able to accommodate regional and national tournaments,
But in an open letter on Central Football Federation’s website, chief executive Darren Mason said the land was to be sold.
Uncertainty behind New Plymouth District Council’s (NPDC) proposed rezoning of the area around the land to Future Urban Zone and how that would affect Central Football’s ability to build the facilities was behind the move.
The proposed zoning changes were unexpected, and Central Football submitted its objection to the NPDC, Mason said in the letter.
The decision to sell is based on the likely restrictions caused by rezoning and the potential increase in land value resulting from it.
‘‘The property sale is likely to realise significant financial gain for the Federation,’’ Mason wrote.
‘‘The Board has established a Charitable Trust, to which the net proceeds from the sale will be passed.
‘‘The beneficiary of the Trust is the game of football within Central Football’s boundaries. Therefore, funds will be used directly to support the game across our Federation.’’
Mason, who did not return calls from the Daily News yesterday, went on to say in the letter that Central Football remained ‘‘absolutely committed to ensuring football-specific grounds are a priority, including the possibility of an artificial turf facility’’.
‘‘We are working closely with Sport Taranaki, the local council and other codes to realise the best outcome in terms of the multisports hub in the region.’’
NPDC is looking at a proposal to build a multi-sport hub at the New Plymouth Raceway, which would include football fields.
Football also uses Yarrow Stadium, but Taranaki Regional Council corporate services director Mike Nield said there had been no discussions about a possible artificial turf at the site.
New Plymouth District Council was unable to comment yesterday.