Gig leaves parts of Hagley Park a muddy mess
Parts of Hagley Park have been turned to mud after three days of rain and a weekend concert that saw thousands of people dancing on the turf.
The impact of Saturday’s Salmonella Dub and Tiki Taane concert on the North Hagley Park events site is reminiscent of damage that last year lthat ed a former councillor to call for a moratorium on events.
However, the event organiser said steps were taken to minimise the impact on the ground and a Christchurch City Council staff member labelled the mud ‘‘not completely unexpected’’ given the prior weather.
Last March, former councillor Claudia Reid called on the council to cancel all events at North Hagley Park until the extent of any damage could be ascertained.
Reid voiced her concerns that the park was being damaged by an increasing number of events and that parts were being transformed into mud pools or dust bowls depending on the weather.
‘‘The park’s surface in certain areas is so eroded and worn that it can now only be resolved with a major intervention,’’ she told the council’s social and community development committee in March.
Christchurch City Council recreation and sport manager John Filsell said yesterday council staff would today investigate any possible damage to the park from Saturday’s gig. The cost of remedia ting any damage caused by park events was borne by the organiser. Filsell said this typically involved roping off affected areas and reseeding them with grass.
Team Event director Callam Mitchell said his staff had done a ‘‘great job in very challenging conditions’’ to minimise the impact of Saturday’s concert on the park while providing an ‘‘amazing event’’ for 8000 people. ‘‘We’re still very busy packing down the site, so it’s premature to determine what remediation, if any, will be required,’’ he said yesterday.
Mitchell’s company also organised the Great Kiwi Beer Festival, which was being held in the park on January 27. However, this was in a different area than where the concert had been staged.
Filsell said that after Reid’s concerns were aired to the council a report was informally delivered to the committee at the end of the summer season which stated ‘‘everything was back to normal and repairs had been done’’.
However, he said there was a move to encourage events organisers back into the central city instead of the park, citing the World Buskers Festival as an example. Instead of ‘‘screaming get off the grass’’, the council wanted to ensure the park was well used ‘‘whether you want to listen to a reggae concert, play cricket, play football . . . it’s an area for everyone’’, Filsell said.
"It's premature to determine what remediation, if any, will be required."
Team Event director Callam Mitchell