Courting change to 100-year tradition
The days of battling winter weather to play netball at Christchurch’s Hagley Park could soon be over.
The days of battling winter weather to play netball at Christchurch’s Hagley Park could soon be over.
Christchurch Netball Centre (CNC) and Mainland Football have joined forces to build a $20 million indoor sports centre at Nga¯ Puna Wai sports hub in Wigram.
The 10-court Netsal facility, funded by an anonymous donor, has been granted a resource consent and is waiting for the Christchurch City Council to decide whether to grant it a 33-year lease.
If the lease gets the go-ahead, CNC plans to eventually leave Hagley Park and base all its games at Nga¯ Puna Wai, ending 100 years of netball’s association with the park.
Futsal, a variation on indoor football, would also be based played there.
The move will mean netball games will no longer be played only on a Saturday. They will be spread out during the week up until 9.45pm and on Saturday if demand requires it.
The change was expected to lead to an initial drop in participation as players juggle netball with other afterschool activities.
But CNC board chairwoman Chris Rodda said numbers were expected to recover within a season or two.
Exactly what would happen to the CNC-owned building and the courts was unknown. The council’s head of parks, Andrew Rutledge, said it was possible some courts could be retained and the remaining land returned to green space for use by community sports.
Converting the courts into a car park for the nearby hospital has been ruled out. Rutledge said the Christchurch City (Reserves) Empowering Act strictly prohibits any further use of land within Hagley Park for parking.
When asked what would happen to the building, Rodda said the board had not entered any negotiations about that yet. ‘‘That’s putting the cart before the horse. Until we get the go-ahead to move, we can’t sell it or lease it.’’
If Netsal was granted a lease, the building could be operational in January 2022.
The council consulted the public on the lease and of the 92 submissions received, 70 supported the proposal and 22 were against. A hearing will be held tomorrow.
Some groups were vehemently opposed to the move, including the neighbouring Canterbury A&P Association, which has used the space for car parking during its annual show.
In a submission, A&P Association event director Geoff Bone said the removal of the last natural open green space at Nga¯ Puna Wai would reduce its ability to welcome enough visitors to support the size and scale of the annual show. ‘‘It is no exaggeration to state this may end the New Zealand Agricultural Show as we know it.’’
Up to 800 people were expected to be at the centre at any one time on weekends and up to 1000 when local or national tournaments were being held.
Some submitters were worried at the extra distance players would have to travel and were concerned children would have to play late at night.
Rodda said Nga¯ Puna Wai was only about 5 kilometres from Hagley Park and children would play directly after school and possibly on Saturday.
‘‘At no time has there been any thought of young people playing at that hour of the night.’’
Several supporters, including Nicole Pickard, said the indoor facility would be a great opportunity for parents.
‘‘I want to continue to play netball but have had to make the hard decision to either forgo watching my children’s sports or forgo playing the sport I love, because they both clash. If there is an indoor stadium then there is the possibility of us playing at night.’’
Nga¯ Puna Wai, which opened in stages from October 2018, is already home to athletics, hockey, league and tennis. Another indoor facility is being built for athletes in throwing sports.