Sport NZ under fire as $ 800k sails away

Site controversial from the outset, with community groups railing against attempts to close down the Takapuna Holiday Park

Sport New Zealand has come under fire from the Auditor General over payments made to an Auckland trust totalling $ 800,000.

It comes after a series of complaints over Sport NZ’s funding of the Harbour Access Trust, which was to lead the development of the illfated National Ocean Water Sports Centre, which later morphed into the Community Marine Hub, in Takapuna.

The facility proved controversial from the outset, with community groups railing against attempts to close down the popular Takapuna Holiday Park — the site for which the high performance centre was planned.

The project was scuppered in July last year after four years of protracted battles with the local community board.

Over that time Sport NZ paid out $ 800,000 to the Harbour Access Trust, led by Auckland developer Peter Wall, before a sod had been turned or resource consent granted. With efforts to build in Takapuna having been abandoned and Yachting NZ now scouting locations elsewhere for the centre, Sport NZ has little to show for that money.

One of the chief detractors of the project, Auckland man Colin Flavell, asked the Auditor General to investigate what he believes was “fiscal incompetence” from Sport NZ bosses, who demonstrated an “unsuitability to administer public funds”.

The key allegations were: That Sport NZ produced an inadequate and flawed business case to justify an investment of $ 3m to HAT; Despite only committing $ 300,000 in “seed money”, Sport NZ continued to pay out another $ 500,000 to fund a series of “wasteful and abortive attempts” to gain permission to build the centre on a public reserve; There was no written agreement or contract between Sport NZ and HAT; Sport NZ did not do its due diligence into HAT, and had not resolved the ownership structure of the new building at the time it began funding the project.

A spokesman for the Auditor General’s office confirmed the organisation is “going through a process” with Sport NZ in relation to concerns raised about HAT.

“Our correspondence with the parties involved is ongoing, and we don’t provide public updates on progress,” the spokesman said in response to Herald enquiries.