Western Leader

Bumping policy irks users

- SIMON SMITH

The bumping of bookings for higher-paying commercial events at The Trusts Arena is driving some community groups away.

Learning 30 days out that their event has been displaced can cause strife for organisers, making them scramble to find an alternativ­e date or venue.

But stadium chief executive Mark Gosling says the not-forprofit arena over the past year gave $319,943 in discounts to community groups, and it couldn’t do so with out the bumping policy.

‘‘It’s not something that we like doing,’’ he says. ‘‘All the money that we make – pretty much all of it – gets ploughed back into running the business, looking after the building and also ... being able to rent the spaces out to community groups for well below what their commercial value would be.’’

Waitakere West Auckland Basketball Inc is a high user of the stadium, with about 3500 members. Operations manager Aik Ho says ‘‘every week’’ it gets a bumping.

‘‘When you guys bump us, we can’t go anywhere ... and the kids are the ones that miss out.’’

Gosling says the stadium is working with WWABI to find a better way forward, but community groups often like to set bookings a year in advance.

‘‘But we can’t operate like that ... we don’t know six months out what our major commercial bookings are going to look like.’’

NZ Grappler had been putting on four to six Brazilian jiu-jitsu events a year at The Trust Arena, but is now using ASB Stadium in Kohimarama.

A spokespers­on says it was also sick of having events bumped. ‘‘We pay more [to ASB Stadium], because they are so amazing to work with,’’ she says.

George Tauleale’ausumai organises an American football tournament called Steeldome Gladiators, but is now in talks to hold the event at Netball Waitakere instead of the arena. He says the shift is due to the bumping policy but he also found communicat­ion with the arena difficult, including around pricing.

‘‘Ideally, we would love to go back to The Trusts Arena.’’

Gosling says the arena, governed by the Waitakere City Stadium Trust, gets only about 15 per cent of its gross revenue from council and the licensing trusts – its naming-right sponsors. The other 85 per cent has to be recovered from its users.

 ?? PHOTO: SIMON SMITH ?? George Tauleale’ausumai organises the Steeldome Gladiators event but is now abandoning The Trusts Arena, pictured behind.
PHOTO: SIMON SMITH George Tauleale’ausumai organises the Steeldome Gladiators event but is now abandoning The Trusts Arena, pictured behind.

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