Further use of Woodville reserve investigated

At its January 29 monthly meeting the Tararua District Council, after a lengthy debate, gave permission to investigate further the use of the Woodville Recreation Reserve Grounds.

Late last year Woodville Districts’ Vision asked Woodville in Focus Inc to investigate the building of a skate park. At a TDC workshop December 11 WiFi presented a proposal for a Sport and Recreation Hub in Woodville on the Grounds used irregularly for rugby and the occasional public event, greatly expanding its brief.

Included in the proposal were a skate park, tennis courts, a basketball court, cricket nets, a traffic park, a water park, new car parking, petanque and chess facilities, a barbecue, toilets and a pedestrian boardwalk from Normanby Street.

WiFi prioritised the traffic park, skate park and tennis courts as the heart of the hub and sought permission to seek funding from external funding agencies and the Manawatu¯ -Tararua Highway consortium to undertake community consultation and develop detailed design plans initially before seeking construction funding.

The grounds are owned by Council and it has an agreement with the Woodville Recreation Trust regarding the use and development of the existing old rugby clubrooms.

It has no proposed budgets to maintain and renew additional facilities.

Future funding would have to be considered in the 2021-2031 Long Term Plan.

Initial debate at the council meeting supported giving permission to WiFi to investigate the proposal further but Councillor Johns pointed out WiFi had exceeded its brief and that WVD should be the vehicle to continue the investigation.

Debate raged about the two groups seemingly in conflict until a compromise was struck asking Woodville Districts Vision in liaison with Woodville in Focus Inc to undertake further investigation, noting further information is necessary before a decision can be made on this matter.

It asked for an assessment of future needs, a business case covering costs and funding sources, agreement from the Woodville Recreation Trust and a Reserves Management Plan for all the reserved land in Woodville.

The compromise was passed with Councillor Johns dissenting, concluding with a comment from Councillor Franklin that she hoped the two groups could work together.

“Woodville has a massive opportunity with the new highway development. Locals need to come together,” she said.