New plan for active hub as cost up by $19m
The budget for the proposed Tū parikino Active Community Hub has risen to $110 million as stakeholders forge ahead with construction plans.
The cost of the hub has caused widespread speculation and led to New Plymouth District Council ‘‘pausing’’ involvement in the project in December amid fears of a budget blowout from its projected $91m cost.
The pause put the council’s pledge of $40m, along with a further $11m in operational expenditure in limbo.
The project’s future came further into question after the council published an agenda for Tuesday’s extraordinary meeting which included a budget reduction for the hub in its 2023/24 annual plan from $5.9m to $950,000.
However, the hub’s governance group issued a release on Thursday outlining how it proposed to move the project forward, including a decision to build the hub’s stadium as stage one in October next year, while pushing the development of the artificial turfs, playing fields and in-field facility at New Plymouth’s racecourse, which was supposed to start this year, out to an unspecified date.
The release said the project was ‘‘well placed’’ to attract central government support and the full extent of that would be clear by the end of June.
Tū parikino Active Community Hub independent chairperson Lyal French-Wright believed the revised project timing would maximise funding and design options.
‘‘This is positive news for the project, which has been strongly positioned by our community,’’ he said.
‘‘It is vital we hold steady and keep working together to get the result our community deserves and wants.’’
New Plymouth mayor Neil Holdom believed pushing the project’s timeline out would allow the council to make a clearer decision on its future when the next long-term plan started, especially if they knew where the government sat with its funding.
‘‘At the forefront of our mind is balancing the desire to provide modern facilities to support healthy lifestyles with keeping the project affordable for our ratepayers,’’ he said.
The hub also has continued support from Te Kotahitanga o Te Atiawa.
‘‘We support our local hapū and community to realise the Hub as a place for everyone in a way that moves far beyond sport,’’ Te Kotahitanga o Te Atiawa chief executive Dion Tuuta said.
According to Sport New Zealand’s Insights Tool, overall 29.7% of people in the New Plymouth district were inactive, 3.9% more than the national average, a statistic Sport Taranaki chief executive Michael Carr said the hub would help improve dramatically.