Sports hub key to football’s future

The Central Football Federation still intends to create a centre for the sport in New Plymouth, but where depends on the outcome of proposals to build a sports hub at the city’s racecourse.

The federation had planned to establish up to five all-weather playing fields plus changing rooms on land it bought in 2016 near New Plymouth Airport, but now it has decided to sell the land.

Central Football chief executive Darren Mason said the organisation was one of the 11 codes that are part of the proposed racecourse sports hub.

The project, which is still under discussion, is being spearheaded by Sport Taranaki with the support of the New Plymouth District Council (NPDC).

‘‘We will wait and see where that lands,’’ Mason said. ‘‘If it does not work out, we may need to look at alternatives.’’

He did not immediately rule out the federation contributing towards the cost of a sports hub.

‘‘We are not saying no to these sorts of questions. We would need to understand what is happening and what others are contributing.

‘‘There are a whole lot of questions that are unknown at the moment. We need to see the process out.’’

The other option could be developing its own football hub on a different site to Airport Drive.

‘‘Having a football hub in one area is the way we want to go.

‘‘Whether that is through a multi-sports hub model or another option, time will tell.’’

The board will meet on Sunday to decide when the land will be put on the market.

In September 2019, the land had a capital value of $1.3 million, according to the Taranaki Regional Council website.

A portion of the 13.7-hectare site was sold to Waka Kotahi for road improvements, so 9.75ha remains. The proposal to sell all the land was prompted by uncertainty around NPDC’s proposed rezoning of the surrounding area to ‘‘Future Urban’’ and how that would affect Central Football’s ability to build, Mason said.

‘‘It became obvious it was likely to be rezoned to allow lifestyle blocks but we were surprised that it was suggested it would not be allowed to be used for recreational purposes, because that was our obvious intention, what we bought it for.

‘‘We knew when we purchased it there was potentially a roading project to the airport that was likely to happen, so we knew it would be some time before we were in a position to do anything.’’

The sale is likely to bring significant gain for the federation and a charitable trust has been set up to manage the proceeds.

Most the other regions had central football hubs, Mason said.

‘‘We have lots of grounds but there are lots of them, we don’t have a hub.

‘‘We want a reasonable-sized area where there can be a number of football games, and junior football can all be at the same place. In Taranaki they end up spread all over the place.’’

Sport Taranaki chief executive Michael Carr said Central Football had been part of the sports hub project from the beginning.

‘‘From our perspective it is about getting a real understanding now of their needs. They are obviously looking to move on from that plan [for their own facility] and they have always been part of this plan.’’

Construction of the sports hub is proposed to begin in year four of the NPDC Long Term Plan but this depends on the outcome of a legal challenge by Taranaki Racing Incorporated against a stadium being built in the centre of the racecourse.