Cricket association championing $16.3m upgrade at Pukekura Park
Taranaki Cricket is behind a full $16.3 million redevelopment of Pukekura Park’s battered Bellringer Pavilion and is encouraging its stakeholders to back the project.
Replacing the earthquake prone and not fit-for-purpose pavilion is just one option where the public can have their say as part of the New Plymouth District Council’s draft $4 billion 10-year plan.
The current building, built in 1924, has seismic issues, does not meet current building standards and no longer meets the requirements for first class cricket.
Taranaki Cricket general manager Ryan Evans was pleased the pavilion project was included as an option in the long-term plan.
“Pukekura Park is an important place to our passionate cricket community here in Taranaki and we’re working on a few initiatives to make sure as many of them as possible can have their voices heard through this process,” he said.
The pavilion stretches further than cricket, Evans said, as it was a popular community facility.
“We’ll be asking that the necessary work to bring it up to scratch is kept in the NPDC plan for the benefit of all its users.”
The upgrade, at a cost of $16.3m, would be a welcome relief for cricket fans in the region after New Zealand Cricket threatened to blacklist the venue because of the pavilion’s state.
Pukekura Park hosted two match days in the Supersmash domestic Twenty20 competition over the summer with temporary infrastructure measures in place.
Evans said he was very happy with how it came together.
“We’re in an ongoing dialogue with Central Districts and New Zealand Cricket about our desire to continue to bring these matches to the park and expect scheduling decisions to be released in due course.”
The preferred option includes building a new pavilion where the ground staff shed is currently situated. The new building will feature larger changing rooms and facilities for media, scorers and officials.
Other options include repairing the existing building at a cost of $1m to cater for local community use but would not be suitable for top level domestic cricket, demolishing the existing pavilion and not replacing it at a cost of $420,000, or delay the work and accept the risk and close the building entirely.
The pavilion is just one sporting-related option on the table in the plan.
A new $35m option is proposed to build a new indoor stadium with at least four courts, as part of a lower cost alternative to the Tūparikino Active Community hub project at New Plymouth Raceway.
The project was put on hold last year after the cost ballooned out from $91m to $110m with Cyclone Gabrielle and a gloomy economic outlook contributing factors to the pause.
Deputy mayor David Bublitz has been a long-time advocate for the project. He said the community needed more indoor courts for volleyball, netball and basketball.
“We owe it to our community that we continue with this project.”
Other items up for public consultation include a $9m upgrade to Brooklands
Zoo, doubling renewal funding for local roads, bridges, and footpaths to $315m, and increasing funding for disaster recovery and sustainability initiatives.
Submissions can be made online at www.npdc.govt.nz/10-year-plan/.
Feedback closes at 5pm on Friday, April 19.