Money rolled away on lost cause

OPINION

It is time to pull the pin on the proposed $6 million bowling hub on Walter Mildenhall Park in Naenae (see our report, pg 19).

In many years covering the council I cannot think of a project that is riskier or more unnecessary.

There is no nice way to say this but as a sport, bowls is on its death-bed.

Take a look at the situation in Hutt City: In recent years clubs have closed in Eastbourne, Petone, the central Hutt and Taita. The only competition that seems to be growing is the Over 80s organised by the Hutt Bowling Club, which also makes valiant attempts to try an encourage new blood into the sport through social bowls and barbecue evenings.

Clubs that are left suffer from both a declining and aging membership.

The Eastbourne Bowling Club is holding an innovative social street vs street competition on Sunday yet struggled to get entries.

Nationally the number of clubs has collapsed from 1340 to 560 since 1998.

The national bowls competition was once one of the biggest events on the sporting calendar. Participation has declined rapidly in recent years and it now hardly gets a mention on Radio Sport.

In the early part of last century coal shovelling was a major and popular sport.

Now it is unheard of and bowls is fast going in the same direction.

The two bowling clubs which stand to benefit from the $6 million extravaganza have a combined membership of 309. That is a subsidy of $13,000 per member, many of whom are only social members.

Petanque players are among those said to benefit from it but just a fortnight ago we carried an article from highly aggrieved petanque players who said the bowls hub would rob them of so many pistes they could no longer host regional and national tournaments.

Sports hubs – such as the Sportsville initiative at Fraser Park also being guided by the Community Facilities Trust – are definitely the way to go.

Shared facilities and administration by a number of sport codes makes financial sense and relieves the burden on a dwindling number of volunteers.

But the bowls centre doesn’t have a firm footing and appears to be a very badly misguided attempt to rejuvenate Naenae.

CFT trustees may have got carried away with their own rhetoric.

At a recent meeting CFT manager Peter Healy used the term ‘‘world class’’ repeatedly to justify spending $6 million.

Naenae does not need a new bowling centre and it certainly does not need a world class facility for a sport that has no future.

Claims that national bowling events will bring millions of dollars to the city are laughable.

Naenae is one of the most deprived parts of the city.

What it needs is a modern library and many more facilities for youth.

Cr Campbell Barry is leading the fight to stop the development but it should never have got this far.

Councillors have given the CFT far too much latitude and the time has now come to show some leadership and call a complete halt to this waste of ratepayer money.

Spend the money on Naenae but spend it on something worthwhile and with a focus on youth.