Velodrome case ‘very optimistic’

A velodrome in Napier would have been mostly used by well-off males, and wouldn’t have lifted sports participation by Maori or low socio-economic communities, according to Sport NZ.

The Dominion Post has obtained Sport NZ’s position paper to Napier City Council’s proposed Multi-Use-Sports-Facility (MUSF) under the Official Information Act.

Council chief executive Wayne Jack said earlier this month that the $22.9 million proposal would be shelved after advice from Sport NZ that it did not support it in its current form.

The position paper questions a number of findings in the council’s business case, which Sport NZ said included projections that were unrealistic and unsustainable.

Sport NZ said the number of Maori and lower socio-economic people participating in sport was declining and any response to participation in Hawke’s Bay should consider the needs of those communities.

It said only about 1000 people in the region would use an indoor cycling facility and ‘‘velodrome usage statistics indicate that it is a male-orientated sport for lower deprivation individuals/communities’’.

Sport NZ questioned a number of projections in the business case, including the assumption that the velodrome would achieve 85 per cent of the usage seen at Waikato’s Avantidrome.

The population of Napier, Hastings and Central Hawke’s Bay was just 65 per cent of the Waikato population near the Avantidrome.

It said the business case’s estimation of likely club use over the first five years – 15,702 rides over 1044 hours a year – was not ‘‘realistic or sustainable’’.

The business case projected significant use by schools, with revenue from schools expected to hit $100,000 a year by year five.

But Sport NZ said the same assumption was not backed up by experience at Southland velodrome, where there is no regular school use, or the Avantidrome, which is used by just four schools.

The business case expected the velodrome to make a net operating surplus of $11,000 in the first year – a figure Sport NZ said was ‘‘extremely optimistic’’.

Jack said the business case was robust and evidence-based ‘‘and we stand by it’’.

The council took all steps available to obtain evidence and there was ‘‘significant engagement’’ before completion of the business case, which was peer reviewed by the council and by Sport NZ.

‘‘It’s fair to say that until just after our workshop with Sport NZ in May, they had not raised any concerns about the business case with us, even though they worked with us over 12 months in its development and preparation.

‘‘We have communicated our disappointment with the process to Sport NZ and would have been happy to revisit aspects of the business case along the way had they been raised, which might have resulted in a different outcome.’’

The council had put aside $500,000 for the business case. It could not say how much the project had cost.