Belated council certificate leaves 5000 netballers on the bench
Thousands of Christchurch netballers have had their first game for the season axed due to the lack of a city council certificate allowing public use of a building.
About 500 teams from various clubs across the city had their weekend games at Hagley Park cancelled because The Atrium, the building at the netball grounds, had not been granted a certificate for public use (CPU) after earthquake repairs.
The Christchurch Netball Centre (CNC) made the decision on Thursday to cancel games, affecting more than 5000 players, netball manager Megan McLay said.
The Christchurch City Council supplied the certificate to CNC yesterday afternoon, but it was too late to reinstate any of the cancelled games.
‘‘We made the decision on the information we had and at this late stage I certainly couldn’t recall that decision, and we were certainly exposed to a risk if not having [the CPU],’’ McLay said.
Council head of building consenting Robert Wright said the council had ‘‘received sufficient evidence to be satisfied on reasonable grounds that the building is safe for public occupancy’’ by yesterday afternoon.
‘‘We have [yesterday] issued the Christchurch Netball Centre with a certificate for public use.
‘‘As always, public safety is paramount, and it is essential that due diligence is followed to ensure buildings can be safely occupied.’’
About 48 of Christchurch’s closed and restricted grade teams would still play.
Earlier yesterday, a council spokeswoman said it had not received the evidence it needed for the certificate.
Council staff had been working with CNC since February 8 and on Thursday had ‘‘not yet made a decision as to whether a certificate for public use can be issued [yesterday]’’, the spokeswoman said.
McLay said she thought it would have been a risk to run the full schedule of netball without the building’s amenities, including team rooms, toilets and a kitchen.
‘‘I didn’t consider it’d be safe to run it without access to the building, with our physio running out of a container and just four toilets available.’’
She said people affected by the cancellations had been ‘‘more than understanding’’. ‘‘The situation is completely out of our control. There really was probably no other safe decision to make.’’
McLay said it was not a case that some aspect of The Atrium’s repairs was not up to a particular standard when inspected for the CPU. But there was ‘‘always the odd thing that comes up and it’s something that wasn’t able to be done in time’’, she said.
‘‘Little bits and pieces and contractors and things sometimes take longer than you anticipate.
‘‘Sometimes when you look at something, then there’s a fire compliance issue or there’s some other issue that you need to deal with.’’