This is Christchurch’s perfect Christmas gift
Hagley Park represents the lungs of our city, the great green spaces where we gather to inhale and exhale, throw balls, hit balls, seek recreation and entertainment. But the stoush over installing six lighting towers around Hagley Oval feels like Groundhog Day, an action replay of the original post-quake showdown that embroiled the upgrade of the village-green cricket ground to international standard.
Hands Off Hagley are reprising their role as city killjoys, the high priests of tut-tuttery who seem to resent any semblance of commercial activity within Hagley Park.
If some of their hardliners had their way, Hagley Golf Club would be outski; the night noodle markets would be banished; the Wine and Food Festival would be out of bounds; Christmas in the Park, Sparks in the Park and all such live gigs would be deemed prohibited activities on Hagley’s hallowed ground. It’s a minor miracle the commercial activity at the Curator’s House hasn’t earned their wrath.
But ask any reasonably-minded person to nominate what have been the greatest public developments to emerge from the post-quake rebuild era, and Hagley Oval stands out as a star specimen of an early ‘‘win’’.
After the crushing disappointment of being dropped as a host city of the 2011 Rugby World Cup, four years later our boutique cricket ground played host to the opening game in the 2015 Cricket World Cup.
It was an inflexion point on the long and winding road of the city’s recovery, injecting Christchurch with a newfound sense of pride, vitality – and most importantly, belief.
All of the apocalyptic fearmongering from Hands off Hagley’s puritans that the park was going to hell in a commercialised handcart simply didn’t transpire.
Christchurch lapped up our magnificent new, low-impact, international cricket venue, within walking distance of the city’s heart.
As did the nation – showering praise on the venue’s grassy banks and verdant setting, the antithesis of a concrete jungle. But Hagley Oval will never reach its potential as a match-magnet and visitor-attractor if it can’t host games under lights.
It is patently ridiculous that the South Island is unable to host day-night international matches, or many domestic Super Smash games.
As much as we have fretted that plucky Dunedin has been trumping Christchurch for the spoils of staging so many prime-time events at its covered stadium, lighting up Hagley Oval gives Christchurch the opportunity to ‘‘own’’ day-night cricket-hosting capability in the South Island.
What really is so objectionable about six lighting towers reaching a height of 48.9 metres? Have the zealots who deem these towers some sort of demonic encroachment conveniently overlooked the fact that other parts of Hagley Park’s playing fields are studded with permanent floodlights – and have been for decades.
Erecting these lighting towers will undoubtedly boost the city’s stakes, hosting business-end matches in next year’s Women’s Cricket World Cup.
The Canterbury Cricket Trust (CCT) has also laid out how much Christchurch stands to pocket, hosting far more ODI and T20 internationals, featuring Bangladesh, Australia, the West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, over the next three seasons alone.
Another critical part of CCT’s application is to extend the number of days the oval can be used for prime cricket matches from 13 to 25 a year. You’d have to be a sad-sack to consider that an onerous intrusion. After all, beyond Hagley Oval, you’ve got roughly 121 hectares of open green space in Hagley Park to roam freely.
Alongside submissions to fast-track changes to the District Plan under the Regeneration Act to allow for the lights to be installed, the city council has also been taking submissions on adjusting the existing CCT lease of Hagley Oval, to accommodate the lights.
The council’s consultation period closed yesterday, with well over 2000 submissions received. That’s double the number made on the Christ Church Cathedral council grant.
Hands off Hagley is accusing New Zealand Cricket of enlisting cricket players to lobby, which smacks of sour grapes. Standing up to be counted is what consultation is all about.
Green-lighting the Hagley Oval proposal would be a welcome Christmas present for the city.
... lighting up Hagley Oval gives Christchurch the opportunity to ‘‘own’’ daynight cricket hosting capability in the South Island.