Safety concerns over event centre
Dawkins eyeing 2020 Games
The Gore District Council will carry out urgent remedial work on the concrete tiered seating at the MLT Event Centre – but Netball Eastern Southland bosses will be demanding answers as to why they were not told about structural concerns.
The council issued a press release at 4.30pm yesterday, saying an assessment of one of the seating support walls, carried out by a structural engineer last week, identified issues with the area’s capacity to support significant weights.
The council has now closed off the seating area and will undertake design work to strengthen it, which should be carried out next month.
It is not clear when the cracks were noticed but the council stated that the seating area was assessed by a structural engineer last week.
Netball Eastern Southland had its competition finals played last Saturday.
A Southland-wide netball semi-final was played at the centre on August 16 and finals for Eastern Southland’s netball competition were played on August 18.
The seating area was used by players and supporters on both occasions.
NES president Tracey Powley said the council had not made the
‘‘We support them closing it if there are safety issues but we will be asking them why we didn’t know before now.’’ NES president Tracey Powley
‘‘I love coming back [to the velodrome], it’s where it all started for me.’’ Eddie Dawkins
organisation aware that there were structural concerns and it would be asking why.
‘‘We support them closing it if there are safety issues but we will be asking them why we didn’t know before now.
‘‘We won’t be saying any more until we know more.’’
Council chief executive Stephen Parry and Gore district mayor Tracy Hicks were unable for comment last night.
Eddie Dawkins always gets a special feeling when he walks into the Invercargill velodrome.
It’s where he developed as a cyclist and gained opportunities to ride nationally and overseas. He is Southland’s most successful rider and earlier this year, the athlete won a gold medal for New Zealand in the team sprint at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.
‘‘I love coming back [to the velodrome], it’s where it all started for me,’’ Dawkins said.
‘‘This is where I started to become a high performance athlete . . . the serious commitment started here.’’
He rode at the Junior World Championships for the first time in 2007, and competed at the Senior World Championships the following year.
Dawkins’s main focus is to ride at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020, with the goal being for him, Ethan Mitchell and Sam Webster to win gold in the team sprint.
The trio have ridden together for New Zealand for nine years but have not won the Olympic gold medal in the team sprint. ‘‘That’s the one we want.’’ Dawkins, 28, is spending a couple days in Invercargill visiting family and friends before returning to Cycling New Zealand’s high performance training centre in Cambridge on Sunday.
He held a coaching session for junior riders at the velodrome yesterday and will again today. Dawkins brought south one of the Avanti bikes he rode at the Commonwealth Games.
‘‘It was made for the New Zealand Olympic team . . . the frame’s worth $15,000, the wheels are both $3000 and handle bars are $30,000.’’
‘‘I love coming back [to the velodrome], it’s where it all started for me.’’ Eddie Dawkins
The Invercargill velodrome rated highly with overseas venues, Dawkins said.
‘‘This is the fastest velodrome in New Zealand.’’
He keeps up with Southland track and road cycling news on Cycling Southland’s website and gets the organisation’s information emails.
From early October to late February, Dawkins will ride at the Oceania Championships in Adelaide, World Cup carnivals in France and Canada, Cambridge World Cup and World Championships in Poland.
Before retiring Dawkins would like to compete in the sixday Tour of Southland.
‘‘If I do, I hope it’s nice weather.’’