Council fees have bowlers reeling

A Hamilton bowling club is aghast after being told that it would need to pay the council $236,000 in development contributions (DCs) before it could erect a canopy over its bowling green.

DCs are usually paid by property developers to help pay for the infrastructure that supports developments.

The Frankton club has long been a stalwart of the inner city lawn bowls scene and was seeking to make its greens more comfortable and attractive for members before the shock bill halted work.

A planned PVC canopy of more than 1100 square metres would go over a new carpeted green at the Hamilton Workingmen’s Clubbased Junction Bowling Club. It is part of $1.5 million in development after its merger with the Frankton Railway Bowling Club.

Hamilton Workingmen’s Club (HWC) general manager Ken Marcum is worried about the extra financial pressure the $236,000 bill would create.

‘‘It would be very close to putting the skids under the project,’’ he said yesterday. He has approached mayor Paula Southgate and her deputy, Angela O’Leary, for help.

In late October, council staff responding to a resource-consent application advised the canopy was set to trigger the $236,000 in DCs because it would increase the site’s official ‘‘gross floor area’’.

A consultant for HWC told the staffer this must be a mistake. ‘‘I have prepared many resource consent applications for similar structures for bowls clubs throughout New Zealand. We have never been charged a DC on the structure within any other council jurisdiction.’’

But the staffer said the charges were a ‘‘standard application of the Hamilton City Council DC policy’’ and that a High Court judicial review had upheld the

TOM LEE/STUFF Deputy mayor Angela O'Leary has been approached by the club for help and says, ‘‘I have been trying to do something.’’ Hamilton Workingmen's Club general manager Ken Marcum says the club has been blindsided by a council request for $236,000.