Last night I had the pleasure of being part of a panel, discussing the local body structure of Hawke’s Bay, the proposed local body structure of Hawke’s Bay and other issues that are contentious here in the Bay.
The function was hosted by Auckland University and the questioners were 100 odd young geography students. And boy – they didn’t take any prisoners. With the honesty of youth they certainly didn’t spare the panellists.
As part of one answer I explained that whilst I am relaxed about Hastings building a sports park and that, of course it will add to the region’s sporting facility stock, it could not reasonably be called “The Regional Sports Park” because there was not a regional consultation process undertaken before the project was begun.
My argument remains that if the region was to build another sporting facility, and the region was going to be asked to assist with funding, then the region should have been consulted as to the siting of the park, the scope of the park and what sports should be included. For instance, Napier might have argued that a competition swimming facility was a greater need for the region that a Velodrome – who knows?
Hastings District Councillor Mick Lester took me to task. He explained at length that the Hastings District Council undertook extensive consultation with sporting codes across the Bay before deciding on the make-up of the Park.
Of course you did Mick. You dangled the promise of world class facilities in front of these sporting codes and naturally they were enthusiastic. I wonder if they would have been as enthusiastic if they had been informed of the cost of moving to and maintaining their presence in such a facility.
And what about Rugby League? They haven’t got a home at all. Could it have been an idea to do something for that sport?
As we move towards a more regional approach to decision making, we need to look to those examples of regional co-operation that are working. And one is the Omarunui Landfill committee. Run out of Hastings, chaired by a Napier City Councillor – a committee that is not interested in proving points – a committee that simply works for the region.
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