We were driving through the Hutt on Sunday so stopped to check out Petone Rec for the first time in years.
A few thoughts:
- We were there for about 20 mins at 3pm on a Sunday afternoon and literally saw two people walking dogs and about 10 seagulls. That's it. It may get used a lot at other times but clearly not all the time. To be fair, it was pretty cold and windy on Sunday but in some ways that just strengthens the case for the stadium. If it is built it locks in a minimum amount of usage of that space, regardless of other factors. At 3pm on a Sunday there could have been 10,000 people there. Over the course of a year there will be approx. 150,000 visits to the Rec just to watch football.
- The Rec is massive. I stood approximately where the northern side of the stadium would be and there was still 5 rugby pitches in front of me. Compared to a lot of other communities around the region that's still a big space to have available.
- The stand at the western end should probably be knocked down regardless of whether it is assessed as an earthquake risk or not. Either that or it needs a major upgrade. As it is now it would not be fit for purpose.
- If Petone Rugby/Cricket and Hutt City Council are facing the prospect of that stand possibly being demolished anyway maybe a way to sweeten the deal for them would be to include building a brand new stand/clubrooms in the proposal, located somewhere else on the rec. Yes, it would add to the cost but it still might be worth doing to get the whole thing over the line? It might also help to more clearly delineate the football and rugby/cricket parts of this development. At the moment I suspect that Petone rugby and cricket think this is all downside for them and that they won't ever actually get to use the new stadium themselves. So why not turn that right on it's head and say "you will actually be better off than you are now, sitting in your comfy new 500 seat stand and clubrooms". It's possible this sort of discussion is already happening in the background. Maybe Petone rugby are simply using their rejection of the proposal as a starting point for negotiation?
Isn't the real question should the council spend 25 million dollars on a stadium when the Phoenix already have a place to play? We all know Westpac is not very good at all for football but it has its upsides. I actually think the opposition to the stadium has been largely miscategorised. Very few people are NIMBYs. Most of the people you hear from who are opposed are anti-development. They would still oppose the stadium if it was built in Karori. I think most of the opposition which you don't always hear when you go to meetings stems from the $25 million price tag. The people of the Hutt have already contributed to a stadium in Wellington and they don't see the demand for another. What happens if the Phoenix stop existing? What happens if there are cost overruns?
Ryan54 - this a direct quote from the "Don't Wreck our Petone Rec" Facebook page: "I think you will find that many of us agree there is a need for a smaller stadium just not here (I guess that makes us proud Nimby's) there is too much at stake for it to be built on our heavily used green space". That's the statement I'm challenging above.
That is straight up NIMBYism. I agree that the argument against the stadium would make more sense to me if it was purely that it was not needed from a regional perspective, but that's not what they're saying (and I would still disagree anyway).
As for the $25m price tag, considering the other half is being paid for privately that makes it a bargain for Hutt City (considering the potential benefits).