LAST DAY FOR SUBMISSIONS! Petone Arena/HCC Annual Plan Submission

Hey everyone.

We want all you football fans to make a submission in support of EXPLORING the Petone Arena proposal. 

Fact is at the moment the knee-jerk, any-change-is-bad brigade have stirred up emotion (including shamelessly spreading fair swathes of misinformation) and there is a genuine chance they will derail the whole idea.

Good on them for having their say and having it loudly, but if we (the silent majority) don't counter their scaremongering then we will be doing ourselves, the Phoenix, and football a disservice.

It's fair to say (and has been said by many over in the General Arena Chat Thread) that the Phoenix, and Welnix, have been woeful in stating their case for the Arena. They just threw it out there and let it rot. Well, we can either blame them for that or we can persevere regardless. I'm certainly in the latter camp. 

Anyone can make a submission, you need to craft it to your circumstances. If you live in the Hutt, speak to why it would be good for the Hutt. If you live in the city, speak to the fact that you would travel to the Hutt to attend games, spend money, etc etc. And of course emphasise how good it would be for football.

Here is a place to start. It is NOT a template. It's just a leg up.

Take this, make it your own. And if you want to contribute in this thread, suggest your own amendments.

Then, submit it like this: http://huttcity.govt.nz/annualplan

Submissions close at 5pm on Friday 16 May.  It’s easy to lodge a submission.  You can complete the questionnaire online, email your feedback to us at annualplan@huttcity.govt.nz or write to us at Draft Annual Plan, Freepost 100039, Private Bag 31-912, Lower Hutt 5040.

If you lodge a submission by 5pm on 16 May, you can also talk to the Mayor and councillors about your thoughts at meetings to be held on 28 and 29 May.  Council will meet on 11 June to consider the submissions and make final decisions. 

To the Mayor and Councilors

Hutt City Council

Private Bag 31912

LOWER HUTT

SUBMISSION FOR HCC DRAFT ANNUAL PLAN – PETONE ARENA

I am writing in support of the Petone Arena proposal.  I understand Council is seeking to gauge the level of support for the proposal and I want to let them know that I endorse the plan for the development of the stadium at the Petone Recreation Ground.

I am a member of Yellow Fever. I'm a fan of the Phoenix. I'm passionate about football and I like sports in general too. I regularly attend Phoenix A-League matches and other events.  If those events were in a new, smaller, arena in Petone that is the right shape for football I think it would be great. 

I am excited by the possibility of watching sport at the Arena and I'm not alone.  We will come to Petone, support our team, and enjoy the hospitality and entertainment on offer.   

here have been some vocal opponents of the proposal. But while they might be loud they aren't necessarily right, or in the majority. 

The Wellington region needs great public facilities and I applaud the Hutt City Council for taking the lead with this bold initiative.

Yours faithfully

FULL NAME

RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS

I'll send my submission in by the end of the week.

Great call Smithy!  I'm an Aucklander and I'm still going to submit my 5cents! 

StunningC...makes a good point. You don't need to be a HCC resident to contribute. 

Submitted. I may not be as hardline as some but here's a taste of how I went about tackling the opposition:

--

I think a lot of the very vocal opposition comes from people who feel connected to the ground and fear it will be lost to them.

There are many discussions to be had around these finer details, but the important thing is to be able to have these discussions.

My 10c added at any rate

Registered an account to submit online. Never got an activation email. 

Shambles. 

It'll probably show up next week sometime. 

How can I make experiences at AAMI/Lakeside Stadium in Melbourne relevant? "Rectangular stadiums are awesome, AAMI park, Lake Side Stadium; the region will benefit exponentially with one" etc. etc?

One point I keep coming back to is that the entire Wellington region needs, and will benefit, from this ground.

And not just for the Phoenix... make it about them, not about us (because it isn't).

Awesome work team. Go democracy! Christo I like your points. Might add them to the example if that's okay? (Time permitting).

 Also might have to sort out the insurance claim when I get home tonight and the house has been firebombed by angry retirees.

Have they not come around with Pitchforks and flaming torches yet?

Made my submission. I am a visitor and have submitted based on that and on previous sports administration experience.

Re: Petone stadium development proposal

I am a resident of Napier and a fan of the Wellington Phoenix Football club. I travel to Wellington on average 6 times a year to attend Phoenix football matches in Wellington. I visit for the sole reason of watching them play. My visit entails travel to Wellington, refuel of my vehicle, overnight accommodation in an inner city hotel, meals and entertainment on game day and in the evening. I estimate that each of my visits would involve injecting around $550 into the Wellington community. Should the Phoenix move to Petone, I would spend almost the same amount [accommodation would be cheaper] but am more likely to attend more games for a variety of reasons. Some of those being: Cheaper accommodation, free or cheaper parking for my vehicle, an easier area to navigate around, and the ability to bring other members of the family more often to visit family in the Hutt.

From a footballing perspective, it is no secret that a purpose built stadium is far better for the spectator and contributes greatly to the atmosphere at sporting events. I have been a small sports administrator in NZ for a period and there is definitely a dearth of small, compact stadia that can accommodate rectangle field sports events with a capacity of between 10,000 and 20,000 people. i have organised events at North Harbour Stadium, Mt Smart stadium and Eden Park and the costs are very prohibitive for sports organisations. I have also organised events at snmaller venues such as The National Stadium in Rotorua, Nelson Park in Hastings and Cooks Gardens in Wanganui. The costs associated with those venues are far less than the larger stadia and largely based on the fact that less staff and security and power etc is required to operate smaller venues.

Thank you for your time.

Sweet, I created a login and submitted online supporting the arena. Hopefully they listen, just depends on how vocal the opposition might be too.

My submission, like Christo I'm not hardline, just my views at the moment...

I am writing regarding the submission for the Petone Arena. As a resident of Petone and Wellington Phoenix supporter and season ticket holder I am writing in general support of the proposal. I would like to see the proposal explored further and a greater discussion be held on this potentially hugely exciting development in the Hutt City.

As a resident I would like to see further conversation and consultation to discuss both the positive and negative connotations of the scheme. However I am largely excited at the prospect of a brand new boutique stadium being established which will not only create a fantastic environment for a team in the A League but will also offer a tremendous alternative to a number sporting clubs for whom Westpac Stadium is not appropriate. The Westpac Stadium itself is a fine facility but is generally too big and the wrong shape for most of the sports events held there. 

It is not just on the sports side where the positive impact will be felt but also the Hutt City as a whole, particularly Petone. A thriving city already is likely to be strengthened only further by a new stadium with the economic benefit undoubted. From a environmental perspective I see the prospective stadium adding a fine atmosphere to the area with a professional football team being completely located under one roof.

I understand that further discussion needs to be had regarding important issues such as transport, parking, further breakdown of costs, impact on local sports clubs and the park itself. I would like to see this discussion develop though and not a huge opportunity be ruled out immediately.

Excellent stuff team. Top marks.

This page has been very active by site standards today. In fact it is the busiest thread by unique page views AND time on site.  It's the only specific thread in the top 10 (the rest are topic pages). 

Almost 50% of people visiting this thread have been new to the site too.

Goes to show, people are interested. If we can convert that interest to caring then we're on our way.

Everyone share it around on Facebook, Twitter etc too so that more people are aware that they can make a submission. I'll be dropping it onto my clubs facebook page (BNU) and other local community pages I'm part of too, as well as forcing it down the throats of all my friends too.

If most of the active users on this forum did this, could well result in at least a couple thousand submissions or more in favour of this.

I've set a new record for "THIS!" too.

Media champion: http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/petone-stadium-plan-faces-public-backlash-video-5952397 

Christo - your work gets in the news too...

Of all the posts on the topic to choose they took my one about Pitchforks and Torches? LOL

I notice there was no coverage of the NIMBYs FB page with some of the nutty comments there.

And the heading of the article focusing on the backlash... which is representative of the piece to be fair. Surely YF aren't the only people in favour of the "concept". Could have interviewed a couple of local businesspeople or Joe/sephine Public who were positive (or at least open to exploring).

Also interesting was they tried to get a comment from Gaz but he's away/unavailable though Welnix/WPFC seemingly couldn't put someone else up to give a positive spin. Or the council... or were they even asked to?

Anyway, keep positive and get those submissions in... #SN2N!

Played there centuries agao but didn't realise how big the park was until I saw that news item. There is heaps of space available!!!!!!

Submission sent!

One submission duly sent!

for what it's worth I sent a submission  for it. short and sweet

The NIMBY's are running scared... Anyone know who runs the Don't Wreck Facebook Page?

Modding the mod. 

I've posted some of that stuff in the Stadium thread. Thought it was best to keep this one positive about ways to help get this over the line. 

Mate, don't give them credit for proper and correct grammar when they can't even use it themselves for the header of their own page

Ok I've shared this on my Facebook, BNU Facebook and Whitby Community Facebook. Will print out and put up at work as well (and hope I don't have any NIMBY's in the midst)

They aren't interested in debating. They are only interested in their own point, also I like Keegan's reply.

Yeah... good point. I'll edit.

I edited a few posts above to remove the image I posted, since a) it was massive and b) it wasn't on topic enough.

They admitted right at the beginning that they "simply don't want it" and that was the point of the page... it was never about balance, fact, debate, learning, or being reasonable.

In other words, classic N.I.M.B.Y. styles.

To be honest, I'm not sure commenting and/or adding links on their page is of much/any benefit, particularly if they're just going to delete them.

If someone can create a more positive page then that would be fantastic... I'd probably even "Like" it.

"Petone Against Nimby Tirades". Or for short, PANTs.

Submission submissively submitted

It's not a "Like-a-thon" at all. And that's not what I'm suggesting. 

Not everyone knows about this website - despite the Hutt News #YFspendup

And more importantly, not everyone is "we". Many people who do support, or at least are open to more discussion and may even make submissions aren't part of YF and won't come here, unless they happen across the ad. Others also don't associate the stadium with YF, rightly. A lot of people would likely be interested in a "debate" but probably don't think they'll get one here... just as seems the case with the DWOR page. 99.3% won't put any effort in, if it's not in front of them, they won't be bothered.

As I saw last night - barely 50 people at the council meeting/presentation around infrastructure and spending that will directly affect tens of thousands of people. Understandably (epic snorefest).

There is no silver (or yellow) bullet.