Tauranga Domain Multi Use Arena/Stadium proposed by Priority One and TCC.
“Don’t worry, the ratepayers will always pick up maintenance and operating costs. More increase on your rates.”
Multi Use Arena/Stadium Basic Outline
Tauranga’s elite have decided that Tauranga needs a multiuse arena (MUA or Stadium) in downtown Tauranga. This would use a large part of Tauranga Domain. The council has now joined the party and Priority One is pushing this concept forward as there is no way to object to the proposal. (The governing commissioners are not responsible to the community). The only reasoning for an MUA in town is that after an event the spectators will all go downtown and spend their money. With a likely maximum of 20 scheduled events per annum, this will only rarely happen.
To date,( June 2022) there has been no community consultation and none appears to be planned until the feasibility studies are completed. The commissioners have just signed off on the second round of feasibility studies. The community will have to pay for a significant portion of the facility through increased rates, but they are not being asked for their views.
The contribution from Tauranga residents is likely to come from four sources:
1. Direct funding towards building the stadium
2. Annual funding of operating costs
3. Increased charges to attend sporting and cultural events
4. Reduced funding for other community organisations and projects (as funders prioritise funding this stadium)
This MUA is being designed for 8000 -12000 people and amazingly no car parking is being provided.
The other question is WHY does Tauranga need a MUA for reactangular-field sports (rugby, league and soccer), when the Domain is perfectly big enough for almost all rugby, league and soccer matches, and Baypark is available now and has been used before for major rugby games? Music and cultural events are also planned, but Baypark or other venues (e.g. Bay Oval, which is currently discussing hosting music events) seem better suited, as they can already fit as many people as the Domain will end up and than are located in a better position for late-night transport (i.e. parking or park & ride).
Tauranga City Council zoning and the future vision for Tauranga has high rise developments on the Te Papa peninsula, with a community of 40,000 people living here. Tauranga Domain will be the only place where community sports can be played by these people and one of the very few green spaces left in downtown for recreation. The athletics track is used by many diverse groups, today there were disabled children were using the athletics track.
Currently Tauranga Domain is home to bowls, croquet, tennis, athletics, cricket, rugby and has the only world class athletics track this side of the Kaimais. These are all community sports, and all those sports will be removed or impacted by a MUA in Tauranga Domain.
The Council plan is to move croquet and bowls to somewhere else, leave tennis in the domain (tennis access will be heavily impacted by any major event at the MUA), move the athletics track to Baypark Speedway and kick out the speedway. The cost of all these movements is not included in any of the cost estimates for the MUA. A lot of effort for a lightly used MUA with no car parking.
Other cities have inner city parks and place a high amenity value on them. Think Central Park in New York, an oasis of green. However here in Tauranga, the plan will destroy the only green area left in downtown.
Tauranga Domain must remain a green space and a place of community sports.
There were over 200 pages of feasibility studies recently presented to the council, mostly reports designed to reinforce the already made decision to build a MUA in Tauranga Domain. There was no coherent business case presented, just a lot of “pie in the sky” hopeful estimates. Using the same data, a case can be made to place an MUA near Tauriko or Baypark.
That is, if the community of Tauranga wants a MUA.
The cost is estimated to be around $180 million without the additional cost of all the other code moves. The number will escalate with time and ratepayers will pay this cost and the annual running cost deficit.
The MUA appears to be an enormous ratepayer subsidy to downtown businesses, but even that will only benefit the businesses for a few days every year.
Layout showing multi use arena in Tauranga Domain. This will negatively impact on all the current community sports users of the park. Where can cars for 12000 people park in downtown Tauranga? What are the effects of the noise annoyance from concerts to the proposed high rise apartment blocks living nearby. Take the arena to a better place.
May 2022. TCC is proposing to also reduce the amount of green space in Memorial Park by extending the swimming complex. Now we have two of the central green space areas being massively reduced in size. It lools like there is little value in retaining green spaces for the inner city residents.
May 2022 — The details are released. First the cost - 2025 figures of construction cost is $ 166 million, the majority to be met by a targeted rate. More rate increases. Arena will never break even financially and cost ratepayers up to $15 million per annum. Another subsidy to business from ratepayers. Commissioners are all go , they do not have to pay your rates, add this to the extra cost for the city precinct and the ratepayers have to fund an additional unbudgeted $500 million plus in debt. And this is before any cost blowouts.
What are they proposing, is a camel. We were not too far wrong in our concepts. See below. The city will lose a bowling club, croquet club, an all weather running track, an open green space all for a few concerts and a handful of rugby games. The stadium will house 10,000 people. There is no additonal parking planned. Why are they doing this?