Public Protest Tauranga Domain 5 March 2023
Up to 500 people attended the Public Protest seated in the grandstand at Tauranga Domain. They listened to speeches from Philip Brown (Tauranga Lawn Tennis Club) Gretchen Benvie ( Tauranga Croquet Club) , Garth Mathieson ( Millenium Track Trust) and Rodney Wood ( Baypark Speedway.)
NZ Herald Report https://www.nzherald.co.nz/bay-of-plenty-times/news/hundreds-protest-against-new-stadium-at-tauranga-domain/HWAFA6XO2BE4RJ3QEZKOEQNC7A/
Speeches 5 March 2023 Tauranga Domain Protest Meeting
Garth Mathieson Tauranga Millenium Trust
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I oppose the Tauranga City Council Active Reserve Masterplans. I am a trustee of the Tauranga Millennium Track Trust and a representative of the Alliance Against the Tauranga City Council Active Reserve Masterplans, which I will call “the Alliance”. I was the chairman of the Tauranga Millennium Track Trust between 2003 and 2009, when it organised the construction of the all-weather athletic track, raised the finance to pay for it, had the track certified as world class by the IAAF, and gifted the track to the Tauranga City Council pursuant to memoranda of understandings between the trust and the council. I witnessedthe work of the trustees and others who all worked for free without any personal gain whatsoever.
The members of the Alliance are Baypark Speedway Association, Tauranga Croquet Club Incorporated, Tauranga Millennium Track Trust, and Tauranga Lawn Tennis Club Incorporated.
The Alliance was formed to oppose the decision of the Tauranga City Council Commissioners to relocate the athletic track to Baypark, to relocate the croquet club and speedway to yet to be determined locations, and to compromise the tennis club. The relocations are in reality extinction notices because there are no suitable sites to relocate these facilities to and no finance to relocate them with.
Background
By way of background the Tauranga Domain located in the central city has been used as a community sports reserve and green space for a long time. Croquet and tennis have both been located at the Tauranga Domain for well over 100 years. Athletics had a grass track at the Tauranga Domain for many decades and in the 2000s constructed the all-weather athletic track, the only one in the Bay of Plenty. Baypark Speedway is located in Mount Maunganui just off State Highway 29A. Baypark Speedway was designed and constructed by Baypark Speedway Association and Bob Clarkson in the early 2000s.
Baypark Speedway’s future is woven together with that of the other members of the Alliance located at the Tauranga Domain, because the Tauranga City Council cannot afford the maintenance costs of two 17000 to 18000 seat stadiums, so if the boutique stadium is constructed at the Tauranga Domain, then Baypark stadium will go.
Standing of the Alliance Members
Common to all four members of the Alliance is that their sporting venues were created and maintained by untold hours of hard voluntary free labour over a very long time by their members to create world class venues for Tauranga City. I pay tribute to these volunteers for their efforts so freely given without any personal financial gain. I stand with them.
I Want to Talk About the Standing of Each Member of the Alliance Starting with Baypark Speedway Association
The original Baypark Speedway facility at Mount Maunganui closed in 1995 because of encroaching housing and increasing rates. The new Baypark Speedway facility was designed by Bob Clarkson and Baypark Speedway Association in 2001. It was intended to be speedway’s home “indefinitely”. Bay of Plenty Speedway Association spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to obtain the necessary consents. Bob Clarkson spent $24 million dollars to construct the Baypark state of the art purpose-built speedway facility. Bob Clarkson sold Baypark Speedway to the Tauranga City Council at a discounted price of $12 million dollars in 2007, gifting the balance and capital gain to the Tauranga City Council. I acknowledge the free labour put in by volunteers to create and maintain the wonderful Baypark Speedway facility.
Moving onto the Standing of Tauranga Croquet Club Incorporated Croquet has been played at the Tauranga Domain for over 120 years. From 1909 to 1922 croquet and tennis were a combined club. The croquet club was incorporated in 1964. The club house was built in 1974, and 80% of the funds were provided from members’ loans. The lawns and irrigation system have been created, maintained, and funded by the hard work of members freely given.
Moving Onto the Standing of the Tauranga Millennium Track Trust From 2003 to 2009 the Tauranga Millennium Track Trust constructed the all-weather athletic facility (which includes the track, equipment shed and photo finish room) at the Tauranga Domain. The Trust contracted with Mondo to carry out the construction. Construction project manager, Joe Hoekstra, of Mondo was also the project manager for the Beijing Olympic Games track and other Olympic Games tracks. The Trust raised approximately 1.7 million dollars and contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars free labour to complete this project. Murray Clarkson, Frank Vosper and Faye Riley sold 8000 $2 raffle tickets as part of that fundraising. That is commitment. I remember the times the trustees got together and filled in application forms to different organisations for finance. I remember the help Athletics Tauranga members gave with fundraising and laying the track. When the athletic facility was completed, the Trust gifted the all-weather athletic facility to the Tauranga City Council. The all-weather athletic facility is a world class facility with World Athletics certification.
The all-weather athletic facility is used by athletic clubs, schools and the community at large. The Trust carried out a survey of the use of the track between 18 February 2023 and 24 February 2023. In one 7-day period 4712 people used the track over a total period of 70.5 hours.
As I have said the trustees and the development committee were all volunteers who gave their labour freely. Our reward was the personal satisfaction of a job well done, nothing more.
And Finally, the Standing of Tauranga Lawn Tennis Club Incorporated Tennis has been on the site since 1909. There are ten Astro turf courts, all with floodlighting. The tennis club has for over 100 years invested in upgrading facilities to attract top tennis. I acknowledge the free labour put in over 100 years to create and maintain this wonderful tennis club.
What does the Tauranga City Council Active Reserve Masterplans Do?
On 3 October 2022 the Tauranga City Council Commissioners endorsed the Tauranga City Council Active Reserve Masterplans, which will see the destruction of the only all-weather athletic track in the Bay of Plenty, the destruction of the only Speedway track and facility in the Bay of Plenty that races sprint cars and super saloons, the destruction of the croquet club, which has just hosted its second world championship, and the destruction of the bowling club. The tennis club will lose its parking. What for?
To construct a second regional rugby stadium at the Tauranga Domain, one hours drive from another regional rugby stadium in Rotorua, and 10 to 15 minutes drive from Baypark, which has successfully hosted Super Rugby and NPC rugby games in the past. Bay of Plenty Speedway Association is prepared to share the Baypark stadium with rugby, indeed Bob Clarkson says he built the stadium for speedway and rugby.
There needs to be a very good reason to justify building a new boutique stadium at the Tauranga Domain, which will result in the destruction of at least three world class venues and a bowling club, constructed and maintained by volunteers. Constructing the proposed boutique stadium to host about three NPC Rugby games and a couple of concerts annually does not come close to meeting the threshold. In the future who in Tauranga will want to give their free time to constructing and maintaining community facilities of any kind knowing that the Tauranga City Council might come along at some time and destroy them? Who is going to do that?
I want to Talk About the Proposed Relocation of the All-Weather Athletic Track to Baypark. The Masterplans relocate the all-weather athletic track to Baypark. The site chosen is at sea level and one third of it is a swamp. The proposed site is next to a sewage plant, the city dump and Tui’s Fertilizer business. The site is 119 metres wide at its widest point. There is a tapu hill next to where the athletic facility is proposed to go. Speedway is required to move their pits around the corner to make way for netball so there will be no warmup area. The proposed site is too small to put in an athletic facility with grandstand, equipment shed and curtilage for peoples tents etc. The site is also far away from the two biggest athletic clubs, Greerton and Bellevue. The site is unacceptable.
The Other Proposed Relocations
The Masterplans relocate the croquet club and the speedway to nowhere.
Financing
The Tauranga City Council Masterplans propose that the relocations be funded by the Tauranga City Council. At a meeting between the Commissioners and Speedway, Commissioner Tolley made it clear that the Council’s undertaking to fund the relocations did not include Speedway, which is totally inequitable. The relocation of sporting venues used by Alliance members is only one part of the relocation of sporting venues in Tauranga City being undertaken pursuant to the Masterplans. Commissioner Tolley admitted to us in the Trust’s meeting with her and two other commissioners on 9 November 2022 that these relocations will cost hundreds of millions of dollars. The Masterplans say the Council has $18 million dollars budgeted at present to complete these relocations. This lack of funds is exacerbated by the fact that the Tauranga City Council has already been warned about its spending by Audit New Zealand in its Independent Auditor’s Report on Tauranga City Council’s amended 2021- 2031 Long Term Plan, which says that there is uncertainty over how the Council will fund both its infrastructure projects and the Civic Precinct Capital Project.
The infrastructure roading projects will now be given some support from the Infrastructure Funding and Finance Act, but this will in turn mean higher rates on all ratepayers, which is already controversial.
For the first time ever, the Council is not consulting the public on rate increases in the Annual Plan because of the criticism the Commissioners will get. The Council’s own polling shows that they are unpopular with a 32% approval rating. The Council is heavily indebted with no funding to relocate sporting venues. Put simply there is no money now or likely in the future to relocate sporting venues on a major scale, which means that if the all-weather athletic track and the croquet club at the Tauranga Domain are demolished, and Baypark Speedway is demolished, then they will not be replaced. I can assure you that the new Council to be elected in July 2024 will have no appetite to fund the relocation of sporting venues.
Anne Tolley’s verbal undertaking Commissioner Anne Tolley’s verbal undertaking given in May 2022 that community sporting organisations (which does not include Speedway) will be no worse off than they now if the boutique stadium project proceeds, is unreliable. The Commissioners on behalf of the council refused to enter into a binding contract with the Tauranga Millennium Track Trust saying that if the boutique stadium project proceeded, then
the council would construct an athletic facility of the same standard or better as the current facility at the council’s cost,
2. consult with the Trust, and
3. not carry out any destruction of the existing facility until the new facility was built.
At the Trust’s meeting with the commissioners, I asked Anne Tolley why the council would not enter into such a contract with us, and she said that it was too early to do so because the Masterplan was high level. Her answer does not make sense because if the boutique stadium does not proceed, then the contract will be irrelevant. However, if the boutique stadium does proceed, then the contract would have protected us, and all the other members of the Alliance. The Commissioners are effectively saying to us that we must trust them. I don’t trust the Commissioners because of the historical circumstances and because they didn’t trust me to elect them. Trust is a mutual elationship.
The Commissioners reappointment, without the consent of the vast majority of Tauranga citizens, was done because in the Commissioner’s opinion and the opinion of the Government it was too early to return Tauranga to democracy. The commissioners and their supporters have organised the postponement/cancellation of a local body election, and the extension of their own terms, so they can complete projects they believe in, that might otherwise be reversed by an elected council. In the minds of the commissioners and the Government the end justifies the means. Rarely does such an attitude have a good outcome. We are being governed and taxed without representation.
Imagine if cancelling elections and appointing commissioners becomes a precedent for the rest of the country.
Our democratic rights have been postponed/cancelled to satisfy the wishes of some to facilitate the construction of a few projects that they want. Contrast this with the existential threat the United Kingdom was in in 1940. Even, when the United Kingdom faced imminent invasion in 1940, the British maintained parliament, they didn’t cancel it. Indeed, Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill made many of his famous speeches from parliament. When the war was going badly, he let two votes of no confidence against him proceed. Contrast that with the Tauranga City Council Commissioners who will not even consult with the public over this years Annual Plan.
Reaching back even further in time to the American Civil War in the 1860s. Despite the loss of over 600,000 lives the American Government never postponed or cancelled its democratic institutions.
There is no possible emergency or existential threat justifying the suspension or cancellation of democracy. Those that seek to take advantage of a suspension in democracy to construct or fund pet projects should be ashamed of themselves. You either believe in democracy or you don’t. Put simply the Commissioners do not have a mandate to destroy the athletic track, the croquet club, or the speedway.
The Tauranga City Council also has an unsatisfactory record of keeping undertakings to sporting organisations. The council promised the Mount Maunganui Cricket Club new clubrooms when they demolished their clubrooms as part of the Bay Oval stadium construction. Years later the Mount Maunganui Cricket Club is still waiting for their new clubrooms.
What the Alliance is Doing?
The Alliance’s strategy is to raise public awareness and opposition to the Masterplans including the construction of a boutique stadium, and to defund the boutique stadium so that it does not proceed. The Alliance has and will continue to approach potential funders of the boutique stadium (Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Quayside Holdings Limited, Western Bay of Plenty District Council, Port of Tauranga, TECT and Waikato University) to argue that the stadium project should not be funded.
We have learned through our correspondence with potential funders that the Tauranga City Council and Priority One do not have the funds to build the boutique stadium yet.
To Conclude
The Alliance can successfully defeat the Masterplans including the relocations of sporting venues and the construction of the boutique stadium with your support. If we can defeat the boutique stadium project, then there is no need to relocate the athletic track, speedway, and croquet club. The Alliance requests that you support the Alliance. The Alliance requests that you do not support the Tauranga City Council, which will put you on the wrong side of history.
We request you support us by writing to media, writing to potential funders of the boutique stadium, which include the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Quayside Holdings Limited, the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, Port of Tauranga and TECT to express your support for the Alliance and your opposition to the boutique stadium.
Thank you.
Gretchen Benvie Tauranga Croquet Club
Good Afternoon
I would like you to close your eyes and image you are in a stadium – austere concrete. All there is is a fenced rugby field with 2 sets of goalposts and a gate beyond to protect the hallowed surface from any person planning to enjoy playing on the grass. Not far beyond is an asphalt car park.
Now open your eyes and what you see before you is a green open field surrounded with trees. There could be children playing on that field or running round that track. If it is a school day in summer there will be hundreds of children enjoying their schools athletic days. Early morning and it could be a boot camp for the fitness fanatics. It could be carers encouraging their charges to learn to walk.
Not only are we fighting to retain the Tauranga Croquet Club but also fighting to save the Tauranga Domain as we see it today. Croquet has been played continuously and happily on the Tauranga Domain since 1902. The Tauranga Croquet Club was formed in 1922. What we have now is the result of over 100 years of work voluntarily carried out by club members over all those years. At no time has the Tauranga City Council nor its predecessor the Tauranga Borough Council carried out any work to produce the fine facility we have here today.
It has been said by a few that maybe after 100 years it is time for the croquet club to move on – it has outlived its need. Let me tell you - that club is in better shape with a bigger and more active membership than it has had for many years. The lawns are of international quality with only recently hosting the Under 21 World Golf Croquet Championship. Lawns of this quality do not happen overnight. It takes years of dedicated work.
To turn such a fine facility into car parking for a few cars for officials attending the few rugby matches likely to be held on any “boutique Stadium” would be a disgrace. Particularly when the use of the words ‘relocate the croquet club to provide a better community facility” are bandied about. What better community use is there than 5000 plus croquet players a year enjoying this fine facility in such beautiful surroundings. That equates to more than 20,000 hours of play a year. Not bad for a minor sport.
Sure, when you see players on a croquet lawn they may appear to all be retirees but anyone can play croquet. Our club welcomes players of all ages. It is not restricted to the retired. The croquet club is not only used by club members. It is open to the community for social and corporate events at any time. It is a community facility.
Back in December 2021 we were told by the Tauranga City Council and Priority One of the proposal to look further into building a “Boutique Stadium” on this site and that our club would need to be relocated. That was 15 months ago. And to this day no one is able to give us any clue as to where they might see our club being moved to. That shows how woeful and inadequate the planning has been.
This Domain is open for all to use and it is so well used. From early morning until nightfall most days. Where else can families and groups enjoy such freedom to experience a top-class athletic track free of charge and not hindered by having to prebook or come along to find a gate barring their way.
Or kick a ball around the field. Athletes come from far and wide to use the track for training.
I don’t believe any surveys have been completed to know how well this Domain and its facilities are used on a daily basis. If I am wrong n that I look forward to the powers that be letting me know the outcome of any such survey. Where else can local apartment dwellers stroll in peace under the grand old trees with their dogs enjoying the exercise. And with the plan for more apartments in the central city in the near future such a beautiful open space is going to be even more necessary and see even more use.
We need to save the greens spaces and trees to act as environmental green sponges. I feel sure future generations will thank us for saving this beautiful oasis in the middle of downtown Tauranga. They may even laugh that such destruction was proposed as they enjoy the freedom to roam green grass under shady trees.
Such is the arrogance of those seeking to destroy this open green space. Basically, we are ALL being evicted by UNELECTED OFFICIALS FOR THEIR VANITY PROJECTS.
They want to pave paradise and turn it into a parking lot.
Once it’s gone its gone.
Philip Brown Tauranga Lawn Tennis Club and MC for Meeting
Public Meeting Tauranga Domain 5 March
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, our community. Thankyou for coming along today.
Welcome to our combined public protest -- Hands Off Tauranga Domain and Hands Off Speedway. This is being organised by the “Alliance against the Tauranga City Council Active Reserve Masterplans”. I would like to thank all the people involved in organising this protest, the advertising and the banners around town. You will see officials in hi vis jackets, -- if there is any emergency, please follow their advice.
Lets hear a cheer from the Hands off Tauranga domain followers Lets hear a cheer from the Hands off Speedway followers.
My name is Philip and I will be your MC today. The program is very simple speakers from the affected clubs in the domain, athletics, croquet, tennis and from Baypark --Speedway. Lots of chanting and noise and then a walk around the track with your placards for the press to photograph and then put your placards outside on the fence line facing Cameron Rd.
We need to be heard and to send a message to the Commissioners , the Council and to Central Government who control the Commissioners.
As you know we have no local democracy in Tauranga and no control over the Commissioners. We are not allowed to vote for a mayor and councillors. Instead we have four commissioners who can make any decision they want, regardless of the community feelings. The commissioners are judge and jury. We can not vote them out. We have no vote. The only place in NZ. The community is not being consulted and heard.
Today is our chance to be heard.
Now before we start, Lets take a quiet moment and look around and enjoy the wonderful green space, quiet and busy all together, the community sports we have here, trees, a world class athletics track where many of you have run around anytime of the day, bowling club, croquet club, tennis club, cricket club, rugby club, a place to bring your children and enjoy the activities and ambience.
And the Council and Commissioners want to commercialise this green space with a stadium which will be used very occasionally. The desires of a few will destroy a wonderful green area for all.
Now all protests have a chant and we need to practice this
It goes
D O M A I N what have we got DOMAIN
What do we want
Hands off the Domain
By Who
The Commissioners/Council
Why are we protesting today? What do we know? Many in the community are asking “How did we get here???” without any true public consultation and engagement. Why all the secrecy!!! What is the haste? It is all part of the TCC Active Reserve Plan.
This is a rearrangement of sporting facilities throughout Tauranga which includes the building of an stadium here in Tauranga Domain, the eviction of Speedway from Baypark and demolition of the perfectly good Baypark speedway grandstand. Just bonkers!!!! The potential cost is $500 million plus plus . This will be your ratepayer money no matter how they try to disguise it. Probably be disguised as a levy.
And at the end of the plan, Tauranga actually loses sporting clubs and facilities. All of these plans and ideas are based on disputable data and reports.
The building blocks to do this have been put in place quietly over the last years, rezoning the domain to allow a stadium and quite possibly it will all be pushed through under urgency with no public consultation And there is very little opportunity for the community to contest the move under the RMA.
Ominously, the Commissioners recently announced that they saw no merit to have public consultation on the latest Annual Plan and that there would be none..
This has been well thought out and planned with complete disregard to any input from the community. Really forward thinking !!! Yeah right !!
And at a time when money is tight and Tauranga needs real infrastructure to be built. Nuts!!!
Lets look at Tauranga Domain in a little detail, Speedway will speak shortly.
All of a sudden, a stadium for 8000 to 18000 people is being designed for Tauranga Domain. With new no car parking provisions. The final business case is to be presented to Council very soon. The last business case was fantasy, it showed that there is not the need or economic case for a stadium downtown but they are persisting.
First a little history.. Last year. In a meeting with council staff, we were told that certain wealthy people in Tauranga had always wanted a stadium in the centre of town and with the commissioners in place they saw this as their opportunity to push it through as the community would not need to be consulted. In fact, we were told, these wealthy people know better than the community what is needed. So, why involve the community.
So here we are today, the Commissioners, Council and Priority One working flat out, hiding behind the skirts of Priority One and stealthily pushing ahead with the stadium plans using ratepayer funding to complete the plans and lock it all in place before the commissioners depart in 2024. So it is impossible to unstitch. What a legacy of debt!!!
They see no need for any consultation, no looking to the future and seeing how important parks are to the vibrancy of a city, parks are the oxygen of the city, an oasis of peace. Council policy is for an increase of hi rise apartments in this area, a population of 40,000 in the near future. Parks will be even more important with this increase in population planned for downtown Tauranga. The Domain is our central park and needs to remain for now and future generations, for our children and grandchildren.
What would New York be like if they allowed Priority One to build a stadium in the middle of Central Park. Another question is who is Priority One? How do they speak on our behalf? I believe it is a sign of immaturity to want to build over a public green space.
What moral right do any of these people have to do this without public approval?
And the casualties for this stupid plan, the world class athletics track, bowling and croquet clubs will be evicted and the tennis club rearranged. The domain will be commercialised and access restricted, no more turning up and having a run with your children around the athletics track.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are pushing back, and we need your ongoing help and support -- this is the start of a long campaign to make the Government, Commissioners and Council wake up and see that the domain should remain as it is, a green space forever with community sports.
Let’s have a chant
DOMAIN
Thankyou
Tennis
Tennis has been here for over 100 years. I think croquet and tennis split into separate clubs in 1922. The club has 10 courts and is well used daily. Visitors often comment on the parklike ambience of setting. Over the years the club has invested millions of dollars into maintaining and upgrading the facilities. And matched this with voluntary hours of work.
The tennis club will remain on the plans but two courts are moved to another location and the wall of the stadium will now become our outlook. The club will also lose the small number of dedicated carparks we currently have. These are critical for us.
We believe Tauranga Domain should remain a green space for now and the benefit of future generations. With a range pf community sports being played as now.
Speedway
I now welcome Rodney Wood from Speedway. Lets try a different chant SPEEDWAY
To wrap up. Keeping Tauranga Domain green and the keeping Speedway at Baypark are very important. Public pressure will do this.
But it does not stop with todays meeting, it starts with today protest meeting.
This is an election year, ask your local MP what they are doing about the return of local democracy in Tauranga so that the community can have a say again and be listened to. We want Tauranga Domain to remain as it is, a green space where community sports are played, the Speedway to remain at Baypark.
It is very simple and no cost. Please keep this conversation going, talk to your neighbours.
We have bumper stickers saying Hands Off Tauranga Domain available down here. Please collect a bumper sticker on your way out. Thank you all for coming along and supporting us.
Now can we walk around the athletics track with your placards and then put the on the fence line outside.