Brian Kelly: Challenging our council

A text view appeared in the Bay of Plenty Times last Tuesday that caught my eye.

The text read "With the anti business Council that we have they may as well now close down the Mount Hot Pools as they will never be able to make a realistic decision!"

It staggers me the arguments going on over one of our few tourist destinations and the ongoing discussions over the plans for redeveloping them. The Mount Hot Pools have been one of our main attractions at the Mount for a long time now and until recently have probably been responsible for not only bringing a lot of tourists to the Mount but also bringing a lot of joy to our locals.

With the closure during most of the winter months I am sure that businesses in the area are feeling the effects. Obviously they are shut for a good reason - urgent maintenance - and I am certain when they reopen there will be an improvement in this wonderful facility.

I travel the country with motorsport and get to see how other regions are progressing.

To my way of thinking, when you improve something it attracts more events and in turn attracts more people. I know the old money argument rears its head but I see it as an investment in our future, just like redeveloping the Strand Reclamation that I wrote about last week.

A state-of-the-art, modern Mount Hot Pools would undoubtedly get more people, locals and tourists using the facility. It's like I have said: "Build it and they will come."

I encourage our council to get on with the job of turning a good facility into a wonderful asset to our region. Build something that we as locals can be proud of.

A perfect example of that is the new TECT Arena at Baypark. How long did we have to wait for a modern sports stadium/exhibition centre for our growing area? The existing stadium, the QE Youth Centre, was built in the late 1960s or early 1970s when we were still a holiday beach town. It became too small to cope with our growing demands and the changing face of international sport.

The large port storage shed, renamed the Mount Action Centre, took the overflow of our local growing sporting events and exhibitions, such as the home shows.

It has served us well but we are way overdue for a new facility and finally it is ready to open.

How many parents have stood in the Mount Action Centre freezing their butts off while supporting their kids in a make-shift sports stadium?

The payoff for spending $40 million-plus and waiting 20 years is already showing and it's not even open. With its new nine-court indoor centre situated beside the outdoor stadium at Baypark, it will become the hub for community sport and entertainment.

Several international concert acts have booked to appear, with the Meat Loaf concert selling out in a matter of hours.

The only New Zealand sports team to win an Australian championship, the Breakers basketball team are playing an international there against the Wollongong Hawks as a season warm-up and the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic will no doubt have several games there this coming season. At the same time in the new exhibition space the home show is being held. They are a couple examples of events the new stadium has attracted. I believe bookings for the next 12 months are looking good. It is a brilliant facility but it's been a long wait.

The total cost for the project was $41 million and I believe it has come in on time and under budget. Well done.

The costs were shared.

A $25 million ratepayer contribution, $7 million sub-regional development contribution, $9 million from external sources, such as various local foundations, and, of course, the TECT contribution giving them naming rights.

We can achieve greatness.

So, going back to the hot pool argument, I challenge our council to invest in our future and develop the pools into a facility that locals and tourists will flock to.