Tauranga letters to the editor: Stadium a ‘nice-to-have’

A huge crowd turned out for the Bay of Plenty Steamers-Hawke's Bay Magpies NPC quarter-final at Tauranga Domain. Photo / Bay of Plenty Rugby Union

Whilst of course wanting to congratulate the Bay of Plenty Steamers for their stunning semifinal win, I continue to oppose the new stadium constantly proposed for the Tauranga Domain as reported (News, October 24).

The commissioners who have just departed their role in Tauranga commenced a series of what I would deem to be “nice-to-have projects” and, quite frankly, the community cannot afford these any more.

Accepting that 5000 people turned up, the venue was still not full, which makes it difficult to justify the cost of a major stadium on the Domain with issues such as the lack of available parking and the existing users’ rights (athletics track) amongst many still to be addressed.

We have Baypark Stadium, which is an underutilised facility, along with the reasonably close Rotorua Stadium that could be utilised should next season.

Around the country, there are numerous parks and stadiums that in my view have become a drain on the local communities such as North Harbour Stadium, Waikato Stadium and even, I suspect locally, Rotorua Stadium.

Why do you think that amenities like stadiums, community halls, swimming pools, libraries etc are not owned and operated by private enterprises? The reason is that in my view they are money pits and never make money and become an ongoing drain on ratepayers.

Mike Baker

Bethlehem

Ban public sale of fireworks now

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon prides himself on being a man of the people and listening to their concerns. He and his Government have shown that they listen to aggrieved landlords, thwarted developers, vapers, gun owners and people who want to drive faster and don’t like speed bumps (or perhaps that is only Simeon Brown). We are asking Christopher Luxon to please listen to us.

Every year, we view the approach of Guy Fawkes Day with foreboding. It will mean keeping the frightened dog indoors, shifting livestock to distant paddocks, being disturbed night after night by booms and bangs and, on one occasion, a blaze in the nearby wetland started by fireworks. This is the unpleasant reality of Guy Fawkes for a great many citizens ...

Sparklers and golden rain are fun in the backyard, but the public fireworks events are much better. They are free and are run by responsible people, not by the hooligans that can buy fireworks downtown and disturb the community for months. Please listen to us, Prime Minister; ban the public sale of fireworks.

Ann and Basil Graeme

Bellevue

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