The Pettigrew Arena is already a valued facility in our region, as both a multi-purpose indoor sports and an entertainment centre. In the 18 years since it opened, it has played host to sporting events, trade shows, music concerts, conferences and balls. But its popularity and increasing importance means it is now too small for the demands being placed on it.
The Arena Expansion Project will change that. When completed, it will increase the number of indoor courts from the three we have at the moment to nine. This trebling in capacity will help meet the demand on facilities for sport competitions, tournaments and events.
At the moment, venues for all three of Hawke's Bay's major indoor sports - basketball, volleyball and futsal - are at capacity. They need these new courts to meet community demand. Basketball is now the fastest-growing sport in New Zealand and if continues at its present rate, it will soon be the country's biggest secondary school sport. Volleyball and futsal are also showing growth.
When it is completed, the new, expanded Pettigrew Arena will help meet these sports' demands. The new arena is a regional asset. It is an important addition to our regional sport facility resource, providing Hawke's Bay with the opportunity to host large, multisport events.
This is especially so when we look at the new aquatic centre now also under construction nearby – another Hawke's Bay project the Government is helping to fund. Combined, these venues provide Hawke's Bay with a strong platform to base bids to host sporting events on a significant scale.
These high-quality facilities also provide the opportunity to further grow our region's economy. They will provide jobs by attracting visitors who will dip into their wallets and purses to spend millions of dollars locally.
There is a lot more to these new facilities than providing a place to throw or kick a ball. Over the past 10 years, we have come to realise sport can achieve wider social, health and economic outcomes. As a result, we are moving away from the idea of getting people to play sport for sport's sake.
Instead, people are being encouraged to participate in sport to improve social and economic wellbeing. The results go beyond having trophies in the cabinet. They include health benefits, crime reduction, educational attainment, social capacity and cohesion, and improvements in living standards.
The expansion project will also provide around a hundred jobs for Hawke's Bay workers, supporting their families and boosting the local economy. So economically, culturally, recreationally and commercially, the value of the sports arena is readily apparent and I am proud of the $6.4 million in funding.
Latest figures show there are 119 Government-funded economic development projects in Hawke's Bay with a combined value of $284.1 million.
This money is not only helping expand sports facilities such as here at Pettigrew – it is also improving community halls, war memorials and churches, building better, safer roads, strengthening bridges, fencing rivers, helping businesses grow and developing Māori land. It is also providing training for our young people – getting them into education and finding them jobs. It is allowing them to be part of our society and contribute to their communities.
That is a worthwhile investment.
• Stuart Nash is Labour MP for Napier.
