Geoff Balme: A future-proof multi-sport venue

Geoff Balme.

Often overlooked in discussion about the proposed Hawke's Bay Multi-Use Velodrome is its 'multi-use' aspect. That's a shame as it understates the functionality and appeal that can make such a facility a valuable and cost effective addition to the sport and recreation infrastructure in a community.

Velodromes have been around for over 100 years and track cycling was on the programme for the first of the modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. The Sydney 2000 Olympic Games were the first where an indoor velodrome was used and that has spawned the development of a large number of indoor velodromes around the world. Importantly they have become much more than just places to ride bikes. They have become places for whole communities to actively enjoy. With the increasing necessity for stadia and competition venues to minimise net operating costs, almost all velodromes are now being designed as multi-use and therefore they are able to play a much greater role in the supply of sport and recreation facilities. It's relatively easy for a velodrome to be truly multi-use and enjoy wide community use, far easier than for example a rugby and/or cricket stadium, which most people never get to play on.

Good examples of multi-use velodromes include Invercargill, Newport in Wales, Milton in Canada and Derby in England. In addition to track cycling they cater for other sports such as basketball, futsal (indoor soccer), martial arts, running, tennis, volleyball and recreation pastimes. Cycling and court sports can operate together and at the same time through careful design and use of nets, a standard feature in multi-use velodromes, to catch wayward balls.

Multi-use velodromes can also be used for non-sporting events such as conferences, exhibitions, trade shows, craft fairs, concerts, dinners etc. The multi-use velodrome at Derby in England hosts an annual Christmas pantomime that as well as entertaining the community makes a significant financial contribution towards its operating revenue.

Multi-use velodromes are becoming a go to solution for expanding, enhancing and modernising indoor sport and recreation offerings in many cities as they are able to accommodate numerous activities inside a large flexible environment.

There is demand for additional indoor courts in Napier, particularly from basketball, futsal and volleyball, which are constrained in their activities due to insufficient indoor court space at peak use times, ie. after school and evenings. Also their opportunities to host national tournaments are reduced by having insufficient courts in close proximity.

The need for additional indoor courts is supported by the Hawke's Bay Regional Sport Facilities Plan, Sport New Zealand's National Indoor Facilities Strategy and Basketball New Zealand's Facilities Guide. This need was also supported in submissions to Napier City Council and Hastings District Council by Basketball Hawke's Bay and the Regional Indoor Sports & Events Centre Trust (operator of the Pettigrew.Green Arena) in 2015.

The estimated cost of the proposed Hawke's Bay Multi-Use Velodrome, including three full sized indoor courts, is $15 million. It would be a little less if not multi-use. Based on a current project in Hamilton the estimated cost for developing indoor court space is around $2.5 million per court, or $7.5 million for a standalone three court facility. Therefore the combined cost of developing a velodrome and three indoor courts as separate standalone facilities would likely be in excess of $20 million. So building them together brings a potential $5 million cost saving.

The development of a multi-use velodrome would therefore seem to be an ideal joint solution from a construction cost point of view and for the future of sports in Napier and Hawke's Bay.

Napier City Council will consider a detailed business case on this project in June, before deciding whether to proceed to the next phase - securing funding and the appropriate resource consents.

On Napier City Council's website there is a section for major projects Council currently has underway. For more information about this project, including answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and a short video that shows the many ways a multi-use velodrome can be used, go to:napier.govt.nz

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- Geoff Balme is project manager for the proposed Hawke's Bay multi-use velodrome. From 2011 to 2015 he was chief executive of the Home of Cycling Charitable Trust and responsible for planning, fundraising, construction and initial operation of the Avantidrome/National Cycling Centre of Excellence velodrome at Cambridge.

- Views expressed here are the writer's opinion and not the newspaper's. Email: editor@hbtoday.co.nz