Hawke's Bay regional council agrees to Pettigrew Green Arena carpark over stopbank

The stopbank is adjacent to the Pettigrew Green Arena. Photo / Paul Taylor

Hawke's Bay Regional Council has agreed to allow a carpark over the Tutaekuri River stopbank as part of the Pettigrew Green Arena expansion.

While a regional councillor claimed the council had been "ambushed" with the proposal, the decision has thrilled the PGA chair.

As part of the PGA expansion a decision on where a new carpark, replacing parks lost in the expansion, will go is needed.

At the Napier City Council Sustainable Napier Committee on December 3, councillors unanimously recommended that it go over the Tutaekuri River stopbank on the river side of the path next to the arena.

Hawke's Bay Regional Council is the consenting authority for use of the stopbank land, and at a meeting on December 16 regional council officers recommended a different option, that Napier Reserve land be used for the carpark.

At the meeting, councillors challenged EIT CEO Chris Collins and arena chairman Craig Waterhouse during their presentations.

PGA has an existing arrangement with EIT where students can use PGA parking during weekdays, with PGA having access to EIT parking for events.

The expansion has received $6.4 million "shovel-ready" government funding.

"Don't make me give the money back," Waterhouse said to the council.

At the meeting, councillor Rick Barker said he felt the regional council had been "ambushed".

"I'm disturbed to learn that EIT, for example, debated this months ago with plans to use our land, never talked to us.

The carpark at the rear of the arena will be removed to make way for the expansion meaning a new carpark is needed. Photo / Warren Buckland

"The PGA has had this plan for quite some time, has never revealed it to us directly.

"We've been left out of the loop and then we've been told if we don't get this done by this time, we'll lose all this money, we'll lose this, we'll lose that and the other.

"It's almost like blackmail actually. I just feel like we have been put in an almost impossible position by this."

Waterhouse told Hawke's Bay Today he "can fully understand" individual councillors' perspective on this.

"The funding support from Government has some very tight deadlines to ensure we receive the committed government funds and this places massive pressures on processes."

Ultimately the regional council agreed to using the stopbank, but with a range of conditions.

"The council voted to allow the carpark to go over the stopbank as the EIT and Pettigrew Arena wanted, but it is subject to them meeting certain environmental and cultural conditions, and that the regional council is fully indemnified," regional council chairman Rex Graham said.

It requires that the Regional Indoor Sport and Events Centre Trust "provides a robust indemnity" and "assumption of full liability and risk" relating to any private property exposure through events at the arena.

It includes resource consent conditions requiring: certification from an independent engineer that the location won't affect the integrity of the stopbank and flood protection; minimising the number of carparks "to actual needs"; a flood risk management response plan; environmental off-setting and mitigation; and archaeological and cultural impact assessments be undertaken first.

Speaking on the outcome, Waterhouse said, "It was a great day in my life [getting] the car parking proposal for PGA approved by the Hawke's Bay Regional Council.

"Working together can achieve so much more, I am excited about what we can achieve on both fronts.

"The stopbank option future-proofs any additional expansion as sports like basketball, futsal, volleyball and netball continue to grow substantially."

He said the carpark will have capacity for 365 vehicles with a further 150 carparks maybe added at stage two.

He said the conditions won't have any impact on funding or timing of the expansion.

"We were working towards these as part of our internal planning and resource consent process."

Collins said the decision "is a great step forward".

At a Napier City Council meeting on December 17 in which the council received the report from the Sustainable Napier Committee, councillor Keith Price said after the "robust debate" at the HBRC meeting, there had been "a good result".

PGA will submit a resource consent application for the expansion in January.

A construction partner will be announced in January and Waterhouse indicated work on the project will be under way by the end of March.