A pole vaulter competing at Mitre 10 Sports Park in Hastings. Photo / Ian Cooper
A pole vaulter competing at Mitre 10 Sports Park in Hastings. Photo / Ian Cooper
Hawke's Bay now boasts enough state-of-the-art facilities to be a host region for major multi-day international sporting events, but it could still struggle to attract them.
That's the view of former Sport Hawke's Bay chairman Damon Harvey - who is standing again for a position on the Hastings District Council.
Harvey is calling for a new entity to market the region as a sporting destination, which he says will boost the economy and better utilise the region's more than $100 million worth of facilities.
Tourism and event heads in the region say the idea has some merit, but there would be significant challenges to pull it together.
A world-class aquatic centre with an Olympic-sized swimming pool was officially opened last month at Mitre 10 Sports Park in Hastings by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
The project was led by Sir Graeme Avery and Bruce Mactaggart of the Hawke's Bay Community Fitness Centre Trust.
The new Hawke's Bay Regional Aquatic Centre is the only high-performance aquatic centre in the region. Pictured is Bruce Mactaggart next to the pool. Photo / Warren Buckland
The sports park has become the envy of other regions across the country and boasts a growing list of high-performance sports facilities, as well as a hostel for athletes.
Pettigrew Green Arena has also been expanded in nearby Taradale, while McLean Park and Park Island sports facilities are available in Napier.
Separate councils around the region, and Hawke's Bay Tourism, work together on bringing and supporting big events in the region, including sports events.
However, there is no umbrella entity with the sole job of attracting major sports events to Hawke's Bay.
Sport Hawke's Bay can host events but is "not mandated by anyone" to do so, according to Harvey.
"We need to form an organisation to develop a strategy, develop price structures for combined venue use, create marketing materials such as videos, website and presentation brochures showcasing all that we offer, and appoint someone to go after major events."
He said events as big as the Commonwealth Youth Games could consider using Hawke's Bay as a host city.
Harvey said if a new entity went ahead he would want to be part of it in some capacity.
Hawke's Bay Tourism chief executive Hamish Saxton said "it could be a good solution".
"But first it would be useful to assess the real opportunities," Saxton said.
He said there was a lot of good work being done in this area across the region by councils and venues themselves, so it would be important to do due diligence first to confirm just who is doing what, and with what resource, in order to ascertain the business case.
"The result of this assessment could then confirm where any gaps lie and whether there is a scope for an initiative like this."
Napier City Council event manager Kevin Murphy said funding support for major events in the region largely came from Napier and Hastings councils' event funds.
Murphy said a challenge with a new umbrella entity was how its funding model would work.
He also said another issue would be if the new entity did not actually own any venues, it would need to work in with all the different owners of sporting venues across the region.
Murphy said the concept could work but those challenges would need to be addressed.
"I think - if those issues could be overcome - there would be some benefit in considering how it might look for the benefit of the region."
