Council withdraws access to kensington for Marist

Members of Whangarei's Marist Sports Club have been left to ponder their club's future after their senior teams have been suddenly denied playing rights at Kensington Park.
Marist senior rugby team and their reserve side were left no alternative but to switch their home game, scheduled for Kensington Park on Saturday, after the Whangarei District Council contacted them midweek with a ruling that Kensington Park was for junior teams only.
The match was transferred to Old Boys' home ground, leaving some of their supporters out of the loop and their players with their noses out of joint.
The club's senior soccer side found out on Friday about their rugby sides' predicament and sought clarification about their position from their competition's governing body, United Soccer 1.
Terry Hobin, US1's leagues manager emailed the council's parks and recreation technical officer Aubrey Gifford to confirm that the club's only senior team was banned from using the park.
Gifford replied in the affirmative, stating that the park is only to be used for junior sport in the winter months.
"I've been involved with United Soccer since it started in 2000 and this has never been an issue before, no-one has ever mentioned Kensington Park being used for seniors only, so it seems a bit strange," Hobin said.
Because of their late notice, the council finally relented allowing Marist's soccer team to play Northern Wairoa on Saturday but it may be their last ever match on the ground.
Ironically, the team is largely made up of school-age players, who are only playing in the senior division because there were not enough teams available to run an under-17 competition.
The club has a 35-year lease on their Kensington Park Clubrooms but that has never given them an automatic right to use the park. Instead, they have always enjoyed 'casual' playing rights, allowing the club to play competition games on the ground - but now it seems, those have been withdrawn.
No-one was available for comment from the council over the weekend but Hobin said the reason for the council's about-face were concerns about the potential over-use of and damage to the park's turf.
"I was quite surprised about it and I don't believe it was Aubrey's decision but it had come down from the hierarchy (above him)," he said.
The club has only three senior teams at the moment meaning there is little threat of over-use from their games but using other grounds could very well have a negative effect on the club by distancing the players from their clubrooms.
Marist officials contacted by the Advocate did not want to comment on the matter until they had taken the chance to discuss it - but they are unlikely to look on the decision positively. "Really it's a case of watch this space, we'll obviously be pushing for a meeting and I'm sure rugby will as well," Hobin said.