All-weather track push gathers pace

The push for an all-weather athletics track to serve the whole of the Wairarapa is on in earnest.
An impressive $1m proposal to construct the regional facility at the Colin Pugh Sports Bowl in Masterton has already been put before the Masterton District Council and the Carterton District Council and the South Wairarapa District Council is next on the agenda.
The Sports Bowl was identified as the venue for the all-weather track after an exhausting process of identifying potential sites At least 20 such sites were considered, including some at Gladstone, Martinborough, Eketahuna, Pahiatua, Carterton and Greytown.
Support for the proposal has come from all the athletics clubs operating in the Wairarapa, plus Athletics Wellington and Athletics New Zealand,while several other sporting codes have tendered their support as well, either verbally or in writing.
They have indicated they would use the all-weather track for fitness training purposes.
Pleasing too has been support from schools from all over the Wairarapa as they are seen as major users of the facility once it is up and running.
The development committee, which is chaired by Sue Lyttle with Tom Roseingrave as her deputy, has listed nine main reasons why an all-weather track should be installed here. They are:-
n Having proper facilities will enable the fostering and promotion of track and field athletics for children, teenagers and adults.
n The track and field sites will be set up for use at any time by disabled athletes both for training and competition.
n School students of all ages will be able to experience track and field in its purest form.
n Sports people from all codes will be able to train and practice all year round on a good surface irrespective of the weather conditions.
n Fixtures will not be cancelled due to adverse weather.
n Local athletes will be encouraged to remain in the Wairarapa and top class sportspeople will visit here to provide a higher level of competition.
n To provide those that are more elite in nature the ability to excel in their sport
n Residents will have opportunities to view top class events during the summer, and maybe the winter as well.
n The all-weather track would promote Wairarapa by encouraging visitors to the region, therefore it will be good for retail businesses like hotels, motels, restaurants, cafes and places of entertainment.
On the latter point the development committee estimates that the economic benefit to the Wairarapa region if, say, a North Island Colgate Games was staged here would be no less than $450,000, a figure based upon 1000 families attending the event with an average of three people in their family, spending on an average $100 per night for three nights accommodation and $50 per day for food.
And they suggest an all-weather track could bring several major track and field events to the Wairarapa, such as the national and North Island secondary schools championships, children's inter-provincial meetings, national senior, junior and veterans championships and the national Paraplegic and Deaf Games.
Also there would be potential for the staging of satellite meetings for the Commonwealth Games and the international track series.
Looking at likely user numbers on the local front the development committee say they have been relatively conservative in reaching a yearly figure of 8760 over 204 days.
They estimate secondary schools with 2200 would be the biggest users over that period, followed by Athletics Masterton with 2040.
Under the current proposal the responsibility for the operation of the all-weather complex would be vested by a Deed of Trust to the Wairarapa Regional All-Weather Track Trust Board, made up of representatives from the Wairarapa athletic clubs, Wairarapa Secondary Schools Association and from representatives of the Wairarapa community.
It is also anticipated that formal Deed of Lease covering the area occupied by the complex would be put in place between the Masterton District Council and the WRATTB, empowering the trust with the maintenance of the new developments at the new facility are kept to a standard as agreed to with the council.
The grassed and green areas at the Sports Bowl would remain the responsibility of the council to maintain while the day to day management of the facility itself would be the responsibility of the trust.
This would be undertaken from fees collected from the various users of the complex and or grants required from community organisations.