The organiser of this year’s cancelled One Love festival at Tauranga Domain has spent nearly $250,000 on costs related to damage to sports grounds after extreme wet weather.
The Auckland Anniversary Weekend concert was called off on January 28 and heavy vehicles were used to haul staging equipment away over sodden grounds.
Information obtained by the Bay of Plenty Times through an official information request found Tauranga City Council charged the event organiser $139,510 for reparation to cover the costs of reinstating the damaged grounds.
Another $40,000 was paid as a penalty fee, as per agreement with the council.
The costs were paid in full by event organiser Glenn Meikle, who said he also spent about $70,000 at the time on plywood and flooring trying to prevent the damage, making a total of just over $249,000 in damage-related costs.
Meikle also paid $10,600 for venue hire, according to the council’s response.
Stages and equipment had been set up in the domain in preparation for the January 28-29 reggae and roots music festival before it was cancelled due to the wet weather.
Meikle said, at the time, efforts were made to protect the ground with plywood and flooring, but the rainfall was too great.
More than 177 millimetres of rain drenched Tauranga in the 48 hours beforehand and the domain was closed to the public due to the risk of slips.
During this time, heavy vehicles including trucks and tractors were seen accessing the waterlogged grounds. Photographs at the time showed areas of the grounds muddy and crossed with tyre tracks.
Miekle said, at the time, the activity was necessary as the stage equipment was needed elsewhere.
At least 2.5 hectares needed to be regraded and re-levelled due to the damage.
On Friday,Meikle told the Bay of Plenty Times his team was proactive and committed to the restoration and improvement of the domain fields.
“There have been significant costs incurred beyond the scope of the repair work, which we have covered, and these costs have primarily stemmed from bonds and fines,” he said.
“We did our best to alleviate damage to the grounds at the time, spending tens of thousands of dollars on plywood for surface cover, but significant damage still occurred in weather conditions we had not experienced while setting up any previous One Love event.”
Meikle said they would return to the Tauranga Domain in 2024 and while they did not expect another wet weather hit, the team had developed a field protection plan with the council.
One Love has previously been touted as pumping about $20 million into the local economy through visitors to the region.
“We believe it is an important event for Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty,” Meikle said.
“We believe Tauranga City Council also sees the value of One Love and while we do not receive financial support from them, we appreciate their support through their events team,” he said.
Meikle said a lot of work had been done to avoid a repeat of this year’s issues.
“One Love is a staple of Aotearoa’s summer and we have a line-up of iconic reggae stars, Kiwi favourites and rising stars who will help make Auckland Anniversary Weekend a positive one.”
The domain is primarily a shared sports facility, hosting several clubs, but has also been used for festivals and concerts.
The damage forced cricket teams to play elsewhere and Tauranga Sports Rugby Club was left $6000 out of pocket for cancelled touch training.
Tauranga Sports Rugby Club president John O’Loan said it was not able to use the grounds until about April.
However, the field was now in the best shape it had been for years, O’Loan said.
“We were affected but it turned out pretty good for us.
“I think it’s in the best condition. I don’t know if it’s weather-related or because people, the public and the clubs, stayed off it but it has been in great condition,” he said.
“The damage I saw, particularly at the cricket pitch, it surprised me how fast it took to get it back up and going.
“The council did a really good job of getting that back.”
Western Bay of Plenty Cricket operations manager Mikael Carter said the season was due to begin again at the domain next month.
To the best of the organisation’s knowledge, there were no issues with the grounds and it was looking forward to returning there.
Cricket games were forced to relocate due to the damage and matches had been played at other Bay of Plenty venues.
“It was very disruptive at the time and the later half of last season,” she said.
“We believe everything is back to normal and we are preparing for our season to carry on as per usual.”
Council manager of spaces and places Alison Law said the unprecedented rainfall meant the domain sustained “substantial damage” to both the turf and soil.
This was about 30cm deep in places, she said.
Law said the damage occurred when event organisers removed infrastructure and there was no sports field infrastructure such as drainage or irrigation in the affected area.
The remedial plan included replacing the soil, which was repurposed from the Links Ave Reserve project, and reseeding the affected area with rye grass. People had to stay off their fields until the work was completed.
“This damage is not typically experienced after events and speaks to the unprecedented nature of the summer wet weather,” Law said.
The council and economic development agency Priority One are investigating building a stadium at the domain, with a $220.2 million open-air design progressing to business case development.
Kiri Gillespie is an assistant news director and a senior journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, specialising in local politics and city issues. She was a finalist for the Voyager Media Awards Regional Journalist of the Year in 2021.
The role was advertised as an 'intern cleaning position'.