The Stratford Croquet Club is currently located next to the Stratford bike park at Victoria Park.
The Stratford Croquet Club is currently located next to the Stratford bike park at Victoria Park.
Stratford District councillors have declined a relocation request from members of the Stratford Croquet Club.
At a policy and services meeting on Tuesday, August 27, elected members received and discussed a decision report from council’s parks and reserves officer Melanie McBain, asking for a decision to be madeon the subject.
In the report, McBain noted the relocation request had been presented to councillors at a hearing on the King Edward Park Reserve Management Plan in March 2024. At the hearing, members of the croquet club had requested council allow the club to relocate from its current home in the Victoria Park reserve next to the children’s playground. The current location includes a clubhouse and two courts with no room for expansion, the report stated.
McBain’s report stated club members wanted to move to a bigger facility that could accommodate up to four courts. Club members indicated their preferred location would be the green space next to Wai o Rua Stratford Aquatic Centre.
At the time of the March hearing, elected members had deferred their decision on the potential relocation to allow for feedback from key stakeholders of King Edward Park, said Steve Bowden, acting director of assets who introduced the report at Tuesday’s meeting.
Since the hearing, council staff had contacted those key stakeholders he said, including the Taranaki Tennis Club, Stratford Eltham Rugby Sports Club, Taranaki Hockey Federation, Stratford Primary School and Netball Taranaki.
“Unfortunately, no feedback or comments were received from any of the organisations.”
The relocation request had been “talked about for many years” he said.
The Stratford Croquet Club currently has a clubhouse and room for two croquet courts at its Regan Street location.
The report noted the club had a current membership of 32 players, which was too many to all play at the same time at the current location.
“Since 2019 the Stratford Croquet Club have requested on numerous occasions that they be allocated a larger green space centrally located within Stratford, as their club numbers are growing, and the current two courts are no longer meeting their needs.”
The club currently paid council $500 a year for the use of the Victoria Park croquet courts. An increase to four courts from two would bring an additional maintenance cost for council, estimated to be an increase of $15,000 per court, the report said.
Elected members had previously encouraged the club to investigate shared use with other sporting codes such as golf or bowls clubs, McBain said in the report. The club had investigated this idea, she noted.
“But have determined that sharing of a facility is not a viable option.”
Bowden told elected members that approving the relocation request could rule out any future development of Wai o Rua and the surrounding space.
“We’d be basically removing any opportunity to further develop the existing project centre, whatever shape or form that may take in whatever year it may happen in.”
On the other hand, relocating the club from its current Victoria Park location would allow for further development of the playground and bike park there, he said.
Stratford District councillors declined the club's request to relocate to the green space next to Wai o Rua Stratford Aquatic Centre.
Councillor Grant Boyde said he was in favour of declining the relocation request and moved a motion to do so.
“I’ve listened to them and look, they’re absolutely passionate...but any future plans for that area we wouldn’t be able to do that if croquet went there.”
He would support the croquet club considering other areas to move to he said, but not to the green space by Wai o Rua.
Councillor Ellen Hall seconded the motion.
“I really like the idea of being able to facilitate all our community groups’ needs, but you can’t please everyone right? "
While the group was relatively small, she still saw the potential benefits an increase in the number of courts could bring to the community, she said, through tournaments and events bringing people to the district.
She said she appreciated the work put in by the club in answering some of council’s questions after the March hearing.
She was seconding the motion to decline the request, however, for a couple of reasons.
Ilona Hanne is a Taranaki-based journalist and news director who covers breaking and community news from across the lower North Island. She has worked for NZME since 2011.
