Manukau residents will soon have full use of the proposed Weymouth Domain Sports Field after an Emergency Committee of Council met to award the contracts.

The emergency meeting was held after several unavoidable hold-ups in the consent process had slowed things down. Anne Candy, Deputy Mayor and Acting Chairperson of the Emergency Committee Meeting, said councillors were giving the park top priority to accommodate the ward’s growth and ensure works would be completed by the end of the summer building season.

“We need to be mindful of the fact that we are a rapidly growing city. This project along with further sports fields developments at Mountfort Park, have been given top priority if we’re to meet current and future demands in our city’s highly populated ward,” says Ms Candy.

“An emergency Committee meeting of Council was necessary to ensure the earliest possible completion of earthworks construction. A successful tendering process had been conducted and the people of Manurewa will at last see a long awaited project come to fruition. With the additional funding required being met from the Cash-in-lieu-of-Reserves Fund, which property developers provide to Council when land is developed, this project puts no extra pressure on the ratepayers of this city and the Emergency Committee of Council therefore felt there was no need to delay the matter further.

“One local sports club that will be elated is the Weymouth Rugby Club as it built it’s future plans around Council’s timeframe and through no fault of their own have already missed two seasons. It is imperative that this development commences as soon as possible so the fields can be put to good use and the sporting aspirations and healthy lifestyles of the people of Weymouth and Manurewa can be enhanced. This has been Council’s goal – now let’s get on with the job!”

Digby Whyte, Manager Manukau Parks, said $500 000 had been allocated in the 2000/01 Annual Plan from the Cash-in-lieu-of Reserves but this needed to be increased by $200 000 because of the unanticipated consent requirements. This had involved additional consultation with iwi when surveyors discovered an archaeological midden on the site, consultation and impact assessments related to developing a sports field in a passive reserve, and extra parking requirements.

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