Home of Football champions community feedback

7 DECEMBER 2010 Hamilton Mayor Julie Hardaker today praised Council staff, the Huntington residents association and Waikato-Bay of Plenty Football for their professionalism, co-operation and common sense approach as Council unanimously voted to look at new options for the proposed Home of Football facility in Hamilton.

The Mayor said it was an example of successful Council processes at work. Hamilton City Council has been in consultation with Huntington residents over a proposal to locate a Home of Football at Mangaiti Sports Park.

Waikato Bay of Plenty Football (WaiBOP) originally approached Council with a request to set aside reserve land to establish a regional football facility in Hamilton to provide a much needed base for the code and an area for coaching clinics and youth development to occur.

It was also intended that the facility would act as an important community hub in the neighbourhood it is located in. Mangaiti Sports Park was proposed as an option as it met the criteria needed to accommodate a regional football facility.

Community consultation was recently undertaken on the proposal including a call for public submissions, the development of a revised proposal to mitigate issues raised and a public open day.

The process drew together a number of Huntington residents who raised concerns over the ‘scale and intensity’ of the proposal and presented Council with an alternative for the development of the park.

The vision for the facility as a community hub rests on the backing of local residents and Council and WaiBOP worked with residents to hear concerns raised and respond to them..

As a result a number of alternative locations will now be considered, with the North City Road Reserve being the preferred alternative site for exploration. This site provides a number of benefits which were not available at the time Mangaiti Sports Park became a proposed location – including the attraction of a road reserve site and potential integration with a proposed swimming pool and new schools in the area.

Mayor Hardaker described recent engagement with Huntington residents as “A shining example of what can be achieved when you are solution focussed.

“Community consultation is really an opportunity for Council to be directed to what the community feels it is important Council should consider. And that is what has happened here.”

ENDS

© Scoop Media