Mitre 10 Park plans 8.5ha expansion, with parking top priority

“That’s why people park on the grass, because there are not enough parking spaces, and traffic flow is a problem, but that happens anywhere a lot of people come together at the same time and leave at the same time.

“It is absolutely a top priority. Since I started this job three years ago, it’s the first thing that people say to me.”

While the park sits on Hastings District Council land, it is managed by a trust established in 2007 as kaitiaki.

Council’s acting chief executive Rebekah Dinwoodie said the council-owned land earmarked for expanding Mitre 10 Park sits north of the existing sports park, between the athletics precinct and Evenden Road.

“It was purchased by Council in 2023 as a strategic investment to provide future growth capacity for the park,” Dinwoodie said.

She said the land was zoned “Deferred Hawke’s Bay Regional Sports Park”, with underlying “Plains Production Zone” land rules still applying.

“This means the land has been identified for the long-term expansion of the sports park, however, a plan change would be required before it could be developed for sports and recreation purposes,” Dinwoodie said.

She said there were no immediate development plans for the site and future proposals would need to go through appropriate planning and consultation processes.

The initial plans for the $56.8 million sports park in Percival Rd on plains production land were challenged by the Hawke’s Bay Land Protection Society.

The council spent $150,000 on legal advice and expert evidence during a hearing before the Environment Court, which ruled the council could build the facility in a decision released in July 2009.

Lucas said it was an exciting time as the venue looked to expand.

“We already have a lot of great assets in the park, but over the next few years we will be working on tying everything together as one cohesive park.”

He said priorities would be fixing the basics and connecting everything – parking, traffic, pedestrian movement, bathrooms, changing facilities, and the overall customer experience.

While the council contributes to the park’s running costs, the trust must raise about $1 million or more a year to cover other costs.

Lucas said it relied on gaming and community trusts, commercial sponsorships, partners and fundraising, but those funding sources were becoming tighter.

“It’s a constant battle and unexpected repair costs don’t help,” he said.

Security cameras recently captured images of a vehicle tearing around the park, damaging turf.

Images of the truck and damage were posted to the park’s Facebook page.

Lucas said he was happy people had shared the post so widely as it showed people cared.

He said he understood the community’s anger, but he was uncomfortable with some extreme comments, including people joking about “crush the cars with the people in them”.

“I don’t think the driver understood the cost and the consequences of damaging the sports field.

“The damage was particularly disappointing because the vehicle tore up junior football fields on a Friday night, just hours before tamariki aged 5 to 12 were due to play there on Saturday morning.

“Fortunately, the fields were still safe to use, and the games went ahead.”

He said many comments on the post mentioned car enthusiasts had nowhere to go.

“I have some sympathy with that argument, but these people need to organise and find a solution rather than wait for someone else to provide a facility.”

He said they got off lightly, with repair costs expected to be about $1000, including staff time.

“But that’s still more money we have to find.”

He said there had been suggestions they lock the gates.

“That defeats the park’s purpose, which is ‘He wāhi whakakotahi tangata’ – a place that brings people together,” he said.

“The last thing we want to do is lock people out of this amazing facility.”

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