62-64 Golf Road, which the council approved as the new site of Mount Maunganui Playcentre. Photo / Talia Parker
62-64 Golf Road, which the council approved as the new site of Mount Maunganui Playcentre. Photo / Talia Parker
Seventeen years of uncertainty are over for Mount Maunganui Playcentre, as the council has voted to give it a new home despite some community opposition.
The playcentre is currently at Blake Park but the council has unanimously voted to reclassify a portion of Golf Rd Reserve from recreation reserve tolocal purpose and approve the playcentre's move there.
The move would allow the council to meet increasing demands from sports users at Blake Park as it develops into a more prominent sporting facility.
In a council meeting on Tuesday, commissioners approved the move and removed an original requirement to consider an upcoming parking and traffic report when approving the relocation.
The council also recommended a proposed plan for the rest of Golf Rd Reserve be created within the next three months.
"The continued operation of our centre is at risk."
She said there was nowhere else for their children to go if they closed, as both nearby playcentres were full, and there was widespread community support for the move.
"Our playcentre is popular and thriving," she said.
Left to right: lifetime playcentre member Rita Tustin, playcentre relocation chair Renee Smith, and playcentre president Emily Bailey. Photo / Andrew Warner
She said the new playcentre would be a single-storey, 169 square metre building, and would not interfere with other users of the reserve.
The relocation had been "hanging over [their] heads for 17 years," and the reserve was the "ideal location ... in the heart of the community and the centre of our families," she said.
When questioned about the centre's parking needs by commissioner Shadrach Rolleston, Smith said 65 per cent of parents had said they would drive to the new location, which amounted to an average of 13 cars on-site at a time, and a maximum of 19.
Other members of the community attended the meeting to speak against the reclassification.
Allan Goodhall, retired international manager of Mount Maunganui College, told the council meeting he had "real concerns about the process".
Tauranga City Council commissioner Shadrach Rolleston questioned the playcentre representatives about their parking needs. Photo / Andrew Warner
He was concerned about parking and traffic issues if the playcentre moved to the reserve.
He said the proposal was"piecemeal" and "not consistent with good planning principles," as it did not plan for the future of the whole reserve.
He requested the decision be delayed, "to get it right for future generations to come".
Margaret Bowditch, who lives adjacent to the reserve, called the proposal "ad hoc" and driven by "unquantified potential loss".
She said there had been "insufficient consideration relating to the best use of the reserve as a whole," and urged the council to assess all potential uses before approving the playcentre.
She said approving the reclassification to build the playcentre would be "like building a garage on a section without first having your house plan in place".
"I don't think you [the council] have been provided with enough good information to make this decision for my community."
She too requested the decision be delayed.
The council had previously sought feedback from the community and said 132 of the 162 submissions they received were strongly in favour of moving the playcentre to the reserve.
Tauranga City Council general manager of community services Gareth Wallis said he would be "very surprised" if parking was a "fatal flaw" in the relocation plan. Photo / Andrew Warner
Supporters drew attention to the site's ideal location for families and the community value of the playcentre, while negative submissions were primarily concerned with parking, traffic, and other users of the reserve.
Community services manager Gareth Wallis said he thought the playcentre would need less parking than the bowls club, the section's previous occupier.
He said he would be "very surprised" if parking was a "fatal flaw" in the relocation.
