Track could saddle city with $400k reckoning

The six-year-old track on The Domain was originally expected to last 15 years but this had now shrunk to nine years.

Tauranga ratepayers could be left holding a bill worth nearly $400,000 after the shock disclosure that the wrong type of surface was chosen for the city's only artificial running track.

The six-year-old track on The Domain was originally expected to last 15 years but this had now shrunk to nine years, with the council and Tauranga Millennium Track Trust now looking at going halves for a replacement worth $790,000.

Two councillors opposed the decision for the council to pick up half the costs, with Catherine Stewart wanting to limit the size of the council's contribution to $198,000 - a quarter of the replacement track's cost. Bill Grainger also voted against the move.

The predicament facing the council and city's athletics fraternity was revealed to yesterday's meeting of the council.

Consultants hired by the council said that while the surface had performed "adequately" since it was constructed, athletes said it was starting to harden and was no longer as resilient.

Council recreation and facilities manager Kiri Pope said the current track was relatively new technology when it was installed and had not experienced the Bay's environment and the high level of community use on the Domain.

The surface would have been more suited to higher levels of competition and infrequent use, she said.

The Millennium Trust built the original track for $1.5 million which included a council contribution of $330,000. The asphalt base would be used again for the proposed new system.

Sports Surface Consultants has proposed a new type of artificial track, the Polyurethane Sandwich Surface System. It was already in common use around New Zealand including Whangarei, North Harbour, Hamilton, Wanganui and Wellington.

The consultants said the system had a number of advantages including that it was better at avoiding leg strains and other injuries. The life of the track could also be extended by seven years at about half the cost of a full replacement.

They said the hardening of the existing track could be caused by general ageing plus attack from UV radiation which was quite high in the Bay of Plenty. "In some areas, particularly around the high jump fan, the joints between the panels are starting to open."

Ms Pope did not think the general wear and tear from public use of the track was any worse than club training.

Yesterday's meeting agreed to go out for public consultation on funding half the costs of the replacement track in three years, subject to the Millennium Trust raising the rest of the money. The council also agreed to fully fund depreciation of the track which on current estimates was $60,000 a year. This was to avoid a repeat of the situation where the council suddenly faced a big replacement bill. Council staff would work with athletics clubs and other key users to develop a charging regime to cover the costs of future track renewals. Councillor Matt Cowley said he was flexible about the fundraising, such as corporate naming rights for the life of the track.

The original decision to not depreciate the track was on the basis that future resurfacing would be funded by the athletics community, led by the trust. However Ms Pope said nothing was put in writing. The trust had no money to resurface the track but was comfortable about raising its share of replacement costs. Depreciation would allow the track to be replaced at seven years and the full track at 14 years.