The grounds of Tauranga Domain pictured after heavy machinery used the area after the One Love concert was cancelled on January 28. Photo / Supplied
The grounds of Tauranga Domain pictured after heavy machinery used the area after the One Love concert was cancelled on January 28. Photo / Supplied
The race is on to repair significant damage to Tauranga Domain before the winter sports season starts in April, with thousands of local rugby players plus the Bay of Plenty Steamers and Volcanix potentially impacted if works drag on.
Most of the domain is closed, with the Tauranga City Councilsaying 2.5 hectares needs to be regraded and re-levelled after wet weather and One Love festival equipment removal last month damaged grounds and sportsfields.
The damage has forced cricket teams to play elsewhere and a sports club is $6000 out of pocket for cancelled touch games.
Tauranga Domain is primarily a shared sports facility, hosting several clubs, but it is also used for festivals and concerts.
Equipment for the annual One Love reggae and roots music festival was set up and ready to go on Auckland Anniversary Weekend, but the event was cancelled before it began because of extreme wet weather.
Tauranga City Council venues and events manager Nelita Byrne said the grounds were damaged when event infrastructure was later removed from the site.
“The cricket outfield platform, surrounding areas, and the number one pitch were damaged in the process,” Byrne said.
Heavy vehicles including large trucks and tractors were seen accessing the waterlogged grounds. Photographs at the time showed areas of the grounds muddy and crossed with tyre tracks.
The One Love concert clean-up at Tauranga Domain in February. Photo / Mead Norton
Asked how much the clean-up was expected to cost, Byrne said the council was “currently working through costs with all parties” and a remediation plan was being developed with the council’s turf management contractors.
Byrne said the council understood that while the entire ground did not need to be ripped up and regraded, the “most damaged” areas would need to be regraded and levelled.
About 2.5 hectares were estimated to have been damaged. Those areas needed to be blended with the rest of the sports fields.
Byrne said the work and required recovery period meant no cricket could be played at the domain for the rest of this season.
Contractors were “working hard” to restore the area in time for the winter sports season, she said, with the expectation cricket would be able to return in the next summer sports season from October.
“To ensure a quality sports surface is maintained across the grounds we do expect that the whole site will be renovated, which includes a seed, fertiliser and topdressing process.”
The damaged grounds have put Tauranga Rugby and Sports Club $6000 out of pocket after having to refund its touch rugby teams which were unable to play at the domain as usual, president John O’Loan said.
He said any potential delay in its rugby season, which began on April 15, would be “impossible” and impact “thousands” of people.
The dates were set and a delay would “heavily affect” more than 25 junior teams that used the domain, as well as senior teams.
“It would be terrible if we can’t use field one as the main ground for our home games. It can cost a lot of money to have to play those games away.
“If they took field one away from us, that’s going to really have significant ramifications.”
Field one is located in front of the grandstand while fields two and three are closer to Chapel St. It is understood all three fields have damage.
“I was down there the other day looking at it. The whole place is a mess,” O’Loan said.
For now, the club was using Mitchell Park for training but wanted to be able to return to its grounds and clubrooms.
O’Loan said the money the club had already forked out because of the damaged grounds was “$6000 we don’t have”.
“It has a huge knock-on effect. I also feel for cricket as well ... It’s just horrendous for them.”
If the rugby season was not able to begin at the domain when planned, “the financial impact could be quite significant”.
“Somebody’s got to be responsible.”
Western Bay of Plenty Cricket’s Paul Willis said the loss of the domain use this season was disappointing and likely meant more matches would be held out of town in Rotorua, Taupō or Katikati.
“It’s just going to put a strain on getting games sorted, week to week, in regards to afternoon cricket,” he said.
“We are massaging what we need to massage to get it there. It’s just what we have to do to play cricket at the moment,” Willis said.
The Tauranga Domain's top field, pictured in 2020.
Bay of Plenty Rugby Union general manager Neil Alton said it was unfortunate events had been called off at the domain and it would work with the council to do whatever was needed to ensure the grounds were ready for the rugby season.
The domain is the home ground for the Bay of Plenty Steamers and Volcanix.
“Obviously, we want the field ready for the season,” Alton said.
One Love promoter Glenn Meikle said the situation highlighted the need for an all-purpose stadium and arena for sports and events in Tauranga.
“If Tauranga wants to continue to host major events we need to invest in a multi-purpose facility that will cater to massive crowds in all weather conditions, which includes concrete paths for vehicles,” he said.
“Tauranga is a key player in New Zealand’s events industry and to retain that status, more needs to be done to keep events here. We’ve seen multiple events cancelled this summer due to weather conditions, it’s more important now than ever to invest in keeping them in this city.”
Meikle said his team tried to prevent damage to the domain by bringing in plywood and other types of flooring ahead of time.
“This was done in a bid to prevent damage from vehicles driving on the grounds. However, the constant heavy rain that had fallen in Tauranga that weekend was a main factor in the damage caused.”
Meikle said some of the equipment had to be moved as it was committed to being elsewhere and because it was difficult to truly know when the weather would let up, it needed to be done.
“We tried our best and did what we could to avoid further damage and aimed to at least contain it to one area of the site.”
Meikle said the costs associated with the event, and therefore any remedial work, were covered by insurance.
The council and economic development agency Priority One are investigating building a stadium at the domain, with a $170 million open-air design progressing to business case development.
