Closure plan threat to climber's title bid

Sian Moffitt, 17, who has represented New Zealand overseas, will have nowhere in Taupo to train if the indoor climbing wall is closed. Photo / Laurilee McMichael

She's a high-level sport climber who has represented New Zealand overseas - but Sian Moffitt may soon have nowhere to train if a Taupo District Council proposal to close the town's indoor rock climbing wall goes ahead.

Sian, 17, has climbed in the World Youth Climbing Championships in Singapore and New Caledonia, and in the Oceania Climbing Championships, and is training to be selected for the World Championships in Italy.

But her plans could be derailed if the rock wall closes on June 30, as proposed in the council's Long-Term Plan consultation document.

Sian trains at the Taupo wall every week. If it closes, she'll have to travel to Rotorua or Hamilton. There is a wall in Turangi, but it doesn't have the climbing routes she needs.

"It will be a huge loss of training, and if I get into Worlds, [the wall] will be closing two months before I head off and that's the time I'll need to be climbing the most ... it's going to screw up my training, definitely."

Sian started out in the Chalky Midgets children's climbing club, and says she wasn't good at team sports.

"I didn't really click with any other sports that I had tried. Climbing was everything to me when I was younger - it still is."

Sian says climbing is a social and supportive sport, which benefits young people.

"Without the rock wall in Taupo, it's a lot of opportunities missed for our Chalky Midgets and anyone that wants to come and do an indoor sport because there are not many indoor sports you can do in Taupo."

The Long-Term Plan consultation document states numbers at the rock wall had been falling, but figures supplied by the council show while numbers fell in the last financial year, they rose in the preceding year, and in the first half of this financial year were sitting at 4818. If the rate of use remains constant, the number of wall visits will have risen this year. Last year the wall income was $52,000 and direct expenditure was $112,000, a deficit of $60,000.

That compares with last year's deficits of $2.2 million at the AC Baths, $714,000 at the Turangi Aquatic Centre and $99,000 at the AC Baths Fitness Suite.

The council's operational services group manager Gareth Green said the council wanted to know whether the community thinks it should be in the business of providing activities such as the climbing wall. Issues to consider include whether a council facility competes with private business, and the size of its operating deficit.

Submissions on the Taupo District Council's plan close on Tuesday, April 7. For more information and to make a submission, visit www.taupodc.govt.nz.