Rangitīkei Netball is seeking the council's support to upgrade the Marton netball courts, citing safety concerns.
Rangitīkei Netball is seeking the council's support to upgrade the Marton netball courts, citing safety concerns.
Rangitīkei Netball is frustrated with a lack of action on council-owned netball courts it says are unsafe.
Rangitīkei Netball president Katie Deere said the three courts in Marton, owned by Rangitīkei District Council, needed resurfacing because participants were slipping over and getting injured, posing a safety concern.
A recent inspectionof court three – the worst – found two steel prongs poking out of the ground.
“One of my little netball team members fell on one and had this massive hole in her knee – it’s getting worse and worse,” Deere said.
Court three has since been closed until the prongs are removed or the court is resurfaced.
The council said it planned to meet with netball representatives to “get a positive outcome”.
An estimated 300 children use the courts on Saturdays.
Deere said she and treasurer Adie Cunningham took over from the previous Rangitīkei Netball regime four years ago and immediately sought clarification from the council on how things worked.
Four years on, they were no closer to getting anything sorted with the courts, resulting in Deere posting on Facebook to express the organisation’s concerns.
“Over the four years, we have offered to do anything to get the ball rolling,” she said.
“When no one is listening, you go to Facebook these days.”
A girl was injured by two metal prongs discovered sticking out on court three.
Deere said Rangitīkei Netball was not asking for significant financial backing, just the council’s support for grant applications.
“It is a very frustrating situation. The safety of the kids has to come first and it’s sad [the council] obviously don’t see the value in investing in their grounds to keep sport alive and thriving for our tamariki.
“I think it’s really sad that it takes volunteers and passionate sportspeople that are delivering stuff for kids to battle these paid big organisations just to get sports grounds that are safe.
“We are willing to do all of the legwork involved. We just need support levels from council for grants, things like that. Just some easy support that they can provide to get this done and future-proofed so our kids and us don’t have to worry about it in five years when the other two courts do the same thing.”
Deere feared there could be knock-on effects, such as reduced participation, if subscription fees had to be increased to pay for the upgrades.
She cited similar sport projects, such as the Taihape netball courts, which were resurfaced for about $80,000 in 2024 and the Ngā Awa Block construction, and said she could not understand why the courts in Marton were not treated the same.
“It doesn’t make sense for what you [the council] are promoting in your long-term plans and your district plans and all of these things about beautiful grounds and amazing sporting facilities,” she said.
“Netball has been there since 1961; it is a staple. There are a lot of parents there whose kids are playing on the same courts they did. It brings so many people into town and gets money spent in town as well.”
Deere believed the Marton courts helped remove the barrier of kids having to travel for sport.
“It is a community space. It is not ours, we don’t own it, it is your space that everyone can use,” Deere said.
“We just want to see it done – a quick, fast resolution.”
Rangitīkei Mayor Andy Watson said the issue had not officially gone before elected members and had been left with council staff.
However, he wanted to meet with Deere as soon as possible to find a solution.
“I know there is a concern. Katie Deere is one of the stalwarts of netball in the Rangitīkei and I want to try and support her and the repairs for the court,” Watson said.
“I need to understand exactly what will be required and whether it is of such a scale that it has to be an annual-plan consideration – I do want to understand it further.”
A council spokesman said a meeting had been scheduled with representatives of Rangitīkei Netball to “get a positive outcome for netball and the community”.
Fin Ocheduszko Brown is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.
