Wanganui beats only Taupo in bike race

Wanganui's bid for the New Zealand Cycling Centre of Excellence finished second to last when it was ranked along with the six other centres vying for the facility.
Only the bid from Taupo scored less in the assessment criteria used to sort out the contenders.
From the initial Sport and Recreation New Zealand (Sparc) assessment, Wanganui, Taupo, Christchurch and Hawke's Bay were all eliminated.
The three finalists shortlisted were Auckland, Waikato/Bay of Plenty and Palmerston North with Sparc giving the final nod to Waikato/Bay of Plenty.
Information released by Sparc blanked out the scores for the top three contenders for the centre, but ranked Christchurch fourth, with a total score of 3.40.
Hawke's Bay came next (3.33), followed by Wanganui (2.68) and finally Taupo (2.06).
Sparc said Wanganui's bid failed because the city was not big enough, not close enough to other high-performance areas and did not have enough sports scientists.
Wanganui Mayor Annette Main said it was disappointing Wanganui's bid did not achieve a higher ranking and that Sparc did not release any information relating to the shortlisted bids.
She said the weighted scoring system adopted by Sparc marked Wanganui down in the areas of support services, in terms of access to sports research personnel and access to existing high performance facilities.
"It appears now that Sparc wanted these services and facilities to already be in place.
"We knew that personnel would come here if our bid was successful and the cycling centre of excellence built. Other experts would have been able to support us from Palmerston North," Ms Main said.
She said council was also surprised that the city was weighted poorly in parking, as Wanganui's bid allowed for an additional 360 parking spaces near the velodrome.
She said parking for sporting events had never been an issue around the Cooks Gardens area.
Ms Main said Sparc obviously gave Wanganui little credit for "added value" although the bid highlighted the district's safe roads, the support from the cycling community and the major national and international cycling events successfully hosted here.
"Wanganui has hosted more national cycling events than any other city in New Zealand. We were also given no recognition of the substantial organisation and volunteer base for hosting the Masters Games," Ms Main said.
However, she said Wanganui's score received reflected the feedback given to council at its de-brief meeting with Sparc on May 12.
"Wanganui deserved the opportunity to be assessed to host the centre. How could we not put in a bid for something which would have made a positive economic difference to our district?"
Ms Main said the bid "galvanised the community which got behind this".
"We still have a world class velodrome, a proud cycling history and the future ahead of us. Our experience and energy gained from this project will no doubt be directed into other initiatives to benefit our district," she said.
Councillor Michael Laws, a staunch opponent of the bid, said papers released by Sparc under the Official Information Act showed Wanganui's bid was not a "serious contender".
Mr Laws said $162,000 of Wanganui ratepayer funding might have been spared had the council's bidding team properly read the Sparc documents.
"We were never a contender."
He said Wanganui's "supposed strengths" were no stronger than other failed bids.
Mr Laws' assessment was challenged by Cr Philippa Baker-Hogan, who chaired the council's cycle centre working party.
Mrs Baker-Hogan contended the city's bid was "very close" to the other unsuccessful bidders, apart from support services.
"You simply can't have those until you have a regional or nationally significant sport in your city. These have been eroded over the last 10 years, with other regions taking their opportunities ahead of us," she said.
She also disputed the $162,000 figure Cr Laws put on the bid.
Mrs Baker-Hogan said the council's strategy and finance committee reported the bid cost $85,000, with nearly $56,000 staff wage costs and a further $17,500 spent on legal opinion and 10-year-plan amendment process.
Ms Baker-Hogan said the decision showed that both Sparc and the Government had been clear with their intentions for the provinces.
"Neither Sparc nor Bike NZ ever came to Wanganui to view our facilities until they cut us from the shortlist."