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Long wait finally over The wait is over for hundreds of local NCEA students who found out how they fared in their exams yesterday. www.guardianonline.co.nz
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PHOTO KATIE TODD 160118-KT-410
District court news P5
Plans for big rise in stadium fees BY SUE NEWMAN
SUE.N@THEGUARDIAN.CO.NZ
Pipped at the post P24
Users of the EA Network’s Centre stadium could be walking away in droves if Ashburton District councillors sign off on a 40 per cent increase in court charges. As discussions started on the long term plan, the document that spells out how rates money will be spent over the next 10 years, councillors were keen to change the way the centre is funded. Currently rates cover 60 per cent of costs and users 40 per cent, but councillors want this changed to a 50/50 share. In spite of a plea by centre manager Steve Prescott to retain the status quo, councillors wanted to build the proposed change into the draft long term plan to see what the community’s reaction would be. Prescott said he had no question about
the outcome – users would be walking away in droves. Council staff came up with two scenarios, a 15 per cent across the board increase, or pushing stadium fees up 40 per cent and pool and gym fees up 9 per cent. The 50/50 funding model might be the council’s ideal, but there were virtually no other councils with sports complexes who achieved that, Prescott said. “You have to be really careful with this. You don’t want to make it unaffordable for people to use the centre. There will be casualties if you go with 50/50; we will become elitist and we’ll lose a lot of people.” A 40 per cent increase would see futsil players, for example, who used the courts for five hours on a Sunday paying $896 a session for four courts, rather than $640, $11,000 more over a year. And the im-
pact on the largest user, netball, would be huge, he said. “I know we’d lose netball immediately if the fees go up. They’re already saying $32 a court is too high. They’d just go back to Middle Road if it goes up to $44”. Ashburton was already at the upper end of council owned sports facilities when it came to charges, Prescott said. “We’re one of the few facilities in New Zealand that would be charging more than $4 for kids, most are $3 or $3.20. Auckland has no charges for kids. They look at it as a community service they’re trying to provide. We want more people, more active, more often. Put the fees up and we’ll get punished by it.”
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