HUTT CITY COUNCIL NEWS RELEASE

11 June 2014

Lack of community support drives Petone Arena decision

Funding for the Petone Arena proposal has not been included in Hutt City Council’s Annual Plan after a lack of support was shown by the community during consultation.

Mayor Ray Wallace today commended the Community Facilities Trust (CFT) and Welnix Director Dr Gareth Morgan for “bringing the proposal to the Council table” but said he could not ignore the “strength of public opinion”.

“As Mayor I pride myself on listening to the people I represent; to me that’s part of democracy. I also pride myself on considering opportunities that have the potential to bring economic benefit and push our city forward.

“It would be a sad day for Lower Hutt if proposals such as Petone Arena were never put up for discussion simply because they generate strong views or force us to think differently about the future. I thank the CFT and Dr Morgan for their vision in putting this proposal in front of us to consider.

“We’ve heard from many different people during consultation on Petone Arena and the discussion has been robust. The feedback though has been overwhelmingly similar with the majority of those who’ve had their say, clearly against it.

“As one of the strict conditions we imposed on the proposal was a satisfactory level of community support we will not be providing funding to progress Petone Arena.

“My vision for our city continues to be a great place to live, work and play both today and tomorrow, and as a council we’ll continue to be open to ideas that help us achieve that.

“The Petone Arena discussion has uncovered fantastic information about aspirations and needs in the Petone community and I look forward to working with the people of Petone and the CFT to explore these further.”

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