Today is the handover ceremony of the Mount Greens project – the joint venture between Mount Maunganui bowling clubs, the croquet club and the former Mount Maunganui Cosmopolitan Club.
The Mount Greens project is being handed over to the clubs from the Tauranga City Council.
Eddie Ngatai from Ngati Kuku is performing the karakia to mark the occasion in a 10am ceremony.
Tauranga City Council project managed the construction side of the greens project for the last 18 months. Club Mount Maunganui looked after the club side.
'It's the end of a very long trail really, it started back in about 1999,” says Mount Greens Sports chairman Ross Linney.
The project was originally going to be a stand alone project, but became a joint venture along the way with the former Mount Maunganui Cosmopolitan Club – now known as Club Mount Maunganui.
The club is also expecting to open today, but that depends on it obtaining the liquor licence.
'There's a few administrative hiccups,” says Ross. 'You have got to have a liquor licence, and we can't get that until we get the council code of compliance certificate. 'They've had all the inspections and its being processed. As soon as that's signed off, the liquor licence can be issued and the club can open.”
The first game of bowls will be played on the new greens in the first week of January, says Ross.
'They are going to move the club between Christmas and new year – that week is generally a pretty quiet week.
'It's a good opportunity because we have to move all the furniture. Take the tables and chairs out of the lounge.
'The croquet club, I think, are moving some stuff today. You've got to set up the office, match committee rooms, notice board, things you need to operate the game.”
He says the World Golf Croquet Championships are booked for next October, and he's expecting the Mount Greens facility will also be hosting higher profile bowls matches in the future – perhaps a trans Tasman test.
Site development cost $3.2 million, consisting of $2.9 million from council and $300,000 from Mount Greens Sports Inc.
22 comments
$2.9 million !!!
Posted on 17-12-2010 13:01 | By SpeakUp
$2.9 mill plus interest is what is being forcefully extorted from us ratepayers, from our children and from our children's children. And that's only for a bowling green. Throughout man's history money was always seized by looters of one brand or another. Now the names have been changed but the methods remain the same: to seize wealth by force and to keep the producers bound in debt.
Project Blessing
Posted on 20-12-2010 17:25 | By Jitter
Can someone tell me why at the completion of every major project the local Maori elders have to attend to give it their blessing ? What about the Pacific Islanders, the Chinese, the Indians, the Europeans etc who are just an important part of the permanent community as the local Maori.
SITE MY GRASS ! !
Posted on 23-12-2010 09:28 | By The Master
What about the rest of the handouts from Ratepayers ? $17.0m industrial land gone :( $ 6.5m paid out for the old Cossie building that is to be flattened :( $ 1.5m thrown in because there there was not enough money "thrown" at it already ... In the real world the monkeys that performed like that would be locked up to protect everyone from them being let loose on the world ... There was no "joint venture" Council just threw a heap of money at it, that is why it all happened.
KITE FLYERS NEXT !
Posted on 23-12-2010 09:35 | By The Master
Would guess that the plan behind the Mt Greens debacle is to: - firstly to be able to whack the old building and secondly have a nice near paddock so as kite flyers have a new place to play. Bet that they will then want new clubs rooms built after that, like in the same place.
$Twenty Five Million & Counting
Posted on 27-12-2010 10:23 | By Ratcatcher
TCC paid $6.5million for the 'old' Cossie Club building to demolish it for parking.TCC gave $3million to develop Mount Bowling & Croquet Clubs greens.Another $1million is to be found for finishing off work.TCC also provided very valuable Industrial zoned land to do this project worth up to $15million for around 2000 privileged soles.In the process TCC took away 3ha of critical overflow parking used for Blake Park.This amounts to a disgraceful mismanagement of TCC ratepayer funds & all involved should be conscience-stricken.Everyone that is not one of the chosen few should boycott the place indefinitely.
Get off the
Posted on 28-12-2010 15:00 | By The Master
What do you mean you cant get there unless you "PAY" to be a member of this elitist outfit which is in the nature of a secret society !
Rub of the Green
Posted on 28-12-2010 21:09 | By Ratcatcher
Master I assume you meant get off the grass.Yes with few exceptions you have to be a member to go anywhere near this palace.By 'boycott' I meant don't visit it don't join it don't patronize it in a couple of words shun it.Only then will the TCC wastrels get the message how peed off ratepayers are about this over the top unjustified extravagance.
SPONSORS OF WHAT ?
Posted on 29-12-2010 19:07 | By The Master
Look what $30 million or so buys you ... couple a bars, gaming machines, gambling, a flutter or three on a horse, a couple of paddocks and a lawn mower or two. That is for the Cossie Club consortium ... Ratepayers get the debt and interest to pay, no rates on the land anymore, peanuts for rent, lets see now hummmmm who has been ripped off here ?
Unbelievable spendup
Posted on 31-12-2010 09:53 | By ROCKY
Yep TCC ratepayers have been financially shafted by their servants and let down by a clueless Council that pleads poverty.Add in Sports and Expo, Arataki Centre,Southern Pipeline and Mount Hotpools and you have the full house.
OFFICALS FROM MORDOR
Posted on 31-12-2010 10:46 | By The Master
Its a ROCKY road ROCKY .... As the clueless Council blunders along from day to day without any "realistic" plan then the decisions made are for sure only going to lead to one end result. "ITS WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT JIM !"
AT COUNCIL - OPEN YOUR BOOKS TO PAGE ...
Posted on 31-12-2010 10:47 | By The Master
Even then they can not all get onto the the same page at the same time.
QUOTATION
Posted on 31-12-2010 10:51 | By The Master
"Unnamed" Councillors ... "I dont know anything about finances, the staff know what they are doing ...". NEWS FLASH: the Council debt has increased from $50 million in 2002 to almost $400 million now. THERE IS A PROBLEM HOUSTON ... BEEP ... THERE IS A HOLE IN MY SHIP AND WE ARE LEAKING AIR RAPIDLY, WHAT TO DO ...
SIMPLE CONNECTION - INTEREST, DEBT AND RATES
Posted on 31-12-2010 11:33 | By TERMITE
The easiest connection in the world is that the more interest there is to pay the more income is needed to pay it. So with a large drop in building fees the only option is to increase rates for all.
NO MORE BUILDING FEES
Posted on 31-12-2010 11:43 | By TERMITE
Very true, building fees have dropped heaps, and even as high as they are no way can the debt be covered now, the interest must be paid so choices are to: borrow more (at maximum now), increase building fees (highest in NZ already and no one is building anyway) or increase rates, expect at least 20% next year.
JUNK BONDS FROM COUNCIL
Posted on 31-12-2010 11:59 | By The Master
With a Standard & Poors rating of A+, there is but two short steps to "junk" (from "A+" to "A" then to "B ..." and beyond) the lower you fall the higher the interest rates will be for Council to pay, so that along with interest rate increases anyway means ratepayers are a "doomed species"
n
Posted on 31-12-2010 12:15 | By The Master
It never was to be because no one else had a spare $30+ million to throw at it. The only way for it to happen was because some boffin bureaucrats decided that "we can do it better" like borrow $30 million and give the money, the land and more away, then whack all the building that were jsut paid for ... all you have left is the debt. Takes some serious bureaucrat brain power to do that.
YET ANOTHER CCO REQUIRED
Posted on 31-12-2010 12:19 | By The Master
So as to preserve the secrecy, camouflage, and deception. lets name this one CGAF #3 Ltd but this time it will surpass all before it ... it will not be for $400,000 but it will be for $30 million and so as to hide all from the "TURKEYS" we shall speed it around to all of our friends and co-horts ...
CO-HORTS ?
Posted on 31-12-2010 14:33 | By TERMITE
You mean the friends and party animals of COuncil, all of thise who attend the City Partners "Parties". No tenders required there just a few drinks and the contract is yours, name your price.
MT GREENS HANG-OVER
Posted on 01-01-2011 09:28 | By The Master
That is more like it I reckon, anyone who is a Tauranga ratepayer is going to have a permanent hangover for this one. Worse ... If you are in the Mount you will be reminded every day you pass by also.
GAMBLING !
Posted on 02-01-2011 12:16 | By The Master
It does not seem right that the Council is funding a business operation that includes gaming machines and the TAB so as to bet on anything and everything. Is this a good use of public monies ?
ADD SECURITY TO THE LIST
Posted on 03-01-2011 19:57 | By TERMITE
Not tendered out for ages got to wonder why?
NEFARIOUS MOTIVES
Posted on 07-01-2011 08:29 | By The Master
If only Council placed the whole deal on the table before it started, that would cause a few roits around the place. Council claims that there is "support" for these projects, but sadly the decision to hit the green button was made ages ago from within the bowls of the officials hierarchy and that is now why there are lots of questions becasue the average "TURKEY" out there has no idea what the Council are doing until it is to late.
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