Western Bay of Plenty Mayor Ross Paterson is hitting back at a ratepayer claim the proposed development of Omokoroa tennis courts represents nepotism and favouritism.

Omokoroa resident Richard Pateman says nepotism is the only way the council can justify spending $250,000 on four hard courts for the Omokoroa Tennis Club at Western Avenue Reserve – to the detriment of other projects that will now be deferred up to 10 years.

Western Bay of Plenty District Council's reviewed reserve plan of Omokoroa sports ground, at Western Avenue Reserve.

But Ross says the whole Western Avenue Reserve's project has gone through the public processes.

'We are looking at a total of $1.4 million in that total development spread over a period of time,” says Ross.

'Council is talking in this present round of the annual plan to actually spend $230,000 of that; and the first stage would be on tennis courts.

'The other stages will follow. We are prioritising money but there's a whole range of other developments; club facilities, including a central building for this complex; a bigger sealed carpark; playgrounds. There was talk of a skatepark, but we have still to work out whether it goes there or somewhere else.”

When the draft annual plan is approved by council, the community will have another opportunity to comment on it again, says Ross.

After local body elections last October, the council sought public submissions on the newly reviewed plan for Western Avenue Reserve to approve and adopt it into its Long-term plan.

'I have got no problems with that side of it. I do not believe any one councillor has driven this and captured the direction.

'This has been a council decision on the priorities and working with the community. We have gone back and talked to the [Omokoroa] community board. We did that recently; and of course we all had the submission process from the annual plan as well.

'It is actually determined by the community and what they wanted in the last five or 10 years in our management plans, and we are just moving through putting parts of that in place.”

Richard says its total lunacy spending so much money on the tennis courts project, as it is not an all-purpose facility to benefit the wider audience of the local community.

'How such a niche facility can be given priority status and seen as wise use of funding for Omokoroa is a farce, for the decade and the millennium we live in,” says Richard.

'Omokoroa has the opportunity to shine if the powers that be take a long hard look in the mirror and wake up to the fact that this project, as it currently stands, is a waste of money – especially for ratepayers in the community who will never benefit from this facility just so approximately 20 people can indulge themselves in what will be a long-term white elephant.”

He's urging the council to stop the project before it ruins Omokoroa for the next 10 years.

'Open your eyes and your ears and actually consider spending this large amount of money on projects that will have longevity, enhance and benefit the whole community,” says Richard.

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