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Netball opening deferred

Friday 23 April 2010, 7:49AM

By Sports Park Hawke's Bay

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HASTINGS

The opening of the Hastings PAK’nSAVE Netball Centre at the Regional Sports Park, originally planned for June of this year, is to be deferred. The 18 courts are now expected to be operational later in 2010 or early 2011

“We were working to tight deadlines to achieve the June date but the message we are getting from Hastings Netball is that they want more time to make sure we get it right. Alongside that, some of the funding is slower coming through than originally planned,” says Sports Park Trust Chair Lawrence Yule

“By taking our foot off the accelerator we’re relieving the pressure in both areas,” he says.

Hastings Netball Chair Joan Cameron said her board was happy with the decision. “To be honest it’s a bit of a relief. The courts are going to be great and we want to make sure the building that goes alongside them does the job, so a bit more time to plan that is going to help,” she says.

“We were also a bit nervous about shifting in the middle of the season (June). Having more time before the start of the 2011 season means we can iron out any teething problems,” she says.

Mr Yule said the Sports Park Trust was not seeking any additional funding from the Council to complete the Hastings PAK’nSAVE Netball Centre.

“Most of the funding – about two thirds – is actually being raised by the Sports Park Trust, and we’re not proposing to seek any increase in the Council’s one third contribution. We’ll simply manage the development of the next stage according to fund inflows,” he says.