While some outdoor sports groups are up in arms about council’s proposed fee hikes for sport ground use, some indoor groups are welcoming the fees to create an even playing field among community sports.

Last year Tauranga City Council released their Long Term Plan 2024-2034, which proposes sport clubs pay to use fields for trainings and games.

If the proposed fee structure goes ahead, council would charge $258 per hour, per field/wicket, per week. This, however, would be the total fee for the season – as opposed to each week for outdoor sport groups.

The Weekend Sun recently reported how this proposal has been met with resistance by football groups and the like – however Volleyball Tauranga’s manager Jenny Kirk is ready for outdoor groups to be charged.

‘By the hour’ 

“We have been advocating council for years around setting some equity for outdoor and indoor sports,” says Jenny. “While we have enjoyed a subsidised hourly rate to use the council Indoor facilities, our hall hire is still a massive cost in our ability to host community sport. We have to pay it to use the facility by the hour and arrange bookings well in advance.”

For context, the cost based on per court, per hour for youth/senior community regular games was $20.10 last year at the Queen Elizabeth Youth Centre. Now in 2024, the new price is $33.40 per court, per hour.

Jenny says this new regime for indoor sports fees began on January 1, 2024, with some costs being raised by 50-60 per cent. “But on the first of January this year, the outdoor users still weren’t paying. If they were paying fee recovery, it was very nominal.”

Jenny says the massive upkeep costs of presenting fields/courts in a fit state for sport are well documented. “This causes a huge support imbalance between outdoor and indoor sports.”

“[So] $100,000 for annual hall hire by a major sport in Tauranga is a fact, and the members keep growing.”

Finding balance 

The Sun asked council whether the proposed fees are aimed at gaining equity between indoor sport user fees. “The proposed user fees and charges seek a more fair and equitable balance between revenue from rates and revenue from the users of council facilities,” says community service’s general manager Barbara Dempsey. “It’s important we get that balance right.”

Jenny thinks user groups should be responsible to contributing towards the use of any facility. “They should be able to budget and pay their fair share towards costs. I think youth sports should be subsidised differently. Our charging regime has always allowed for community and youth to have a larger subsidy than adult sport, but I think there's a lot of sports that need to budget and manage their affairs in such a way that they pay a fair contribution towards their facilities.”

Community meeting 

Last week National MP, Sam Uffindell wrote in his opinion piece: “It is with sadness and frustration that I see Tauranga City Council proposing, through their Long Term Plan, to massively increase fees to use community sports fields”.

Jenny thinks both sides of community sports need to be considered. “As an MP, he [Sam] should be better informed,” says Jenny. “More discussion is needed to get the rates workable but community sport needs to be well managed and live within their means – whether they are indoor or outdoor.”

Sam Uffindell and fellow National MP Tom Rutherford are hosting a meeting to discuss the implications of council’s proposed changes from 5.30pm-6.30pm at Tauranga Yacht & Power Boat Club, 90 Keith Allen Drive on Monday, March 4.