33
Figure 1: New Zealand top 10 sports by club membership
Source: Sport New Zealand 2008-2009 & 2013-2014
3. Local participation
Locally, the top most popular club sports are rugby, football, cricket, netball, hockey,
touch, basketball, volleyball, and swimming (refer to Appendix One). Figure 2 shows
the trends in membership for the most popular sports by club membership in
Palmerston North.
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Figure 2: Most popular sports by club membership in Palmerston North
6000
Rugby
5000
Football/soccer
Cricket
4000
Netball
Summer hockey
Basketball
3000
Hockey
Touch
2000
Volleyball
Swimming
1000
Tennis
Squash
0
2011
2012
Source: Palmerston North City Council
2013
2014
39
Changes in the participation in different sports in the region are shown in Table 5.
39
Recreation Needs Assessment Sports Code Participation numbers 2014; Survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.net/summary/XPpPTb2iSl6hgXwipPNTKtyW5yKDucafSh3c4f31N38_3D)
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Table 5 – Changes in regional participation in sports and active leisure
Activity
2011
% of
population
Rugby
4503
Football/soccer
3726
Cricket
3116
Netball
3380
Summer hockey
2179
Basketball
Hockey
1851
Touch
1100
Volleyball
Swimming
801
Tennis
744
Squash
794
Bowling
0
Rugby league
569
Softball
485
Athletics
261
Table tennis
0
Special Olympics
200
Badminton
224
Triathlon
232
Population
218,050
40
Source: Palmerston North City Council
2.1%
1.7%
1.4%
1.6%
1.0%
0.0%
0.8%
0.5%
0.0%
0.4%
0.3%
0.4%
0.0%
0.3%
0.2%
0.1%
0.0%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
2014
% of
population
4231
3946
3561
3190
2906
2296
2388
1820
855
775
732
755
497
577
713
464
349
275
189
198
219,850
1.9%
1.8%
1.6%
1.5%
1.3%
1.0%
1.1%
0.8%
0.4%
0.4%
0.3%
0.3%
0.2%
0.3%
0.3%
0.2%
0.2%
0.1%
0.1%
0.1%
Increase
/(Decrease)
since 2011
-6%
6%
14%
-6%
33%
29%
65%
-3%
-2%
-5%
1%
47%
78%
38%
-16%
-15%
Note. There are limitations to this assessment:
 Information provided by sports groups is assumed to be accurate and in some
cases estimates were provided - team numbers may be known but not
individual numbers
 Sports competitions held in Palmerston North serve a wider region including
the Manawatū, Rangitikei, Horowhenua, Tararua and Whanganui areas.
 Further a number of codes host national competitions in Palmerston North
 Participation in sports also occurs outside of the membership structure, with a
number of codes providing sports programmes in schools and organising
events that include non-club participants.
Sports with increasing club membership are: football, volleyball, touch, hockey,
basketball, cricket, athletics, softball, and the Special Olympics. Sports with
decreasing club membership are: rugby, netball, bowling, squash, tennis, and
swimming, bowls, badminton, and triathlon.
Local membership in winter and summer sports in Palmerston North
Winter sports participation and membership has traditionally been used as a
measure of demand for sport and recreation facilities. Membership is linked to both
participation rates and population growth trends in the region. The proportion of the
40
Recreation
Needs
Assessment
Sports
Code
Participation
numbers
https://www.surveymonkey.net/summary/XPpPTb2iSl6hgXwipPNTKtyW5yKDucafSh3c4f31N38_3D)
2014;
Survey:
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population participating in winter sports is higher than the proportion of people
participating in summer sports. Winter and summer sports membership as a
proportion of the population is relatively stable, with increases in summer
membership significantly above population growth (refer to the Table 6 below).
Trends from 1996 to 2014 indicate a 5% increase in winter membership and a 9%
increase in summer membership compared to a 1% increase in the regional
population.
Table 6: Participation in winter and summer sports as a proportion of the
regional population
Year
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Total Percent of winter
Percent of summer
Percent of all-year
Total
Total year
Regional
winter
members as a
members as a
round members as
summer
round
Population member proportion of the
proportion of the
a proportion of the
member
members
s
population
population
population
216,950
216,700
215,850
214,900
214,150
212,250
212,700
213,750
214,300
214,550
215,200
214,850
214,950
215,750
217,150
218,050
218,450
218,700
219,850
16011
16261
17318
18316
18295
18633
18111
18575
13200
12218
13001
13458
5597
6381
10313
14253
14431
15912
16817
7%
8%
8%
9%
9%
9%
9%
9%
6%
6%
6%
6%
3%
3%
5%
7%
7%
7%
8%
Source: Palmerston North City Council
11278
11729
11768
10709
10044
8140
9038
8364
2673
2176
1677
1403
690
4351
5120
8935
10461
12155
12238
5%
5%
5%
5%
5%
4%
4%
4%
1%
1%
1%
1%
0%
2%
2%
4%
5%
6%
6%
888
924
4548
4391
5096
5712
5728
5671
6681
6432
6312
5582
62
2225
2560
8733
9295
8945
8532
0%
0%
2%
2%
2%
3%
3%
3%
3%
3%
3%
3%
0%
1%
1%
4%
4%
4%
4%
41
Note. There are limitations to this assessment:
 There are gaps in the information collected from sports clubs, particularly
between 2003 and 2010, which make it difficult to determine membership
trends. The information provided by sports groups is assumed to be accurate
and in some cases estimates were provided - team numbers may be recorded
but not the number of individuals
 There have sometimes been changes in the way information is collected
which make it difficult to draw conclusions about membership changes e.g.
membership estimates based on the number of teams versus actual
membership
 Participation in sports is growing outside of the membership structure, with a
number of codes providing sports programmes in schools to increase
participation and membership locally
 All councils in the region are experiencing population growth
41
Recreation
Needs
Assessment
Sports
Code
Participation
numbers
https://www.surveymonkey.net/summary/XPpPTb2iSl6hgXwipPNTKtyW5yKDucafSh3c4f31N38_3D)
2014;
Survey:
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

Significant decline in migration to Australia has contributed to high population
growth in the younger age groups compared with the most recent long-term
population projections. There is uncertainty over when migration to Australia
will begin to recover or whether it will return to historic levels. This has
implications for future population growth trends in the region
Some sports are moving away from charging the traditional annual
membership fees and charging fees on a more flexible pay-to-play basis.
Pay-to-play fees are not recorded in annual subscriptions, and this can show
as a decline in annual membership numbers.
Influences on sports participation and membership in Palmerston North
Local participation is influenced by a number of factors including:
 Other competing activities
 People choosing to play at centres other than their local centre
 Socio-economic factors (e.g. cost, travel times, accessibility)
 Development programmes and activities at the centre
 Availability of other competitions locally
 Quality of the facilities
 Capacity of the centre to accommodate additional teams
 Participation and membership costs
 Age
 Cultural preferences
 Compulsory School Sports e.g. swimming, athletics, and jogging/running.
The tertiary sector, defence forces and Sport Manawatū influence sport in
Palmerston North. Appendix Seven provides a summary of the non-Council
provided facilities available for public use.
International Pacific University (IPU)
IPU provides a recreation centre and sports fields for its students and clubs, such as
futsal, dance, basketball and tennis. These activities include some public members.
With the exception of school groups, IPU no longer hires its recreation centre for
public use, however some fields (requiring drainage improvements) are available for
general use.
Massey University
Massey University is a major provider of recreation facilities in Palmerston North. It
provides on campus recreational opportunities to its staff and students. Access to
University recreation facilities is through purchased membership. All facilities are
available but University student use is given priority. The recreation centre is not
open for casual use. Public use is generally limited to evenings and weekends
outside Massey University club needs. There is limited public access available to
the outdoor hard courts for netball and tennis.
Linton Military Camp
Linton Military Camp is a provider of recreation facilities in Palmerston North. It
provides recreational opportunities to its staff, which reduces demand on Council
owned facilities. Access to Linton Military Camp is restricted with entry subject to
NZDF security regulations.
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There are approximately 2,400 personnel at Linton Military Camp, made up of
soldiers, civilians and dependants, with further growth expected. The army is a
significant contributor to the growth in the number of Māori and Pacific people in the
City.
Linton Military Camp hosts a multitude of NZDF level and Army level codes as well
as local club competitions - rugby, rugby league, and football. Other Linton based
clubs play on Council facilities – for sports such as basketball, softball, netball, and
volleyball. On a case-by-case basis Linton Military Camp also allows the camp
environment to be used for Manawatū based clubs, such as triathlons and Cycle
Manawatū.42 The public use of facilities is restricted to the 18 hole golf course, three
rugby fields, one rugby league field and one soccer field used in support of Linton
Military teams in Manawatū based competitions.
Sport Manawatū
The vision of Sport Manawatū is “Everyone Active Everyday”. Its mission is to
develop sport and recreation in the Manawatū region. The role of the organisation
continues to evolve, with the emphasis on sports administration now shared with a
role in increasing physical activity through creating, maintaining, and changing
people’s habits. With government agencies, such as those in the health and
education sectors, mandated to achieve physical activity outcomes, this focus will be
retained in the foreseeable future. Sport Manawatū staff levels have grown from 3.5
FTE in 1990 to 26 FTE in 2015.
The Sports House facility, located at Sport Manawatū on Queen Street, in addition to
being the base for Sport Manawatū staff, is also a sports hub, with eight regional
sporting organisations currently based at the facility. This hub allows for both paid
and volunteer administrators to access centralised resources. Sport Manawatū is
exploring opportunities for a new purpose built Sports House facility, given the
continued high demand from both regional and national sporting organisations to be
accommodated in a central venue. There is currently a working partnership between
the Council and Sport Manawatū regarding the possible development of Sports
House at Arena Manawatu. This would allow for more sports to be housed centrally
and to share resources.
National competitions
There has been a net increase in the number of national secondary school
tournaments held in the City, many of which use the Arena. Refer to Appendix Eight
for a list of secondary school tournaments held in Palmerston North.
Palmerston North has excellent facilities for national cricket, golf, rugby, equestrian
sport squash and athletics competitions. However, anecdotal evidence suggests
that the minimum requirements for hosting national and regional events are
changing. For example, there is increasingly a preference to host competitions at
one main venue.
42
Major M.A Pettersen, MNZM, Officer Commanding Linton Regional Support Centre. Personal Communication.
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National touch tournaments were previously hosted at Ongley Park, the only grounds
large enough to host such events but this is used for cricket. Minimum requirements
are for the provision of 12-15 fields (15 preferable) to host national touch
tournaments. Also, national hockey events now require a minimum three hockey
turfs.
There are a number of sports codes that would like to host regional or national
tournaments in Palmerston North, but are currently struggling to secure adequate
local venues for the larger events.
4. Trends that influence membership and participation
This section summarises the broad trends that are likely to influence the shape of
future sports and recreation participation/demand.
Demographic trends
Population numbers, age and ethnicity are all factors that influence participation and
membership in different sports and demand for facilities. Changing demographics
have the potential to significantly impact on the number of people playing any
particular sport.
The estimated residential population for Palmerston North for 2014 is approximately
85,500 people.43 The latest Statistics New Zealand population projections (February
2015) suggest that Palmerston North’s population will grow approximately 9% to
92,300 by 2028. There is a positive growth outlook (10%) for the Manawatū region
(comprising the Manawatū District and Palmerston North) to 2028, as well as a trend
towards an older population.
The catchment area for sport played in Palmerston North includes the wider region
comprising Rangitikei, Whanganui, Manawatū, Palmerston North, Tararua and
Horowhenua. There is also a positive population growth outlook for the region of 4%
(2013-2028), with a trend towards an older population. However, growth in the wider
region is influenced by a decline in the number of people living in the Whanganui (1%), Horowhenua (-1%), Tararua (-4%) and Rangitikei (-4%) districts, and therefore
lags behind growth elsewhere.
Age
Palmerston North has a relatively young population compared to New Zealand. The
medium age in 2014 was 33.5 years compared with 37.5 years for New Zealand
overall.
In the Manawatū region details of population growth are:
 Little or no change in the number of people 0-14 years (0%)
 Positive growth of the number of people 25-39 years (21%)
 Decline of the number of people 45-54 years (-20%)
 Positive growth of the number of people 65+ years (60%).
43
Source Statistics NZ
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In the wider region details of population growth are:
 Decline of the number of people 0-14 years (-5%)
 Positive growth of the number of people 25-39 years (15%)
 Decline of the number of people 40-59 years (-20%)
 Positive growth of the number of people 65 years and older (50%)
Figure 3, below, shows the projected changes in age structures for the sport playing
or active population of the wider region to 2028.
Figure 3: Projected change in regional age structures (2013-2028)
Source: Statistics New Zealand
There is a regional trend towards an older population. The variation in growth across
the different age bands reflects historic changes in the number of children born on an
annual basis. This variation is not shown in the population projections, which suggest
stable births will continue to cycle through future populations, subject to different
influences, including future births and migration. Net migration has improved since
the projections were prepared and this has contributed to an increase in the number
of 25-39 year olds in the population.
Figure 4 highlights the overall projected regional decline, over the next 10 years, in
the active population aged from 5-25 years and 40- 55 years.
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Figure 4: Projected change in regional age structures for 5 – 55 year olds
(2013-2028)
Source: Statistics New Zealand base data 2013 long term population projections
There has been a 10% increase from 2009-2014 in the number of young people
staying at school longer, rather than leaving to find a job. If it hadn’t been for the
global financial crisis in 2009 school rolls might have dropped further than shown in
the Figure 5. Future secondary school participation will be based on a number of
different influences, including future births and unemployment rates.
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Figure 5: School roll data by year group for wider region (1996-2014)
Source: Ministry of Education 2015
The Sport and Recreation in the Lives of Young New Zealanders Sport
Manawatū/Sport Whanganui Regional Profile identified:
 A decline in participation in sport by 15-18 year olds
 Rugby, basketball and football appeal most to 15-18 year old boys, and
netball, volleyball and badminton appeal most to 15-18 year old girls
 Netball, touch rugby and football are more popular among the 16-24 years
age group than among the other age groups
 Aerobics is more popular among the 25-35 years age group than the other
age groups
 Canoeing/kayaking is more popular among the 35-49 years age group than
the other age groups
 Bowls, callisthenics and exercising at home are more popular among the 65 +
years age group than the other age groups.
People’s preference for playing sport changes with age. Figure 6 (below) shows the
change in preference for sport as people age, excluding walking, which is the most
popular activity for all ages.
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Figure 6: Percent of people in sport and recreation activities by age group
(excluding walking)
Source: Palmerston North City Council
44
Different age groups tend to have different sport and recreation preferences and
levels of participation. Participation in organised and team sports and recreation is
higher for young people than older people. Participation rates for most sport and
recreation activities are higher in the school setting than with clubs.45
Based on projected population growth the Council can expect a 4-10% increase in
demand for sport and recreation facilities. However, the types of facilities in demand
will depend on the preferences of the majority groups within the population and how
active they are. For example, the proportion of older people (60+ years) in the
population is growing. Older people are more active than the people in the working
age groups46 and prefer lower impact sports, such as walking, golf, exercising at
home, and callisthenics.
Ethnicity
Different ethnic groups may have different sport and recreation preferences. New
Zealand is becoming increasingly more multi-cultural, the ethnic mix in New Zealand
44
Source: PNCC: Recreation Needs Assessment Sports Code Participation numbers 2014 and RNA Participation
Sport and Recreation in the Lives of Young New Zealanders – New Zealand Young People’s survey series.
46
Statistics New Zealand Time Use Survey 2009/10.
45
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is forecast to continue to diversify. There will be significant increases amongst
populations identifying as Māori, Pacifika and Asian.
In Palmerston North, the European ethnic group makes up approximately 80% of the
population in Palmerston North, with Māori 17%, Pacific people 5% and Asian
people 10% (2013).47 Since 2004 Palmerston North has become a refugee
resettlement centre and is taking an increasing proportion of New Zealand’s total
refugee intake. This change is also influencing the ethnic make up of Palmerston
North.
The Asian population in Palmerston North is projected to increase by 60% from 2013
to 2028. Overall the population is projected to increase 10% with projected
increases of 1.5% for European; 66% for Pacific Island and 41% for Māori. By 2028,
in Palmerston North, the ethnic percentage share of the population is projected to be
European 73%, Māori 22%, Asian 15% and Pacific Island 7%. (Note this equals
more than 100% because many people indentify with multiple ethnic groups).
Activities popular with all ethnic groups include walking, swimming, equipment-based
exercise, fishing and jogging/running. In some cases, however, different sports
appeal to different ethnic groups:48
 Canoeing/kayaking is more popular among NZ European people than among
other ethnic groups
 Touch rugby, netball and aerobics are more popular among Māori people than
among many other ethnic groups
 Touch rugby, netball, volleyball and rugby are more popular among Pacific
people than among many other ethnic groups
 Badminton, cricket and football are more popular among Asian people than
among the other ethnic groups.
Many of the needs identified for Māori are similar to other sectors of the population.
However, overall there are some distinctive patterns of preference in terms of the
types of activities, particularly team and collective activities. Understanding the
needs of Māori is important because Māori represent 29% of 0-14 year olds in
Palmerston North and this is projected to increase to 35% in 2028. “Nationally, 74%
of Māori boys and 64% of Māori girls like playing sport a lot. Also, 58% of Māori
boys and 48% of Māori girls belong to a sports club (outside of school)”.49 (See
Table 7).
Skateboarding and rugby league are more popular with Māori boys and Touch and
Māori sports/activities (e.g. kapa haka) are more popular with Māori girls. Rugby is
more popular with Māori (ranked 2nd) than with boys overall (ranked 6th). The Sport
NZ research profiles of Māori sports participation (shown in Tables 7 and 8 below
show that “[w]hat boys and girls of different ages and ethnicities do and want to do
are different, albeit some sports and activities are common to what all young people
do/want to do”:50
47
Statistics New Zealand
http://www.sportnz.org.nz/assets/Uploads/attachments/managing-sport/research/Sport-and-Active-Recreation-in-the-lives-ofNew-Zealand-Adults.pdf p.35
49
http://www.srknowledge.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/YPS-Complete-5-09-2012.pdf p. 19
50
http://www.srknowledge.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/YPS-Complete-5-09-2012.pdf p. 11
48
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

Māori boys were interested in playing rugby league and touch
Māori girls were interested in playing touch
Table 7 Top national participation sports for young Māori people
Top national participation sports for young Māori people
(2013)
Boys
Girls
Activity
(%)
(%)
Total
Swimming
80
82
81%
Running (cross country, jogging)
73
76
75%
Athletics (run, jump, throw)
67
73
70%
Cycling
66
67
66%
Touch
67
60
63%
Rugby, Rippa rugby
76
39%
Football (soccer, futsal)
66
34%
Walking for fitness
68
33%
Basketball, mini-ball
59
30%
Netball
61
30%
Skateboarding
57
29%
Māori activities (Kapa haka)
59
29%
Rugby League
55
28%
Gym sports, trampoline, aerobics
57
28%
Dance (ballet, b-boy, b-girl)
55
27%
Source: Sport NZ
51
Table 8: Top Māori participation sports for adult Māori people
Top national participation sports for
Māori adults (16+)(2013)
Activity
%
Walking
47
Swimming
28
Fishing
28
Equipment-based exercise
22
Cycling
19
Jogging/running
18
Dance
13
Touch rugby
12
Netball
11
Aerobics
10
Source: Sport NZ
52
Associated with this preference for collective activities is an imperative for providing
manakitanga or hospitality to competitors, participants and whanau or wider family
51
52
http://www.srknowledge.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/YPS-Complete-5-09-2012.pdf pg. 27
http://www.srknowledge.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/YPS-Complete-5-09-2012.pdf pg. 27
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supporters, in particularly young children and elders. Desirable characteristics for
sports facilities from a Māori perspective, therefore, may include facilities for food
preparation and providing hospitality.
2005 consultation with local Māori revealed the following:
 Waka ama is a popular activity for Māori nationally and has been growing.
There are no opportunities to take part locally
 Team sports, particularly softball, rugby league, rugby union, netball and
touch are popular
 Iwi activities tend to use resources close to marae. This allows:
o Support of marae
o Caring for kaumatua and kuia, and
o Ability to provide kai and perform hosting roles
 Cultural significance of recreation areas need to be considered
 Safety in all aspects is important.
Different ethnic groups may have different sport and recreation preferences and
levels of participation. Creating opportunities to make sport relevant to diverse
ethnic groups, their cultures and economic situations will maintain and/or grow
different sporting codes. An increasing future need is to ensure there are sport
offerings that meet the needs of different ethnic groups.
Economic trends53
Economic trends have the potential to impact on the provision of services and
facilities and the ability of the community to access them.
Income
Census data shows that income has increased from 2006 to 2013. Median personal
income for residents of Palmerston North increased 16% to $27,000 between 2006
and 2013, and median household income grew to $58,500, an increase of 21%.
There has been an increase in salary and wage income of 36.6% between 2006 and
2014 for people who are employed in Palmerston North while self-employment
income for people who live in Palmerston North rose by 10.2%. In the wider region
income from salaries and wages increased 29.4% and income from self-employment
increased by 36.0%.
Living costs have also increased, with a 17.4%. increase in the Consumer Price
Index (CPI) between March 2006 and March 2013. Median rent in Palmerston North
increased 39% to $250 in 2013 (NZ median rent was $280 in 2013 - a 40%
increase). Mortgage rates have decreased from 7.84% in 2006 to 5.59% in 2013.
The average house value in March 2013 in Palmerston North was $284,000
compared to $429,000 for New Zealand.
The large number of people in the low income group (largely tertiary students and
people receiving Ministry of Social Development benefits) has declined since 1998,
and the rise in real income levels now mirrors national changes.
53
Source: Statistics New Zealand
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Work and the labour market
Unemployment in Palmerston North increased from 5.1% in 2006 to 7.5% in 2013,
slightly higher than the overall unemployment rate for New Zealand (7.1%). Of the
total labour force 70.4% of people are employed full time with 22.1% employed part
time.
The number of people not in the labour force has also increased 15.8% from 2006.
The number of people not in the labour force includes school children aged 15 years
and over, older people, and people on benefits. As a share of the New Zealand
population the number of people living in Palmerston North on disability benefits is
high at 2.4% (compared with 1.9% nationally) because of affordable housing, access
to health services and its flat terrain. Disability beneficiaries make up 7.6% of the
wider region’s population.
More people are remaining in work after turning 65. Between 2006 and 2013 the
number of people in work aged less than 50 years declined, with the biggest declines
in the 15-19 years age group, as young people struggle to get into the workforce but
school rolls in years 12 and 13 increased.
The proportion of women in the population is greater than the proportion of men.
Men comprise 58% of the full-time workforce and 30% of the part-time workforce.
Greater numbers of women are in the workforce creating a greater demand for childcare. Increased subsidies for childcare have also contributed to the growth in
participation and average hours.
Household trends and families
The average household size in Palmerston North is 2.6, people with one-person
households making up 25.3 percent of all households in Palmerston North.
There is a trend in the family structure to single parent families. There has been a
10% increase (2006-2013) in the number of single person households, primarily due
to the ageing population. Also, the number of couples without children increased
4.5% (2006-2013) along with the number of single parent families (3.1%).
Retirement village units comprised 6% of new residential dwellings building consents
over the last 10 years for Palmerston North. Many retirement villages offer older
people opportunities for recreation by providing facilities for activities such as
bowling, dancing, swimming and equipment-based exercise.
Family type, disposable income and participation in the labour force impact on
people’s available time and ability to participate in sport and recreation activities.
The opportunities available to young people in sport and recreation outside of the
school environment are also impacted by family type, disposable income and their
parent’s participation in the labour force. Women are more likely to experience time
restrictions than men, and consequently recreation opportunities for women are
more limited.
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Social trends54
 Nationally, more people (86%) are living in urban centres, population growth
is expected to end/slow in most rural areas but is growing strongly in rural
areas fringing urban areas
 There is increasing utilisation of school land from sports clubs and sports
organisations
 The traditional net losses to Australia could be changing
 Migration is bringing more ethnic groups to New Zealand


Locally, older people will out-number children within 12 years and this change
has already occurred in 22% of territorial authorities
There remains a need for low-cost, neighbourhood access to sport or
recreation opportunities for all.
Health trends55
 New Zealand children have the third highest level of obesity in the OECD
(11% of 2 to 14 year olds are obese and a further 22% overweight with higher
levels among Māori and Pacific children)
 New Zealanders are living longer and spending more time in good health.
However, while we can expect to live longer, some of that extra time will be
lived in poor health
 Around one-quarter of the population are reporting some form of disability
 Māori and Pacific people have much higher levels of ill-health than do nonMāori and non-Pacific ethnic groups
 While our participation rates in sport and recreation are currently high,
people’s lives are becoming more sedentary and obesity is on the rise,
especially among young people
 The number of people on the Ministry of Social Development supported living
benefit in Palmerston North is high compared to New Zealand overall.
Urban growth
The Council has confirmed the urban growth areas from Kelvin Grove to
Whakarongo and Anders Road/Racecourse to City-West. The Whakarongo area is
to provide for short to medium-term greenfield residential growth, while the City-West
area is to provide for medium-to long-term residential growth. “Continued greenfield
residential development is planned in Kelvin Grove and the Aokautere/Summerhill
area units respectively in the short-to medium-term. Within the Kelvin Grove area
the Whakarongo Residential Area became operative in the District Plan in 2014. It is
envisaged that the Whakarongo Residential Area will provide additional greenfield
land supply to the market in the medium term.”56 Open space is also planned in
Ashhurst and Napier Road residential areas in the proposed growth area in Plan
Change 20.
In 2012, as part of the boundary change with Manawatū District Palmerston North
the Council took over approximately eight additional reserves including:
 Reserve land on the corner of Tutaki Road and Richardsons Line
54
http://www.sportnz.org.nz/assets/Uploads/attachments/managing-sport/research/Sport-and-Active-Recreation-in-the-lives-ofNew-Zealand-Adults.pdf p. 22.
55
https://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/publications/health-and-independence-report-v2oct14.pdf pp. 174-227
56
http://www.pncc.govt.nz/media/1789628/development_contributions_full_2015_web.pdf, p. 6
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

Bunnythorpe Park (26 Campbell Road)
Bunnythorpe Cemetery (51 Maple Street).
Demand for new residential urban growth areas has infrastructure and facilities,
including the level of provision of reserve space, within 500m walking distance of
residential areas.
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E. THE NEEDS OF SPORTING CODES
1. Objectives
The objectives of this section are to:
 Identify whether current provision meets demand
 Estimate the future demand or oversupply for recreation land and facilities;
and
 Consider if planned 10 Year Plan community projects will satisfy demand
The method was:
 Sports administrators were surveyed
 Current levels of provision (supply) were established
 New supply planned in the 10 Year Plan were considered
 Current demand was assessed
 Likely future changes in demand were considered, and
 Areas where there is an over or under supply identified.
Activities with like needs have been grouped under the common headings of:
 Summer field sports
 Winter field sports
 Indoor court sports
 Outdoor court sports
 Specialised facilities
Many recreational activities have similar basic physical requirements and conversion
from one code use to another is relatively simple. For example, conversion from a
soccer field to a rugby field, or from a netball court to a tennis court can be
reasonably easily achieved.
Note: increasing membership and participation is not necessarily an indicator of
demand for additional facilities. The limited operational and administrative capacity
of some sports organisations, and the cost of providing additional fields markings,
goal posts and administration, mean some organisation may prefer to manage
increasing participation within the capacity of existing grounds and facilities. Also, as
noted in the Recreation Needs Assessment 2005: Parents love centralisation coming to one place to for all.
Common themes:
 Need for improved changing and toilet facilities, particularly at larger sports
grounds where the centralised activities are occurring
 Need for improved playing surface quality and drainage
 Need for improved lighting for training grounds and twilight games
 A preference for larger venues to provide sporting economics of scale and
centralisation
 An increase in the number of programmes delivered to clusters of schools
 An increase in ‘pay to play’ participation and shorter games using less space.
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2. Winter field sport
Winter field sports include football, rugby, rugby league and hockey.
Current provision, condition and performance
The Council currently provides a range of grounds and facilities for winter field sports
including approximately:
 50 football/soccer fields
 7 rugby league fields
 40 rugby union fields
 12 grass hockey fields (or 24 half sized junior fields) and
 2 artificial hockey turfs (the Council contributed to the provision of these)
 8 rugby and 2 football fields at Massey University
 3 rugby and 1 football field at Linton Military Camp
Grounds that provide lights include:
 Waterloo Park
 Takaro Park
 Ongley Park (2 locations)
 Coronation Park
 Monrad Park
 Colquhoun Park
 Bill Brown Park
There is a good provision of facilities for sports with high rates of participation in
Palmerston North. The Council’s level of service targets to achieve the Active
Recreation Strategy outcomes are based on the New Zealand Recreation
Association benchmark rates.
The Council has a level of service target for sports fields to provide more than 1.0
hectares of sports field per 1,000 residents. Palmerston North currently provides 1.7
hectares of sports fields per 1,000 residents.
Figure 7 illustrates the provision of sports fields compared to peer cities with similar
sized populations based on the Yardstick benchmarking.57 Hamilton provides
significantly more sport fields per 1,000 people, followed by Whangarei and
Hastings, and then Palmerston North. Palmerston North provides more sport fields
than Hutt City and a similar number to Tauranga City.
57
https://www.yardstickglobal.org/
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Figure 7: Peer city comparision of sports playing field perovision per 1,000
people (2014)
Note. Sports codes have the ability to draw up and add or remove fields, as and
when required within the allocated grounds. Also, field allocations between the
codes vary from year to year as Council officers seek to maximise the benefit of all
codes, manage weather and drainage conditions and minimise the impact of play on
the fields.
The quality of the grass playing surfaces and winter sports field capacity varies
depending on seasonal rainfall, ground conditions and maintenance, and how much
rugby, rugby league, football and hockey is played. For example, 2015 was a very
wet winter sports season that reduced the available field capacity and caused the
cancellation of a number of games, particularly for junior hockey at
Manawaroa/Ongley Parks and football at Colquhoun Park, Bill Brown Park and
Skoglund Park. Rugby and rugby league ground conditions are described as good,
but lighting at the Arena is poor. Typically, ground conditions deteriorate as the
winter season progresses. Despite this, the rugby and rugby league field conditions
in 2015 held up well against the higher rainfall and use, although the football fields
did not.
Football clubs are dissatisfied with the ongoing quality of the football playing
surfaces. Holes and poor drainage are contributing to an increase in player injuries
and impacting on the quality of the games played in Palmerston North. There is a
lack of quality field surfaces for high level football games. The football playing
surface quality varies from field to field depending on rainfall, drainage, and other
factors and some fields don’t handle the increased player traffic when games have to
be shifted. Consequently, Central Football is struggling to find suitable all-season
playing surfaces for some grades. The top level teams are travelling to play games
on higher quality surfaces, such as the artificial turf surfaces in Wellington, and this
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may be increasing the players preference for a better quality, more durable allweather artificial playing surfaces.
Junior hockey is experiencing similar problems. Junior hockey in Palmerston North
is played on the grass, and intermediate and senior hockey is played on the artificial
turf (the twin turfs). The junior hockey playing surfaces are poorly drained and
slumping in places, and this is reducing the capacity of half the fields and increasing
the pressure on others. This is also affecting the quality of the game, as games are
regularly cancelled during periods of wet weather. The senior and intermediate
artificial hockey turfs are in good condition but are due to be renewed within the next
two to three years.
Rugby league uses Fitzherbert Park and the Arena fields for competition and
training. Fitzherbert Park was upgraded in 2013 and is in good condition. The rugby
league season crosses over with rugby in winter and cricket in summer. At the start
of winter, rugby league is played over the cricket outfield and blocks. The harder
surface can increase player injuries and restrict the use of the fields for pre-or start of
season games.
Central Football would like an artificial turf to improve the quality of games played in
Palmerston North and to provide a more reliable and better quality playing surface
for higher level games, as well as regional and national competitions.
Priorities and major projects in the 10 Year Plan 2015-25
The 10 Year Plan provides for new capital for:
 Memorial Park - Capital development programme (2015-2019) ($206,000)
 Development of a new artificial sports field (subject to part external funding)
(2019, 2020, and 2021) ($1,706,000)
 New public toilets City-wide (2015-2025) ($2,066,000)
 Shade development (2016/17, 2018/19, and 2020/21) ($81,000)
 Drinking fountains at recreational facilities (2015-2018) ($92,000)
 Sports field drainage – increased capacity (2018-2023) ($406,000).
 Improved lighting of recreation spaces over the next 10 years ($226,000)
 Memorial Park changing room upgrade contribution (subject to part external
funding) (2020/21) ($387,000)
 The Arena stadium covered embankment and pits area (subject to part
external funding) (2017/18) ($2,000,000)
 Arena Master plan priority projects (2015-2025) ($9,794,000)
 Lincoln Park, Ashhurst sport field car park sealing (2015/16) ($210,000)
Other programmes include:
 Public toilet refurbishment and replacement (2015-2025)
 Sports field changing room refurbishments (2015-2025)
 City-wide public toilet refurbishment and replacement (2015-2025)
 City-wide sports field carpark and hard surface area resurfacing every second
year (2015- 2024)
 Memorial Park sports field sand carpet replacement (2019/20)
 Hockey turf refurbishment (subject to part external funding) (2017/18 and
2019/20)
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
A grant of up to $500,000 (the Council’s share of the total cost of $1.5m) for
construction of a third national level hockey turf in the City (subject to part
external funding) (2017).
Supply and demand
A large number of people play winter field sports. Football, rugby and hockey all
have a high rate of participation, with football and rugby the most popular winter
sports, followed by hockey. Membership for football, hockey and rugby league has
been increasing, and numbers are nearing past highs, whereas rugby membership is
declining. Currently all the Council owned sports fields are allocated to a winter
sport.
Nationally, more people participate in football (adults and young people) than in any
other organised club sport. The New Zealand Football Facilities Strategy 2010202158 looked at demand for regular weekly sport, compared with the supply of
fields, and shows a surplus of football fields in terms of hours of use per week for the
Manawatū region. However, this trend is not reflected in Palmerston North. Field
conditions vary significantly depending on winter conditions and field capacity, and
football participation is increasing. There are approximately 50 winter football fields
including four football training fields. Currently, there are plenty of football fields
available for football games, but a lack of fields for training. Existing fields are not
being used, or not used to their full capacity, because of poor drainage, rainfall and a
lack of durability. Other fields are struggling to cope with increased demand on
account of other field closures, rainfall and use. Football has a limited ability to
reschedule games cancelled due to poor weather as the football season runs for
approximately 20 weeks and fields are used for other sports.
There is a shortage of good quality and reliable football playing surfaces in the City,
and this is having a detrimental effect on the quality of the game because of
cancellations and increasing use. The Council has budgeted in the 10 Year Plan to
improve field drainage and also for the development of a new artificial turf. This will
resolve many of the issues for football and will provide sufficient surplus capacity to
increase participation in football or enable the reallocate fields for use by other
sports.
Participation in intermediate and senior hockey has been increasing. The grass
fields, used by junior hockey, are currently meeting demand, but poor drainage is
causing constraints on some parts of the grounds and increasing pressure on other
parts. Junior hockey participation is increasing, but there is limited capacity to
increase the number of junior games unless drainage and field capacity issues are
resolved.
Demand for the twin turfs is on or near the tipping point (maximum capacity) for a
new turf, and planning needs to start for some additional turf capacity to reduce
demand issues. Use of the twin turf is on or over 54 hours per FTE turf (or 108
hours for two turfs) and depends on the draw. Accessibility of the turfs is recognised
as being at the upper limits for hours of use. Hockey New Zealand and Hockey
Manawatū observe there is an erosion of the quality of the game, with difficulty
58
http://www.srknowledge.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/NZ-Football-Facilities-Strategy-2010-20211.pdf
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getting adequate trainings and games, with some sessions finishing late in the
evening.
Existing turf use by intermediate and senior players falls short of the numbers
required for a 1.0 FTE turf, but is nearing the demand required for an additional 0.25
or 0.5 FTE turf. An additional 0.5 FTE to 1.0 FTE is required to meet peak demand
for games and competitions. The Council has budgeted to invest $500k (subject to
part external funding) in a new turf in 2017/18 in partnership with Hockey Manawatū
and a third party. This would provide sufficient field space to increase participation in
hockey. Hockey Manawatū would like additional seating to increase seating capacity
at tournaments, as well as more space between the turf and seating for spectators.
It was noted in the 10 Year Plan hearings that there is some of the movable seating
at the Arena that could be located at the hockey turfs. However seats would need to
be available, as a priority, to the Arena. The Council is to work with users regarding
arrangements for transport to and from Arena, and associated costs.
Rugby league facilities include fields at Arena, Coronation Park, Fitzherbert Park
Oval, Monrad Park and Linton Military Camp. Rugby league participation is
increasing and in 2015 Manawatū Rugby League capped the number of teams. It is
also considering shifting some games to other nights or later times, depending on
the availability of lighting and access to toilet and changing facilities, in order to grow
participation. Rugby league currently shares its grounds with rugby and cricket and
would like a ground dedicated for use by Manawatū Rugby League. Sharing
Fitzherbert Park with cricket can shorten the league playing season, with end of
season games shifted to the Arena to make way for cricket.
Rugby facilities are centralised at the Arena Manawatū. Participation in rugby is high
but has been declining. In 2014 three rugby fields were relinquished at the Ashhurst
domain for football use in exchange for a field at Colquhoun Park. Also, two Rippa
Rugby fields were added at Cloverlea Park with plans to increase this to four fields
next season.
According to the Manawatū Rugby Union there will be more mid-week rugby school
programmes and more mid-week games in the future rather than more traditional
Saturday games, thus reducing pressure on grounds on Saturdays.
The Manawatū Rugby Union is relatively happy with the number and quality of fields
available for rugby, which includes some spare capacity if needed to accommodate
an increase in rugby participation. However, there is limited flexibility to play night
rugby in the City due to poor lighting. The Rugby Union would like the flexibility to
play under lights mid-week as a way of moving away from traditional Saturday
afternoon games. Also, rugby supporters have been suggesting the Arena is lacking
a further grandstand and has capacity and quality shortcomings compared to some
other Council facilities.
If rugby membership continues to decline there may be an opportunity to swap the
use of surplus fields for use by other sports organisation.
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Training grounds
The Council provides approximately 11 winter training grounds. Lighting is a major
limiting factor in the use of training grounds.
There are insufficient training fields for football and existing fields, such as Waterloo
Park and Takaro Park are heavily used, which impacts on the durability of the
playing surfaces.
Other sports codes, such as rugby league, have been encroaching on Takaro fields
allocated for football training and this is impacting on the training field capacity for
football, depending on who gets to the field first. Also, some fields lack sufficient car
parking and changing/toilet facilities. Central Football has explored use of other
fields for training purposes but doesn’t want to reduce the quality of the existing
playing fields for games caused by training wear and tear. Playing surfaces tend not
to be used for training due to the detrimental use for training on the quality of the
playing surfaces for games.
The changing rooms at Colquhoun Park do not currently meet demand because they
are communal and the clubs would like them upgraded.
The Rugby Union and Rugby League did not comment on the use of existing training
grounds and there are therefore assumed to be an adequate supply of fields for
training.
The programmes in the 10 Year Plan 2015-25 for an additional artificial sports turf
and the Council’s contribution towards an additional hockey turf will provide sufficient
surplus capacity to accommodate an increase winter sports participation.
Summary
Winter field sports are high participation sports. There is currently a good provision
of fields that meet current demand. There are also some unused fields that are in
need of improvement for use in winter - for example the middle of the Manawatū
Community Athletics Track, and the International Pacific University fields. More field
space is needed for rugby league, football training and hockey to enable continued
centralisation of the sports as participation grows and to host large tournaments.
The 10 Year Plan programmes, such as improved drainage projects and
development of artificial turfs will address playing surface quality issues and
accommodate any growth in winter sports participation for some years. As
participation in the different sports changes there will be opportunities to reallocation
of existing fields between the different winter sports codes to benefit all, particularly if
capacity increases as a result of improved drainage and the addition of the artificial
turfs.
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3. Summer field sport
Summer sports include cricket, touch, football, summer hockey and softball.
Current provision, condition and performance
Council currently provides a range of reserve grounds for summer field sports for the
codes to mark out their playing areas. This includes approximately:
 19 artificial cricket wickets
 33 grass cricket wickets
 29 touch fields
 10 summer football fields
 10 softball fields and two softball skin diamonds
 two artificial hockey turfs
School fields are being used to supplement the supply of fields and Massey
University also has a cricket pitch.
The sports codes have the ability to add or remove fields as and when required
within the allocated grounds.
Summer sports administrators are generally happy with the quality of the playing
surfaces provided by the Council. Fields are more durable in summer than in winter
so there are fewer restrictions on the number of games that can be played over the
season.
There are issues with the quality of the playing surfaces during the transition from
winter to summer sports (and vice versa), particularly for cricket and touch, which
shares fields with winter rugby and football. Surface maintenance is undertaken at
the end of each season, but this can be delayed by poor weather and/or an extend
sports seasons.
Priorities and major projects in the 10 Year Plan 2015-25
The 10 Year Plan provides for new capital for:
 Development of a new artificial sports field (subject to part external funding)
(2019, 2020, and 2021) ($1,706,000)
 New public toilets City-wide (2015-2025) ($2,066,000)
 Shade development (2016/17, 2018/19, and 2020/21) ($81,000)
 Drinking fountains at recreational facilities (2015-2018) ($92,000)
 Sports field drainage – increased capacity (2018-2023) ($406,000).
Other programmes include:
 Cricket blocks replacement at Fitzherbert Park and Manawaroa/Ongley Parks
every second year (2015/16 - 2023/24)
 Fitzherbert Park and Manawaroa/Ongley Parks cricket wickets renovations
every second year (2016/17 - 2024/25)
 Sports fields changing room refurbishments (2015-2025)
 City-wide public toilet refurbishment and replacement (2015-2025)
 City-wide sports field carpark and hard surface area resurfacing every second
year (2015- 2024)
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
Hockey turf refurbishment (subject to part external funding) (2017/18 and
2019/20)
Note. A grant of up to $500,000, being the Council’s share of the cost of $1.5m, for
construction of a third national level hockey turf in the City (subject to part external
funding) (2017).
Supply and demand
Participation in cricket, touch, softball and hockey is increasing and is nearing past
highs. Futsal is a relatively new game with steadily growing participation.
There is an increase in participation in ‘pay to play’ sports games and programmes in
schools. This is reflected as an increase in cricket participation because ‘pay to play’
and school programmes, such as Kiwi Cricket, were not previously included in the
membership numbers. ‘Pay-to play’ sports games are changing the way some
sports games are played and how much field space is use per game, with less field
space needed.
Cricket has a high rate of participation and is using all the space available for cricket,
including school grounds, which are used to supplement field space. Manawatū
Cricket is concerned with what might happen if participation continues to increase
and access to school grounds becomes restricted. Despite using all the space
available, cricket is well catered for in the City and Manawatū Cricket has not asked
for more field space. However, it would like to upgrade Fitzherbert Park to create a
facility that will attract high profile matches.
Softball and touch rugby share Colquhoun Park. This has worked well as touch is
played mid-week and softball is played in the weekends. Softball is well catered for
with additional space available at Colquhoun Park if participation continues to grow.
Touch rugby junior and adult competitions are at capacity with regards to fields and
times and touch has started capping the number of teams entered into adult
competitions to avoid splitting competitions onto other fields. The Manawatū Touch
Association would like more space at Colquhoun Park and could extend the area
used, but this would encroach on softball pitches/fields which is problematic if field
lines have to be redrawn each week. There are options for some competitions to be
run on different nights to accommodate increased participation but this means
splitting competitions. Manawatū Touch used to host national tournaments in
Palmerston North, and would like to do so again, but the most suitable grounds are
allocated to other sports (for example, cricket at Ongley Park).
Registrations are not kept for summer football, but anecdotal evidence suggests
participation is increasing. Summer football is played on outside fields with Arena
Manawatū as the main outdoor venue. There is capacity near the Marist clubrooms
to accommodate increased participation, if needed. However, there are currently
insufficient numbers to justify the costs of providing additional space for summer
football.
There are fields with space available that could be used to accommodate summer
sports. Currently, fields with no booked organised sport in summer include:
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







Alexander Park (also unused for organised sport in winter)
Bill Brown Park
Bunnythorpe
Celaeno Park
Mahanga Kakariki Reserve
Rangitane Park
Savage Reserve
Waterloo Park
There may also be potential opportunities to use school, Massey University, or
Linton Military Camp facilities.
Despite the space available, some sports organisations are reluctant to expand the
competitions by splitting on to other fields or playing games on different days
because of the additional operational and administrative burden, and the cost of
splitting competitions between different venues.
It is noted that there is a lack of out of hours’ access to toilet facilities at some parks
for children playing and sports training (for example at Colquhoun Park and
Memorial Park). The toilet facilities at Colquhoun Park are not conveniently located
and people have to travel a long way to get to the toilets. While there are
programmes in the 10 Year plan to improve toilet facilities it is unclear if this will
provide for afterhours use of toilets and changing facilities.
There are no issues with the supply of training fields. Training field allocation and
management can be dealt by the Council as any issues arise.
The programmes in the 10 Year Plan 2015-25 for an additional artificial sports turf,
and the Council’s contribution towards an additional hockey turf, will provide
sufficient surplus capacity to grow summer sports participation.
Summary
There is a good provision of quality fields for summer sports and capacity to
accommodate any increase in summer sport. However, this may require a shift to
other nights or other venues, which can increase demand for club resources. There
is demand for sports to be able to accommodate increases in participation without
having to shift to another venue or night to keep operational and administrative
burdens within club /sport resources.
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4. Outdoor court sport
Summer outdoor court sports include tennis and netball. Netball is also the only
winter organised outdoor court sport. Tennis and netball are centralised at Vautier
Park.
Current provision, condition and performance
The table below lists the location and number of outdoor courts provided by the
Council. Four courts at Vautier Park have a specialised rubberised surface (rebound
pro). Two courts are provided at Bill Brown Park, but are unused. There are eight
courts at Massey University that were constructed with Council assistance and are
available for public use.
Tennis court provision
Awapuni Park
Bill Brown Park
Colquhoun Park
Lakemba Reserve
Takaro Park
Vautier Park
Wallace Park
4
2
4
1
6
17
8
Note. Wallace Park courts were relinquished by netball in 2010 when netball started
using the Arena.
The Manawatū Lawn Tennis Club owns and maintains eight tennis courts at the Huia
Street Reserve, which are in good condition. Massey University also provides eight
outdoor courts (four netball and four tennis) which add significant existing capacity.
There is also one beach and one grass volleyball court at Massey University.
Vautier Park is the City’s central netball facility with five netball courts and 12 dual
purpose netball and tennis courts, including a set of three pro surfaced courts as
requested by Tennis Manawatū. The quality of many of the courts at Vautier Park is
generally good, with accessibility improvements having been made and the renewal
of failing court surfaces 1-6 completed. Lights are provided for 12 netball courts at
Vautier Park and shade/shelter facilities were added in 2014 and 2015. Netball uses
five of the Vautier Park courts for a summer business house league. Netball also
uses the Arena indoor sports courts for winter and summer competition and major
tournaments.
Priorities and major projects in the 10 Year Plan 2015-25
The 10 Year Plan provides for new capital for:
 New public toilets City-wide (2015-2025) ($2,066,000)
 Shade development (2016/17, 2018/19, and 2020/21) ($81,000)
 Drinking fountains at recreational facilities (2015-2018) ($92,000)
 Improved lighting of recreation spaces (2015-2025) ($226,000).
Other programmes include:
 City-wide public toilet refurbishment and replacement (2015-2025)
 Vautier Park court refurbishments (2018-2021 and 2025)
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
Sports field hard surfaces renewals at Takaro, Wallace and Awapuni courts
(2015-2019 and 2023/24).
Supply and demand
Tennis club membership has been declining and continues to decline. According to
Tennis Manawatū there has been an increase in the number of casual tennis
players. Existing facilities mostly meet current tennis needs. There is no shortage of
tennis courts available for organised and casual play throughout the City, with a
number of unused tennis courts that could be repurposed, such as at Takaro Park.
In addition there are tennis courts provided by some schools.
Tennis Manawatū wants more localised courts (clubs) in closer proximity to where
people are living. Tennis would also like an indoor facility to provide for all-weather
use, as there are currently no available suitable indoor tennis facilities. It has been
suggested the vacant land at Huia Reserve would suit the need for an indoor tennis
facility.
Netball has centralised to Vautier Park, which mostly meets Netball Manawatū’s
needs. Netball has a high participation rate but winter netball membership has been
declining. Netball Manawatū also runs a summer business house social league that
recently moved outdoors to Vautier Park because of a lack of availability of space on
a Wednesday night at the Arena. This Manawatū social league is held at Vautier
Park, on the five back courts not used for tennis. The use of Vautier Park in summer
is limited to a few courts because the courts are currently allocated for tennis. There
is little or no capacity for growth in summer netball and no ability to extend the
outdoor social league, as there is limited access to lights and thre are not enough
courts available for netball. There may be an opportunity for netball to use the
unused tennis courts at Vautier Park for summer netball. There is capacity for
netball at many other hardcourt facilities if demand required it and grades were
separated rather than centralised. For example, six courts could be accommodated
at Wallace Park and four at Takaro Park. However, the trend is towards indoor
rather than outdoor play, and Netball Manawatū would like the use of more indoor
netball space in winter and summer to run netball programmes.
Summary
There is a good provision of good quality courts to meet the current and future needs
of outdoor court sports in both summer and winter. There may be opportunities to
reallocate existing court space between summer netball and tennis for the benefit of
both sports.
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5. Indoor court sport – Central Energy Trust Arena
The summer indoor court sports include netball, inline hockey, squash and futsal.
The winter indoor court sports include basketball, volleyball, badminton, table tennis,
and indoor bowls. Netball Manawatū also uses the Arena for regional and national
tournaments during winter.
The provision of indoor court space in Palmerston North is dominated by the facilities
at the Arena, with school halls/gyms used to supplement supply, which are all multipurpose facilities. Massey University also provides some indoor court space for
staff, students and recreation centre members.
Council Direction
The Council intends to develop the Arena as a central hub for sports. A Master Plan
of the Arena was commissioned by the Council in April 2007 to provide a long-term
approach to the site and act as a site guide for next 25-30 years. The Master Plan
was intended to provide a framework for work as and when the Council deemed it
necessary. Developments were proposed to take place over three phases:
 Sports House (2008/09)
 Upgrades to FMG Stadium (2009/10
 Development of new indoor facilities (2014/15).
Use of the Arena has been subject to two reviews:
 The Visitor Solutions – Arena Manawatū Review, Final Report for
Palmerston North City Council, February 2012
 An operational review of the Arena was undertaken and reported to
Council 19 June 201559.
The reviews noted:
 The practice is to hire spaces rather than courts, and there is insufficient
quality data to determine if use of the Arenas is optimised
 It is not possible to identify the need for additional space above current
levels of provision. However, an upgrade or replacement of existing
facilities may be warranted dependant on a cost benefit analysis
(underpinned by the currently unavailable data)
 The priority is likely to be for better quality facilities which are more
functional and flexible rather than a net expansion of indoor space on the
site
 Increased competition from other regions facility developments make it
increasingly more difficult to bid for and host major events
 Community sport is likely to remain or become even more important to
Arena Manawatu in the future
Indoor court provision, condition and performance
The school and City halls and the Arena are multi-purpose facilities; that is they are
not designed to accommodate the specific needs of each sport.
59
Arena Manawatu Report 19 June 2015 Final (2)pdf – Arena Manawatu LGA Section 17A Delivery of Services Review
Operational Review June 2015.
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The Arena is a multi-purpose (15 hectares), sports and events facility, providing 20
individual indoor and outdoor sport venues. The Arena comprises a fully lit, sandbased grass sports field, encircled by a hard-packed clay speedway circuit used
throughout the summer season. Covered grandstand seating for 3,500 people, plus
room for up to 8,000 people on the embankment, provides for a total of 11,500
spectators for major sports events. The Arena also comprises:
 Arena 2, a multi-purpose indoor stadium with sprung wooden flooring. With a
floor area of 3,400m2, the versatile building provides space for up to 20
badminton courts, five basketball courts or three netball courts
 Arena 3 and 4, which are directly connected to Arena 2, expanding the area
available by 2,100 m2 and 6,400m2 respectively
 Arena 5, a collection of smaller indoor facilities for sports, events and
functions
 Arena 6, which consists of a further four hectares of grass sports field space
 Additional single purpose spaces i.e. for gym sports, table tennis and roller
skating/blading.
Of all the Arena assets 85% (by value) are in very good condition. The Arena 1,
Arena 2, and B & M Centre are newer facilities that are in good condition. The
appearance of some buildings falls below that expected by users.60 Most of these
buildings are associated with storage sheds and support buildings, whereas the vast
majority of the public spaces range in condition from good to very good.
Arena 3 is in average condition. Arena 5 (Waldegrave Lounge, Bell and Barber
Halls) is a facility in poor condition and reaching the end of its useful life.
The Council has a target of 90%61 of user groups either satisfied or very satisfied
with usage of Arena. Satisfaction currently sits at 78%62 indicating that there is room
for improvement in terms of delivering defined services to a level that meets
customer expectations.
The facilities at Arena 2, 3 and 4 are of a good condition. The sports code bodies
are generally very happy with the quality of the Arena and management of it.
The condition and performance of existing indoor facilities do not meet the specific
needs of some sports. For example, Manawatū Badminton has found the floors in
the halls to be very slippery and to have little grip, due to the coating used on the
floor, the usage from other sports and the build-up of dirt and dust.
Priorities and major projects in the 10 Year Plan 2015-25
The Council has budgeted $9,794,000 over the next 10 years for implementation of
four Master plan priority projects.
The 10 Year Plan provides for new capital for:
 Improved lighting of recreation spaces over the next 10 years ($226,000)
60
Recreation and Community Facilities Asset Management Plan 2014.
Recreation and Community Facilities Asset Management Plan 2014.
62
Arena Manawatu LGA Section 17A Delivery of Services Review Operational Review, June 2015.
61
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

The Arena stadium covered embankment and pits area (subject to the
community matching the Council funding) (2017/18) ($2,000,000)
Arena Master plan priority projects (2015-2025) ($9,794,000)
The Arena Master plan projects include:
 A new Cuba Street entrance with better links to the CDB
 Retractable seating for Arena 2
 Floodlights for the rear fields
 Improving other entrances and replacing the buildings off Waldegrave Street.
Note. A preliminary review of indoor court space indicated there is no need for extra
courts, so the programme that was in the 10 Year Plan 2009-19 has been removed.
Supply and demand
Indoor court sport membership is static or increasing with increasing membership in
volleyball, basketball, futsal, Special Olympics and summer netball.
Facilities at the Arena provide regular access to more than 40 community based
sporting and recreation user organisations. It has also been successful in gaining
several significant international and national sporting and social events. Currently in
excess of 2,070 bookings are handled annually with a total of 12,750 hours of use in
2013/14. The Arena is also used for a number of non-sporting and commercial
events that reduces the capacity for sporting use.
The Council’s target is for each of the arenas to be available for 85 hours per week
(50 hours per week during peak time and 35 hours during non-peak time) for 48
weeks per annum (2,400 hours in total). The Asset Management Plan level of
service target for Arena utilisation is 80% community and 20% commercial. In
2013/2014 utilisation was reported as 77% community and 23% commercial total
hours used.63 64
According to the operational review of Arena undertaken and reported to Council in
19 June 2015, the amount of spare capacity is available at the Arena is unknown
because indoor spaces are hired rather than courts. A hirer may hire a space but
not use the space to capacity. It was concluded that there is spare capacity during
the daytime and on weekends.65
Arena primary hours of use are 3.30pm to 10.30pm weekdays (7 hours per day or 35
hours per week) plus 8.30am-12pm (3.5 hours) Saturdays and 2pm-9pm Sundays (7
hours). The overall hours of use for the Arena provided shown in Figure 8 shows a
decline in the hours of use from 2009/10 until 2013/14. However, the high utilisation
in earlier years included both hire of seating that was used off-site and utilisation of
the arenas. Utilisation figures do not include time taken to ‘bump-in and bump-out’
for events. Also, during this time space was not available for other purposes, and is
for the most part being paid for.”66
63
64
65
66
Arena Manawatu Report 19 June 2015 Final (2).
http://www.pncc.govt.nz/media/2621030/annual_report_pncc__final__2013-14_web.pdf.
Arena Manawatu LGA Section 17A Delivery of Services Review Operational Review, June 2015.
Arena Manawatu Report 19 June 2015 Final (2)
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65
Figure 8: Arena annual overall hours of use
Source: Arena Manawatū Report 19 June 2015 Final (2)
Note. According to a review of the Arena undertaken and reported to Council 19
June 2015:67
 ‘Pay-to-play’ social leagues may be popular and succeed, but the highest
demand will occur at peak times when the Arena is already booked
 There is a conflict at times between events and regular sports users
 Use of the Stadium has increased over the past four years, with the majority
of the increase in hours of use attributed to the increase in the use of indoor
space (VS Report 2012).
Further, there has been a net increase in the number of national secondary school
tournaments held in the City, which use the Arena. Consequently, some sports
clubs are struggling to secure all-season use of the same venue week after week, as
well as dates for significant tournaments at the times needed.
The sports are also struggling to secure additional space to grow their sport and are
capping the team numbers. For example, volleyball membership entries in 2015
were capped as numbers reached capacity for the B&M Centre and Ballroom
facilities.
A large number of people are playing basketball and participation is increasing.
Basketball is played at a number of venues throughout the City but the main venue is
the Arena and the Palmerston North Basketball Association would like the use of
more of the Arena indoor spaces on existing club nights – for example for Thursday
67
Extract from Arena Manawatu Report 19 June 2015 Final (2)pdf – Arena Manawatu LGA Section 17A Delivery of Services
Review Operational Review June 2015.
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66
night leagues. The Association would also like better spectator seating and space
around courts for seating.
Volleyball membership is fairly static but Palmerston North Volleyball said its
numbers are increasing. Volleyball is played at a number of halls throughout the City
but the main venue is the Arena Manawatū. Team entries were capped in 2015 as
numbers reached capacity for the B & M Centre and Ballroom facilities. Increasing
volleyball participation is limited by the number of courts available and Palmerston
North Volleyball would like the use of more indoor courts.
Netball facilities are generally centralised at Vautier Park but Netball Manawatū uses
the Arena for high level tournaments and runs an indoor summer netball competitive
league on a Tuesday night in the B & M Centre involving about 16 teams. Capacity
at Arena Manawatū meets current demand, but there is no spare capacity to grow
the summer competitive league as additional space depends on the availability of
other Arena indoor space, such as the Ballroom. Netball Manawatū has also
struggled to secure dates for significant tournaments at the times needed because of
clashes with other one-off events or sports competitions.
Badminton is played at a number of different halls throughout the City but the main
venue is the Arena Manawatū. Badminton membership is fairly static. There is
plenty of existing and future capacity for badminton at the Arena with 24 permanently
marked courts and space for up to 45 if needed. The Arena does not cater
specifically for the needs of badminton and Manawatū Badminton would like a venue
designed to their needs to improve the quality of that game clubs’ games, training
and hosting of the New Zealand league.
Futsal is played indoors with Arena Manawatū the main venue. There were
approximately 330 people playing futsal in term 4 of 2014. There is currently no
available trend data as it is a fairly new sport, but the Central Football has indicated
that participation numbers in futsal appear to be increasing. Central Football is
generally very happy with the quality of the venue and management of it. Use of
Arena is shared with other sports and futsal is struggling to secure seasonal use of
the same venue week after week due to clashes with national events. Central
Football is trying to grow futsal participation and membership and would like to host
a national league but is capping team numbers until there are sufficient numbers to
justify use of additional space. Note. There are plans to add a large futsal court to
Arena 3 at the end of 2015 and this will provide increased capacity to grow futsal
participation.
Less popular sports are struggling to secure indoor venues. For example, in 2006
inline hockey was relocated out of the Arena and the space it occupied was
converted to three netball sized courts increasing the capacity for netball by around
25%. Inline hockey is still looking for a suitable alternative indoor venue.
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Squash Courts
The main venue for squash is the Inspire Squash Gym on Linton Street. This is not
a Council owned facility. There are also two squash courts at Ashhurst Village
Valley Centre and three courts at Massey University Recreation Centre.
The Inspire Squash gym has eight glass back squash courts including a
championship gallery court and three ASB courts with 'movable wall' courts to enable
doubles play on full-sized courts. The squash facilities are of a high quality and the
facilities are host to five national tournaments.
Squash participation has been increasing steadily, despite squash players declining
by 5% as a proportion of the population from 2011-2014.
Squash is currently well provided for at the Inspire Squash Gym on Linton Street with
spare capacity to grow membership.
Summary
There is high demand for the Arena indoor space, particularly at peak times, and this
is creating an under capacity for indoor court sport at the times the sports are being
run. It is widely recognised that there are peak demand issues for indoor space at
the Arena and sports groups are capping team numbers and also struggling to
secure all season use of indoor court space for seasonal competitions and space for
major sporting events.
Demand for indoor sports courts and space is increasing, but there is no spare
capacity to grow participation in sports, particularly at peak times. Commercial use
of the venue may be one of the reasons that sports groups are struggling to secure
space. Clashes in demand for the City’s central hub for sports are frustrating for
sports users, who are competing with other sports to find suitable alternative venues.
This is impacting the administration of the different sports and the quality of the
games.
The Visitor Solutions review in 2012 suggested more robust data was required to of
Arena space to fully understand the use of existing capacity at each of the indoor
arenas, and the operational review of the Arena suggested that courts, rather than
space, should be hired to maximise use of unused court space for other sports
codes or for casual use. The reviews both suggest a sharing of existing space as a
possible solution to increasing demand, and participation could be used in some
cases to enable different sports to play at the same times. However, it is not always
practical for different sports codes to share the same space, despite any spare
capacity. This is because of the nature of the different sports and the different
configurations of the way the different sports courts are organised. More good
quality, flexible indoor space with sufficient space around courts for umpires and
spectators is required at the Arena to ensure there are courts available at the peak
times sports are played.
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6. Aquatic facilities
Aquatic sports include swimming, canoe polo, flipper ball, and canoeing.
The Active Recreation Strategy noted that there is a good level of provision and
accessibility for swimming pool space in the City for swimming clubs.
Aquatic facility provision, condition and performance
Aquatic facilities include:
 The Lido has a 50m outdoor pool, a 25m indoor pool, a diving pool, learners’
pool and indoor and outdoor leisure pools. The facility also features hydro
slides, spa, sauna and steam rooms, a gym, water play facility and large
grassed play areas. A new hydro slide was installed in 2014, giving the Lido
two hydro slides – one indoor and one outdoor
 Freyberg Community Pool is a Council owned facility located on Freyberg
School land. The Freyberg Community Pool facilities consist of a 25m indoor
pool with wheel chair ramp and also a safe toddlers' pool with an adjoining
‘beach’ area.
 Memorial Park has a free open air pool with a paddling area and shallow
swimming area suitable for families
 Victoria Esplanade has a free open air paddling pool suitable for toddlers
 There are permanent canoe polo facilities on the Hokowhitu Lagoon and nonCouncil canoeing facilities thirty minutes south of the City at the Mangahou
Reserve white water park – a world-class 300m white water slalom and
freestyle course.
Note. CLM manage the day-to-day running of the Lido and Freyberg pools.
Some school sports grounds and facilities are used to supplement public supply.
Publically available non-Council owned swimming pools include: H2O gym at
Palmerston North Boys High School, West End Aquatic Centre, and the Ashhurst
Community Pool (Ashhurst School).
The Lido Aquatic Centre and Freyberg Community Pool are in a generally good
condition. The Freyberg Community Pool is in good condition and adequate for
competition swimming, but is not quite big enough for canoeing. Lido Aquatic Centre
is described by Swimming Manawatū as ‘tired’. It is good as a training facility but not
suitable for competition swimming, with diving only at one end of the pool due to pool
depth. Also, the Lido starting blocks are slippery and consequently pose a danger to
athletes when competing.
There are issues with a lack of water in summer at the Lagoon.
Priorities and major projects in the 10 Year Plan 2015-25
The 10 Year Plan provides for new capital for:
 Modification of the toddler pool at the Freyberg Community Pool (2015-2017)
$278,000
 Improvements to the Canoe Polo Club court at the Hokowhitu Lagoon
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Note. The Council removed the 10 Year Plan programme (2012-22) for
improvements to the outdoor area and the internal/external layout at the Lido.
Trends affecting swimming pools68
National Facilities Strategy for Swimming New Zealand (2011) noted:
 There is a drive from health authorities for increased physical activity to
counter increasingly sedentary lifestyles that is impacting on aquatic facilities
 There is significant growth in demand from the older adult market for low
impact physical activity options because water is a supportive medium for
exercise, requiring a change in the mix of facilities and services offered
 There are increasing expectations of users regarding levels of service, quality
of facility and experience
 There is a general decline in available lap pool time for casual use but an
increase in programmed use of swimming pools, due in part to the
proliferation of activity options
 High-performance athletes are seeking the highest quality coaching, facilities
and support services such as sports science and sports medicine and
migrating to major urban centres offering these high-quality option
 The Ministry of Education has not funded capital for pools for many years and
is unlikely to do so in the foreseeable future unless learning to swim becomes
a more explicit education goal in the core curriculum
 Commercial aquatic facilities are increasingly commonplace, particularly in
larger urban population centres. Key markets are learn to swim, stroke
improvement, fitness swimming and squad training
 Co-location of aquatic facilities within a precinct to create a major recreation
and sport destination is becoming more commonplace
 The creation of large complexes with several sport and recreation activity
facilities (often ‘wet’ and ‘dry’) is increasingly common
 An increasingly common feature is the provision of ‘dry’ exercise gym
facilities, both in new aquatic complexes, and in the retrofitting of existing
aquatic facilities. This is in response to the demand for cross training
opportunities within the single facility and their positive cash flow.
Supply versus targets and demand
Swimming is a high participation active leisure activity, ranking the highest activity for
young people and second highest for adults in Sport NZ research. One reason for
swimming being a high participation sport for youth is that swimming is provided by
schools as a part of the compulsory physical education curriculum.
Casual use of the pools increased following the Lido $5.6 million upgrade in 2002
and patronage remained at the same levels until 2014 when the outdoor slides and
zero depth play facilities were added in a private/public partnership. However, with
the exception of school use of the pools, which is increasing, overall use of the Lido
and Freyberg Pools has been declining (refer to Figure 9).
68
National Facilities Strategy for Aquatic Sports (August 2013).
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Figure 8: Lido Aquatic Centre and Freyberg Community Pool use
Source: Annual Reports
Availability of pool space generally meets community needs but sports clubs are
operating close to capacity and unable to accommodate new members or grow their
membership.
Pool facilities are described as adequate but not perfect for canoe polo. Canoe polo
courts should ideally be 35m x 23m and the swimming pools are not quite big
enough. There are also issues with a lack of water at the Hokowhitu Lagoon,
particularly in summer, and there is a shortage of storage facilities for members for
kayaks and other gear.
The Kiwi Canoe Club is keen to find a disused quarry to create a ‘Centre of
Excellence’ for the sport. The club would like a clubroom (including storage, media
centre and shower facilities). Canoe Polo also utilises the Makino Aquatic Centre in
Feilding.
The Council has an Asset Management Plan level of service target of pool utilisation
of more than 330,000 for the Lido Pool and more than 110,000 for Freyberg Pool.
Utilisation for 2013/14 the Lido Pool is 368,865 and 164,980 for Freyberg Pool. Data
on Ashhurst pool was not reported in the Asset Management Plan.
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‘Sixty people per square metre of pool provided’ is the benchmark for estimating the
demand for community pools.69 A standard sized pool is 25 metres with eight lanes,
which equates to 500 square metres usage per metre of water area.
In the Manawatū-Whanganui region the number of people provided for per standard
size Council pool is 15,19870. This is above the average of all the Council provided
standard pools (23,472) suggesting there is plenty of pool capacity in the region
overall.
In Palmerston North City there are three standard sized Council owned pools (two
25m pools and one 50m pool). Based on a population of 85,500, there is provision
for 28,500 people per standard sized Council pool, which suggests that in
Palmerston North the ratio of people to Council provided pools is higher than the
national average.
However, there are also approximately seven standard sized pools which are nonCouncil provided in Palmerston North, with varying public accessibility. If they are
included in the calculation this equates to approximately 12,214 people per pool –
still higher than the national average of 10,518 per pool. Table 9 below shows the
estimated number of standard pools for the population to 2043, based 60 people per
square metre and 40 people per square metre.
Table 9: Comparison of 60 and 40 people per square metre per standard sized
swimming pool
Palmerston North City
Year at 30 June
2013
Total People
83,500
Estimated pool size
60 people/sq m
no. of standard
pools
Estimated pool size
total 40 people /sqm
no. of standard
pools
2018
86,800
2023
89,600
2028
92,300
2033
94,700
2038
96,900
2043
98,800
1392
1447
1493
1538
1578
1615
1647
2.8
2.9
3.0
3.1
3.2
3.2
3.3
2088
2170
2240
2308
2368
2423
2470
4.2
4.3
4.5
4.6
4.7
4.8
4.9
Based on this analysis, Palmerston North is well provided for. However, Palmerston
North also services the wider region and is inland – with a 20-30 minute drive to the
nearest beach, compared to the majority of other urban areas in New Zealand. The
pool is also subject to peak time demand use. Entry numbers for the Lido and
Freyberg pool average 230,000 people per year. Based on 60 people per square
metres the entry numbers suggest the existing pools are at capacity with 7.6
standards sized pools required to service this number of entries. More detailed
analysis is required to determine if there is sufficient pool capacity to meet the needs
of the community at times of peak demand.
69
70
http://www.srknowledge.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Sport-NZ-National-Facilities-Strategy-Aquatic-FINAL-2013.pdf
http://www.srknowledge.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Sport-NZ-National-Facilities-Strategy-Aquatic-FINAL-2013.pdf
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Swimming Manawatū would like the outdoor Lido Olympic pool covered and widened
to provide additional water space and create a facility which could accommodate
national fixtures.
Note. there is no suitable body of water in Palmerston North or the Manawatū area
for yachting and rowing.
Summary
A more detailed analysis of aquatic facilities and demand needs to be undertaken to
determine if there are enough suitable Council facilities to meet the different needs of
aquatics users, or if more or different facilities are needed.
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7. Parks and Reserves
Objectives
The objectives of this section are to:
 provide a snapshot of the current state of parks and reserves provision,
excluding sports fields which are covered in a separate section
 identify current levels of provision and participation
 estimate the future demand or oversupply for recreation land and facilities;
and
 consider if planned 10 Year Plan community projects will satisfy demand
The Active Recreation Strategy noted that there is generally a good level of provision
of parks and reserves in the City across the range of park categories, with the
exception of natural parks. The Strategy suggested that the Council should increase
the amount of natural park areas in the City by enabling public access to Harding’s
Park.
Past findings and priorities (Parks and Reserves)
The 2005 Recreation Needs Assessment identified a number of key
recommendations and issues for the future provision of sports grounds and facilities,
parks and reserves and pathways. Progress since 2005 is summarised in Appendix
Three.
Parks and reserve provision, condition and distribution
Palmerston North has 173 reserves covering 836 hectares that are publically
accessible and 132 hectares71 that are not publically accessible. Of these there are
four reserves classed as ‘city reserves’:
 Ashhurst Domain
 Memorial Park
 The Square, and
 Victoria Esplanade.
The City’s four city reserves are a combination of the public gardens, civic and
cultural heritage categories. All of the city reserves provide the majority of features
considered essential to a successful city reserve. Memorial Park and the Ashhurst
Domain both contain the core features expected for major reserve levels of service
such as car parking, toilets, signage, seating, and shelter.
Inaccessible reserves are a combination of:
 Land holdings purchased to enable future connections
 Reserve developments that are landlocked or have no infrastructure enabling
access
 Reserve land leased to specific organisations with no general public access,
for example, leasing arrangements with pony clubs, bowling clubs, tennis
clubs and other sporting groups allowing assess via membership but not
general free entry.
71
Recreation and Community Facilities Asset Management Plan 2014.
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It is noted in the 10 Year Plan 2015-25 that the parks and reserves in Palmerston
North are generally in good condition. Parks are increasingly maintained to a high
standard and the number of complaints that parks are not well maintained or tidy is
decreasing. Some high profile areas, such as Hokowhitu Lagoon, Edwards Pit Park,
and the Railway Land do require condition improvement to ensure the public access
all year round. The areas that are allocated for public performances (e.g. fairs, open
days, and concerts), such as The Square and the Victoria Esplanade, need
improvement to withstand the higher demand on the grass areas.
Drainage and irrigation improvements have been completed on:
 The events quadrant of The Square to ensure it performs better
 Victoria Esplanade playground to improve the capacity at that facility, and
 Memorial Park.
Public toilets are generally in average to good condition. There has been increased
demand for public toilets as use of walkways increases, and some sports fields and
large neighbourhood hubs would benefit from easier access to toilets.
Supply versus targets
The levels of service targets to achieve the outcomes of the Active Recreation
Strategy are based on the NZRA benchmark rates and are outlined in the Asset
Management Plan.
The Council’s current direction is for:
 Adequate areas of parks and open space to meet the passive recreational
needs of the City and visitor population
 More than four hectares of reserves per 1000 residents (the NZRA’s widely
quoted guideline of a minimum of four hectares of park land per 1,000
residents)
 An increasing proportion of residentially zoned houses within 500m walking
distance of reserve land.
Figure 10, below, shows the City has a good rate of provision across all park
categories ahead of its minimum target level. The City provides 10.4 hectares72 of
publically accessible park per 1,000 residents (this is based on population of 80,079
and 836 hectares of park).73 Compared to cities with similar sized populations,
Palmerston North has less publically accessible parks areas per 1,000 people than
Hamilton, Tauranga, and Hutt City, New Plymouth and Whangarei, but more than
Hastings.
72
Note. Based on the NZ Statistics 2014 population estimate of 85,500 people, the City has 9.7 hectares of park per 1,000
residents.
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Figure 10: Peer city comparision of publically accessible parks per 1,000
people (2014)
Source: Yardstick benchmark Survey 2014
Palmerston North has a higher provision of natural park land per 1,000 residents
than Hamilton, Tauranga, Whangarei and Hastings, but lower provision than Hutt
City. (See Figure 11).
Figure 11: Peer city comparison of natural parks per 1,000 people (2014)
Source: Yardstick benchmark Survey 2014
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Palmerston North also has a higher provision of significant premiere park land per
1,000 residents than Tauranga, New Plymouth and Hutt City but not Hamilton or
Hastings. (See Figure 12 below).
Figure 12: Peer City comparison of most significant premier park land per 1000
people (2014)
Source: Yardstick benchmark Survey 2014
The reserves are generally well used – but still have enough space to meet current
needs, although the Victoria Esplanade and Memorial Park (particularly the play
areas) are stretched at peak times, such as weekends in summertime. Capital
development programmes are identified in the Asset Management Plan to address
this issue.
The Council acquired the 10.6 hectare former concrete batching works at the bottom
of Maxwell’s Line for an extension to Waitoetoe Park and enable further
improvements to the Manawatū River environments. This was expected to function
as a wilderness style area, although more recent developments with possible
pedestrian and cycle bridges and bike criterion track proposals may see this
development becoming more active and formal.
Access to reserve land at Harding’s Park and the adjacent Department of
Conservation estate is being improved with around 7 kilometres of new track. This
was added thanks, in large part, to the work of dedicated volunteers, essentially
functioning as an extension of the popular Sledge Track.
Council continues to acquire esplanade reserves and strips along the major rivers
and streams, as opportunities arise through subdivision, and proactively implement
the path connection from Ashhurst to the City. (Refer to the Manawatū River
Framework for more information about this project).
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The Council aims to maintain or increase (where possible) the proportion of urban
residential houses that are located within 500m walking distance of reserve land
each year to more than the previous year. That is, any reserves that provide the
opportunity for open space play as ‘places to kick a ball or fly a kite’. Currently
around 80% of all residentially zoned land74 (excluding vacant residential zoned
land) in Palmerston North is within 500 metres walking distance of a park or sports
field and 95% are within 750 meters walking distance. (See Appendix Four).
Analysis of the reserve provision, by Statistic New Zealand area unit, shows the
residential areas with less/lower/limited access to reserve areas as: Cloverlea,
Hokowhitu West, Kairanga, Longburn, the Palmerston North Hospital area,
Papaioea, Takaro, Terrace End and Whakarongo.
Around 80% of the urban residential areas is within 500m walking distance of a park
or reserve, as shown in Figure 13, below. (Also see Appendix Four).
Figure 13: Park accessibility – percent of residentially zoned land within 500m
walking distance
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
2011
2012
2013
% residenital land <500 m walking
2014
Target
% within 750 walking distance
Source: Yardstick benchmark Survey 2014
There is some reliance on anecdotal evidence to assess demand.
 Some counts are conducted in the Victoria Esplanade – the Peter Black
Conservatory (over 60,000 visits per year), and the playground spot surveys
which estimate over 150,000 users per year.
 The Yardstick Parkcheck survey is used to check the satisfaction of users with
parks and the various features that make them up. Other than the overall
satisfaction as a raw guide though, there is little in the way of questioning
directly about whether people find reserves have plenty of space or whether
crowding is affecting enjoyment or use.
74
Cores Cities report (2014).
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Overall satisfaction with parks and reserves has been consistently high in
Palmerston North. Community satisfaction is monitored through the Communitrak
Survey which involves a random survey of residents. The target of 95% satisfaction
has been met or exceeded over the last 10 years. In 2013, 98% of people were
satisfied or very satisfied with the overall quality of the Council’s parks and reserves
(see Figure 14).
Figure 14: Community satisfaction with parks and reserves
100
%Very/Fairly Satisfied
95
90
85
80
75
70
65
60
55
50
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Satisfaction (Excl. "Don't know")
Target
Source: Communitrak Survey
The 2015 Yardstick Parkcheck survey also indicates that overall satisfaction of parks
in Palmerston North is fair, with a score of 3.5 out 5.
Figure 15: Overall satisfaction for all parks and reserves
Source: Yardstick Parkcheck User survey 2015
Priorities and major projects in the 10 Year Plan 2015-25
Victoria Esplanade is planned to include a new aviary complex (Wildbase Recovery)
through collaboration with Massey University and DOC, Rangitāne and the service
clubs Rotary and Lions.
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Council is currently allowing for development of a further City Reserve in asset
management planning (2037-2041 and $5.5 million) but assumes that this will be
built using an existing land holding or one acquired through urban growth. Further
work is needed to define this City Reserve expenditure location and scope. It is
possible that meeting the City Reserve demand could be done at several locations
(for example through a combination of the Manawatū River Framework
implementation, further Linklater Reserve development, and the development of a
large reserve in City West urban growth area).
Arapuke Forest Park
Development of Arapuke Forest Park (Kahuterawa). Council and community group
volunteers are continuing development of the Arapuke Forest Park with the forest
harvest now complete, and implementing pest control and biodiversity protection and
enhancement.
1. $401,000 is budgeted over the next 10 years (2015-25) for development of
Arapuke Park/Kahuterawa. This includes a contribution to the Manawatū
Mountain Bike Club for trail development
2. $103,000 is budgeted over the next two years (2015-17) for infrastructure and
planting.
Te Motu O Poutoa / ANZAC Park
Development of Te Motu o Poutoa/ANZAC Park. A reserve management plan is
being created for development and management of Te Motu O Poutoa / ANZAC
Park (2017). There is $717,000 budgeted over the next three years (to 2018), to
develop this historically and culturally significant reserve - $100,000 of this funding is
to be externally sourced.
Edwards Pit Park (formally known as Featherston Street Pit)
Ongoing development of Edwards Pit Park.
 $165,000 is budgeted 2015 to 2019 for completing the development. This will
include completing the landscaping of the northern slopes, re-sealing the
entrance, signage and interpretive works to tell the story of the history of the
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park and its association with brick buildings in Palmerston North and the
Hoffman Kiln.
Linklater Reserve
Council is planning for and developing Linklater Reserve:
Children enjoying new swing bridge at Linklater Reserve (2014)

$1,258,000 is budgeted to develop the reserve, 20 hectares of which has yet
to be opened to the public. This will be completed over the next 6 years to
2021.
Manawatū River Reserve Environments
The purpose of the Manawatū River framework is to increase access to and quality
of Manawatū River reserve environments. The Manawatū River framework includes
a number of key directions to achieve good design outcomes and identify projects
that have an opportunity to improve the river space. This is an initiative identified in
the Urban Design Strategy 2010 and will provide the strategic vision for any
development located in close proximity to the Manawatū River over the next 30
years. Key points:
 $1,469,000 is budgeted 2015-2022 for implementation of the Manawatū River
Framework
 Preliminary cost estimates indicate implementing the actions signalled in the
draft Manawatū River Framework will require an additional $1.4 million over
and above the existing $1.47 million budgeted for in the 10 Year Plan 201525. The draft Manawatū River Framework also identifies ‘opportunities’
throughout the document, many of which are over and above the
implementation plan actions. If all the opportunities were to be pursued then
the preliminary estimate suggests a further $0.96 million would be required for
a total resourcing requirement of $3.9 million.
 Programmes for the implementation of the Manawatū River Framework will
require revision once the final Manawatū River Framework is approved and
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then given consideration in the next 2017 Asset Management Plan and next
10 Year Plan 2018-28.
Other budgeted projects in parks and reserves
 Council is contributing towards development of a junior road safety park (to be
jointly funded with the community)
 The Railway Land skate park is being extended and a new skate park in
Ashhurst (to be jointly funded with the Council and the community)
 Council has budgeted for new playgrounds in the urban growth areas and one
more playground improvement in the existing urban area. The Linklater
Reserve Development will include play features, probably based around
adventure country style activities. A beginner mountain bike track and
associated skills features are also likely.
Other budgeted projects include:
Manawatū Gorge Project
 $504,000 is budgeted over 10 years for Ashhurst Domain biodiversity
improvements as part of the Manawatū Gorge Project and in contribution to
the Manawatū Gorge Trail Project
Reserve Management Planning
 $390,000 is budgeted for reserve management planning over the next six
years to 2021
Clearview Reserve
 $114,000 is budgeted in 2020/21 for completing development of Clearview
Reserve, half of which is still an undeveloped grazed paddock.
Whakarongo Reserve Development
 $1,258,000 is budgeted for land purchases and reserve development over the
next six years to 2021 for urban growth in the Whakarongo area to meet the
key performance indicators of 500 m walking distance to a flat reserve.
Oriana Reserve Development
 $87,000 is budgeted to develop the reserve in 2017. This reserve has
remained undeveloped for some time pending the completion of a
neighbouring residential subdivision which includes relocation the reserve to a
more accessible and visible point as part of the subdivision.
Aokautere Area Reserve
 $1,357,000 is budgeted 2017 to 2023 for the purchase of reserves land in the
urban growth area of Aokautere to meet the key performance indicators of
500 m walking distance to a flat reserve.
Council has included a number of general programmes in the 10 Year Plan 2015-25
that make level of service improvements to the amenities of parks and reserves.
The first three years, and total for the full 10 years are shown in the Table 10 below.
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Table 10: 10 Year Plan 2015-25 projects
Programme
161- New Public Toilets
967-Edibles Planting
1077-Biodiversity
Planting
1099- Shade
Development
1172-Drinking Fountains
1174-Future Outdoor
Gyms
1175- Shade Trees
1182- Improved Lighting
2015/2016
$120,000
$5,000
$20,000
2016/2017
$122,880
$5,120
$20,480
2017/2018
$346,368
$5,248
$20,992
TOTAL – 10 years
$2,066,552
$56,629
$226,508
$25,600
$0
$81,003
$30,000
$30,720
$31,488
$92,208
$264,055
$25,000
$20,000
$25,600
$20,480
$26,240
$20,992
$143,496
$226,508
Opening up the Linklater Reserve and completion of the Edwards Pit Park will add
capacity. Te Motu o Poutoa has considerable potential to become a special reserve
with the planned management plan, upgrade, and focus on it expected as the
Rangitâne o Manawatū Treaty of Waitangi claim is settled and Rangitāne look to this
significant site.
Trends affecting parks and reserves
The Asset Management Plan notes the following in relation to future reserve
development:
 a shift in physical recreation from organised sports to less formal activities
such as walking - there has been a need in recent years to increase the
number and quality of assets provided on reserves and walkways, including
toilets, seats, signage and bins.
New data released two years ago by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and
Employment has confirmed Palmerston North’s place as a significant tourist
destination. In 2013 the City was the 13th largest in terms of visitor spending.
Visitors to the City also enjoy use of the City’s parks reserves and playgrounds. The
City has been experiencing strong growth in visitor spending and may have already
overtaken Nelson and is getting close to overtaking Hastings. Visitor spending in the
City rose by 12% between 2012 and 2014. Monthly indicator data published by
MBIE suggests the City has experienced strong growth in visitor spending since
March 2014.
Supply and demand
Table 11 below shows the change in population between 2006 and 2013. Ten area
units experienced a decline in the number of people while most of the remaining
area experienced increases. The latest Statistics NZ population projections
(February 2015) suggest that Palmerston North City’s population will grow
approximately 9% to 92,300 by 2028.
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Table 11: Change in City population by area unit (2006-2013)
Source: Statistics New Zealand Census data 2006 and 2013
Approximately 30% of all housing development occurs within the existing urban limits
as infill subdivision. The Council is currently also looking at providing for Multi-Unit
Housing Development and Minor Dwellings as alternative housing options. The
consequence of this is an expected increase in residential population which may
require reassessment of the provision of urban parks and reserves in the future.
Future opportunities
After accounting for site-specific issues, the Palmerston North Hospital residential
area is identified as having the poorest access to reserves. There are very few
opportunities to address the areas with relative shortfalls; there is little land of a
suitable size or position available to improve supply. Some improvement has made
to the area since 2005 through a partnership with Mana Tamiriki School and a
playground access agreement.
There may be an opportunity to improve supply further if the Northern Bowling Club
vacates the Wahikoa Reserve site on North Street. However the location is less
than ideal in that it has poor accessibility with a very long street, meaning limited
catchment for the reserve. There is a 2,000m2 vacant lot at the corner of
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Featherston Street and Roy Street75 that would provide a better reserve coverage
than the Waihikoa Reserve option, covering approximately four times as many
houses. One hundred and thirty six extra households would have a reserve within
500m walking distance if Wahikoa Park had a neighbourhood reserve developed on
it, while 293 additional households would be within 500 m walking distance if a
reserve were developed at the corner of Roy and Featherston Streets instead of at
Wahikoa Park.
Kelvin Grove is a significant area of population growth in the City with a large
proportion of children. Continued greenfield residential development will take place
in Kelvin Grove and the Aokautere/Summerhill area units respectively in the short to
medium term. Within the Kelvin Grove area the Whakarongo residential area
became operative in the District Plan in 2014. It is envisaged that the Whakarongo
Residential Area will provide additional greenfield land supply to the market in the
medium term.
A separate analysis could be considered for the need, accessibility, and
characteristics for additional City reserve(s) to meet the needs of a growing City
grows or whether existing reserves will continue to meet the demand of a growing
population.
8. Playgrounds
Objectives
The objectives of this section are to:
 identify current levels of provision and participation
 estimate the future demand or oversupply for playgrounds; and
 consider if planned 10 Year Plan community projects will satisfy demand
Council aims to make more environments for children fun, interesting and
stimulating, particularly utilising natural features. There are opportunities to better
utilise local parks and reserves in combination with the Council’s Urban Design
Strategy 2010 and Place making initiatives, to make the City much more playful.
Current playground provision
Council provides 59 play-equipped areas through the City.
significant playgrounds are:
 Victoria Esplanade
 Memorial Park
 Ashhurst Domain
The largest/most
There are youth playgrounds at Milverton Park, Skoglund Park, Monrad Park (one by
the library) and playgrounds at smaller neighbourhood reserves. (See Appendix Five
for a complete list).
75
Council greenfield reserve guidelines suggest a minimum of 2,500 square metres is desirable, although some historical
reserves are smaller.
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Council direction
Points to notes from the Active Recreation Strategy are:
 International best practice is moving toward creating playable environments
rather than traditional playgrounds
 There is growing international recognition that children play wherever and
whenever they can. The traditional response to providing fixed equipment
within fenced-off areas is seen by many as an inappropriate response to
meet children’s play needs
 Investment in play space needs to continue while the child population grows
in the City. There is an opportunity to utilise the availability of local parks and
reserves in combination with the Council’s Urban Design Strategy and place
making initiatives to make the City more playful
 Parks and reserves provide exciting and challenging play opportunities for
children and young people. Play area replacements and upgrades should
follow best practice design for play spaces
 Parks are evenly distributed across the City. Reserves and open spaces
should be preserved in priority neighbourhoods
 The Council provides a full range of active recreation opportunities.
Priorities and major projects in the 10 Year Plan 2015-25
An upgrade is budgeted for the skate park on the Railway Land and there has been
continued interest for a new skate park in Ashhurst for 2015/16 (subject to part
external funding) ($140,000).
Note. In finalising the 10 Year Plan 2015-25 the Council changed the focus of the
programme for City-wide playground development, to remove the emphasis on youth
playgrounds.
Supply versus targets
Targets are not set specifically for playground provision. When a reserve is
identified for development, local consultation on what recreation facilities are desired
is undertaken. Playground facilities are developed where budgets allow.
Three playgrounds were added to the City as a result of boundary adjustments with
Manawatū District Council in 2012 and are excluded from Figure 16 below. The
provision of the additional youth playgrounds was based on feedback during the
2005 Recreation Needs Assessment.
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Figure 16: Peer cities comparison of playgrounds per 1,000 people (2014)
Source: Yardstick Park Report 2014
Based on the Yardstick Report76 comparing similar sized populations, there are 3.7
publically provided playgrounds per 1,000 children aged 15 years in Palmerston
North. This is more than Hutt City and Hastings but less than Tauranga and
Hamilton (see Figure 16).
The Council aims to maintain or increase (where possible) the proportion of urban
residential houses that are located within 500m walking distance of reserves.
Neighbourhoods lacking parks and recreation facilities and with high proportions of
children with higher social deprivation in the City include Highbury, Roslyn, Awapuni
North. Other areas with social deprivation include Palmerston North Central, West
End, Westbrook and Papaioea areas but they have lower proportions of children.
Also, there is demand for more wheel-based facilities, with Council receiving
requests for additional skateboard, scooter, BMX and mountain bike facilities in
various consultation exercises, most recently during consultation for the Linklater
Reserve development planning. These are traditionally popular activities with youth.
A high number of users (92%) are satisfied with the level of safety in parks. The
Council is targeting an increasing compliance with relevant playground standards
and is currently 67% compliant; the target for 2017 is 70%. (See Figure 17).
76
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Figure 17: Compliance with playground standards (Palmerston North)
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
2008
2009
2010
% meet standards
2011
2012
2013
Target
Source: Recreation and Community Facilities Asset Management Plan 2014
It is noted that there is a tension with playground standards and the desire to have
challenging and natural play features developed in reserves. Conforming strictly to
standards imposes a significant cost for safety surfacing and compliance.
Trends affecting playgrounds
There is a trend for more playable areas but they also need to provide the traditional
playground equipment. Anecdotal evidence suggests that public perceptions of play
areas are not good when a playground only has playable elements and doesn’t also
provide traditional equipment.
There are some privately provided ‘pay-to-play’ areas and equipment with
introduction of Kids Republic, Lollipops Playland, YMCA, Lido hydroslides and Flip
City.
Population projections 2013-2028 indicate an increase in births that will increase
demand for playgrounds for the next 10 years (see Figure 18).
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Figure 18: Population projection for children using playgrounds
Source: Ministry of Education 2015
Neighbourhood demographics
Between 2006 and 2013, 13 area units experienced a decline in the number of
children aged 0-14 years, however Kelvin Grove experienced a 46% increase in the
number of children aged 0-14 years. Other relatively large increases were Turitea
(23%) and Whakarongo (23%), with the remaining area experienced small increases
(See Table 11 earlier).
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9. Pathways
Objectives
The objective of this section is to:
 Identify current provision and projects
 Compare Recreation Needs Assessment 2005 priorities
 Identify the demand.
Pathways provision, condition and performance
The Manawatū is an excellent environment for recreational cycling. There is a range
of cycling options available from the flat, to undulating hill country, through to the
challenging climbs of the Tararua Ranges. The Council provides 68 km of walkways
and they are extended at a rate of about 600 m per annum. The current provision
equates to 1km per 1000 City residents.
The Manawatū Cycle way is a leg of the NZ Cycle Trail, traversing 126km of quiet
country roads between Mangaweka and Palmerston North.
Off road recreational cycling (mountain biking) takes place on pathways or in
reserves. Cycling facilities include Arapuke Forest Park’s mountain bike facilities,
which are under active development, and the Te Apiti Manawatū Gorge reserve,
where mountain bike facilities are being developed to complement existing walking
opportunities. The main/dominant pathway provision is along the Manawatū River
and Managone Stream with more advanced provision at Arapuke Forest Park. DOC
have more recently added a short trial section of track at the Manawatū Gorge and
Manawatū Mountain Bike Club members have access to other tracks in the wider
region, such as at Raumai Road in Bulls.
Mountain bikers at Arapuke Forest Park (2014)
Cycling facilities include Arapuke Forest Park’s mountain biking facilities, which are
under active development, and the Manawatū Gorge Park, where mountain bike
facilities are being developed to complement existing walking opportunities. The
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Manawatū Cycle way is a 126km leg of the NZ Cycle Trail, traversing quiet country
roads between Mangaweka and Palmerston North.
New Mangaone Stream Bridge (2015) (Longburn shared pathway extension)
It is noted there is a lack of intermediate level mountain biking opportunities within or
associated with the urban area that can be accessed without a car. These issues
should be addressed at the Linklater Reserve and possibly through development
along the Manawatū River and at the extension of Waitoetoe Park.
Priorities and major projects in the 10 Year Plan 2015-25
A Master plan of pathways for the next 30 years was prepared as part of the 2009
Recreation Strategy. This plan formed the basis of assumptions for the annual
programmes for the acquisition of land and development of new paths and
walkways. The Master plan of pathways is due to be reviewed and updated for the
next review of the Asset Management Plan in 2017 and the preparation of the draft
2018-28 10 Year Plan.
The Council has made significant investment in pathways, walkways and cycle ways
in recent years, particularly the Manawatū River pathway. There are plans for
completion of the Palmerston North off-road, inner City cycle loop and riverside
routes to Ashhurst.
The Council has been successful in obtaining part funding under central government
Urban Cycle ways Fund for the investigation and construction of a shared pathway
and bridge between the City and Linton Military Camp – stretching from the
Fitzherbert Avenue Bridge to Massey University for residents on the western side of
the City and Linton Military Camp. The $10m project is scheduled for completion by
mid-2018. The shared pathway will be suitable for pedestrians and cycling and
continues the building of recreational pathways throughout the City.
The 10 Year Plan provides for new capital for:
 City-wide purchase of land to extend walkways network (2015-2025)
($714,000)
 City-wide construction of walkways (2015-2025) ($769,000)
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











Urban growth City-west walkways land purchases (2025) ($120,000)
Urban growth Whakarongo walkways land purchases (2017-2019) ($727,000)
Urban growth Whakarongo walkways development (2019-2021) ($102,000)
City-wide shared pathway new rubbish /recycling bins(2015/16) ($9,000)
A cycle/pedestrian pathway between Palmerston North to Bunnythorpe (20172021) - $2,806 million
A shared cycle/pedestrian pathway between Fitzherbert Bridge and Linton
(subject to part external funding) (2015-2017) - $2,714 million
A pedestrian/cycle bridge over the Manawatū River (subject to part external
funding) (2015-2018) - $7,188 million
A shared cycle/pedestrian pathway between James Line and Stoney Creek
Road (2015) - $110,000
City East (Mangaone stream to Manawatū River) shared path connection
(2017-2022) ($1,617,000)
Completion of the Ashhurst to City shared pathway 2015/16 $575,000
Completion of Ashhurst Bridge to Domain pathway 2015/16 $57,000
Bike Manawatū off-road cycling park (subject to part external funding)
$336,000 (2017/18)
Other programmes include:
 City-wide walkways renewals (2015-2025) (Victoria Esplanade, Memorial
Park, Ashhurst Domain and The Square)
 Turitea Road – pedestrian path/steps
 Continuing with walkway construction spread throughout the City (ongoing) –
$70,000 per year. Projects currently being planned are extensions in
Summerhill and Valley Views areas and also a walkway linking the Moonshine
Valley to Polson Hill.
 Provision of facilities along the new and existing shared pathways throughout
the City (ongoing)
 Mangaone Stream shared path – underpass at Botanical Road
 Mangaone Stream shared path – underpass at Highbury Avenue
The Council is also contributing $25,000 in 2016/17 to support the Manawatū Gorge
Trail project and $140,000 to the Manawatū Mountain Bike Club for Arapuke Forest
Park trail development.
Past findings and priorities (Pathways)
The 2005 Recreation Needs Assessment identified a number of key
recommendations and issues for the future provision of sports grounds and facilities,
parks and reserves and pathways. Progress since 2005 is summarised in Appendix
Three.
Trends that affect pathways
Manufactured facilities (e.g. paths, cycle ways and walkways in town and cities,
people’s homes and outdoor facilities) are used by most people (91.3%)77
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There have been significant movements in central government policy and funding
frameworks for walking and cycling over the last five years. Specific funding
targeting walking and cycling as modes of transport has been introduced and the
criteria for gaining the funds has been adjusted to encourage territorial authorities to
develop infrastructure. The “Transport Agency anticipates the total investment in
cycling in New Zealand over the next three years will be around $380 million to $400
million, delivering more than 250km of new urban cycle ways and greater network
connectivity.”78
Local walking and running activities centre on, but certainly are not limited to, the
Victoria Esplanade and Manawatū River pathway. Walking groups also make use of
the network of tracks in Aokautere and the access provided to them via the
cycle/pedestrian path on the Fitzherbert Bridge and out to Massey University. Other
popular areas in the Palmerston North City Council territorial area are the Arapuke
Forest park, the walkways in and around the racecourse and the Hokowhitu Lagoon.
The Gorge track, administered by DOC, is increasingly popular for walkers and
runners and now a major destination.
Recent extension of the walkways has been focused in Kelvin Grove, Mangaone
Stream and Aokautere as the urban growth areas. The network development has
been well received by the community and the partnership with the Department of
Corrections has added significant value to the work.
As part of the planning process for the Whakarongo and City-West urban growth
areas pathway provision was carefully considered. At the Whakarongo growth area
a new pathway is planned between James Line and Stoney Creek Road. At the City
West urban growth area a new pathway is planned to run around the periphery of the
area to provide connections to the Mangoane Stream.
In the longer-term (beyond 10 years) the Council has aspirations to construct
pathways along the banks of the Turitea and Kahuterawa streams from the foothills
of the Tararua Ranges to the Manawatū River. In addition, it is planned to construct
a pathway from Ashhurst bridge to the City along the true left bank of the Manawatū
River.
Supply and demand
Recreational cycling, walking and jogging are significant79 participation activities that
do not require specific covered-in facilities. Participation rates for these activities are
much higher than the majority of sports and in the case of walking several times the
highest participation sports (refer to Appendix One). Walking is a high participation
activity for adults, particularly 50 to 74 year olds and our ageing population means
demand for walkways is likely to increase.
The preferred settings for off-road recreational cycling include rural, pathway and
reserve settings.
Walking and running needs are continuous sections of
78
http://www.pncc.govt.nz/news-events-and-culture/news/major-funding-boost-for-palmerston-north-shared-pathways/
47% of all New Zealanders and 87% of children aged 8-14 years old own a bicycle and the majority ride it at least once per
week according to LTSA Bike Week facts. Walking consistently ranks as the highest participation leisure activity for adults and
this is even more pronounced when like activities of tramping and jogging are included.
79
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uninterrupted footpath, walkway or trail with preferences for settings that have limited
or no motorised vehicles and natural settings.
There are no levels of service targets for pathways. Benchmarking the amount of
pathways is used to determine adequate provision for a population.
In 2015, Palmerston North has 68 km of walkways, the third highest length of
walkways per 1,000 residents, behind Dunedin and Wellington. The current
provision equates to 1km per 1,000 residents (see Figure 19).
Figure 19: Peer city comparison of path and trails per 1,000 people
1.2
1.0
Kilometres
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
Hamilton City
Tauranga City
Palmerston North
City
Hutt City
Source: Yardstick Park Report 2014
Note. There are no out of CBD pedestrian counts and off-road has only been
counted with the new technology. The Council has recently introduced new
pedestrian/cycle Eco-counters to improve the accuracy of the counts but it is too
early to accurately say for off-road shared paths, what the trends are.
Arapuke Forest Park user numbers were approximately 17,000 in 2015 and Sledge
Track user numbers were approximately 7,500. The Manawatū Gorge Track 2015
user numbers are now four times higher than they were in 2007. Additionally a new
mountain bike section beside the Ballance Café attracted 2,788 users in five months
of 2015. Figure 20 shows a steady increase in Manawatū Gorge Track user numbers
from 2007-2015.
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Figure 20: Manawatū Gorge Track user numbers (2007-2015)
60,000
Walkers
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Year
Council is delivering a number of pathway projects that will make a significant
contribution to the quality and length of pathways in the City over the next 10 years.
A key aspect of programme delivery is working collaboratively with other agencies
and parties. This will strengthen the region’s goal to be the ‘best place in New
Zealand to ride a bike’.
Manawatū pathway 2013 (Ashhurst section)
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10.
Specialised Facilities
Specialised facilities are provided for gymnastics, squash, swimming, canoeing,
equestrian sports, bowls, croquet, golf, cycling, and athletics. These include:
The Manawatū Community Athletics Track
The Manawatū Community Athletic Track (MCAT) at Massey University is a high
quality internationally rated facility. It is the main venue used for athletics in the
Manawatu. Other athletics venues include Ongley / Manawaroa Park and Lincoln
Park. Palmerston North Girls High School marks out an athletic track on Ongley /
Manawaroa Park and the Palmerston North Athletic and Harrier Club run around the
outside of these parks. The Ashhurst Club uses Lincoln Park.
The MCAT is ageing and showing signs of wear and tear and is in need of
maintenance. The Council has an operating programme for shade and shelter
development at the MCAT (2017/18) ($75,000). But there is no programme for
maintenance of the MCAT because the track is owned and maintained by the
Massey University and the Council makes an annual contribution to Massey
University for the upkeep of the track.
Athletics membership has been increasing with the Palmerston North Athletic and
Harrier Club the biggest user. The proportion of the population participating in
athletics increased 78% from 2011-2014.
The Manawatū Community Athletics Track Advisory Committee, in its 13th Annual
report 2014, reported approximately 19,000 users in total. Track bookings remain
strong with 355 bookings, nearing an average of one per day. Estimated use from
bookings is a little over 19,000 users. School users are the biggest group of users
and make up over half of all the MCAT users. Total use will be higher as casual use
is not captured. The user booking statistics for the last five years are shown in
Figure 21 below. .
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Figure 21: Manawatū Community Athletics Track use 2010-2014
30000
450
400
25000
20000
300
250
15000
200
10000
150
Bookings
User numbers
350
100
5000
50
0
0
2010
2011
2012
User estimate
2013
Bookings
2014
The MCAT is reaching capacity for athletics large events but track administrators
believe local activities can be managed within existing facilities. Administrators also
said there is insufficient demand to justify another track of this level.
Summary
Use of the track is nearing capacity and some groups are Ongley Park and Lincoln
Park as alternative venues. Further, analysis is required to determine if more
alternative are required to supplement existing capacity or whether existing
alternatives to the MCAT currently meet demand.
Gymnastics
The Palmerston North Gymnastics Club currently leases 10 Downing Street as its
main recreation and competitive gym but also hire Freyberg School Gymnasium for
trampoline classes. Manawatū Gym Sports are paying commercial rents at 10
Downing Street and are keen to get their own premises instead of leasing
commercial buildings. They require a large indoor space with particular dimensions
for height and length to enable apparatus use.
There are 200-400 gymnastics members. Membership has been increasing. There
are limited opportunities to grow the sport as there are a limited number of venues
that meet their requirements and the club is paying commercial rents for use of the
existing venue. Gymnastics have approached the Council a couple of times over the
last 10 years for use of a Council provided facility. A more in-depth analysis of
needs to be undertaken to determine if there are suitable Council facilities to meet
Gymnastics needs.
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Triathlon
The Manawatū Triathlon Club use Freyberg Community Pool, Lido Aquatic Centre,
Skoglund Park, and Linton Military Camp for events. The condition of existing
facilities is described as excellent. However, existing grounds and facilities are
described as excellent but they not designed for Triathlon and cycle and pool access
for competitions is awkward. The club would like a 50 metre pool that is not land
locked by major roads. Triathlon numbers have been stable with the number of
families competing together increasing.
Bowls
There are six bowling clubs in Palmerston North. Four (Takaro, Northern, Hokowhitu
and Terrace End) of the six bowls clubs lease their land from the Council and
manage the greens and clubrooms themselves. The Palmerston North and Ashhurst
(RSA) Clubs own their own land and facilities. The Takaro Sports Club has added
an artificial bowling green and is completing the extension of its clubrooms.
Bowls’ membership has been steadily declining and this is a trend nationally. Bowls,
callisthenics and exercising at home are more popular among the 65+ years age
group than the other age groups. Membership has continued to decline despite the
percentage of people 65+ years increasing as a proportion of the population.
The decline in bowling participants has led to club amalgamations. Sport NZ advise
an optimal number of players per green as 80-95 players per green. There are 15
greens in Palmerston North and on that basis capacity for 1,200-1,425 players –
representing a current oversupply of nine greens. This may require a in-depth
analysis of the needs of Bowls to determine if there may be opportunities for
potential club mergers and repurposing of facilities for other use:
Croquet
There are two croquet facilities in the City with three lawns at the Rose Garden and
three at Takaro. National level events are hosted between the two clubs.
Membership has been fairly static with less than 100 people playing croquet. A more
in-depth analysis of needs to be undertaken to determine the optimal number of
players per green and whether there is oversupply or undersupply of croquet
facilities.
Equestrian sports
Current provision of facilities includes a purpose built international standard arena at
Tielcey Park and comprehensive equestrian facilities at Massey University for
students and staff. Outside of Palmerton North, but a significant regional equestrian
facility, is also available at Manfeild Park.
Pony Clubs on Council land include: Ashhurst Pohangina Pony Club at the Ashhurst
Domain, Turitea Pony Club at the Linton Domain and the Palmerston North Pony
Club on Otira Reserve.
The Awapuni Racing Centre, Racecourse Road, Palmerston North is a regional
racing facility. Home of the Manawatū Racing Club, Marton Jockey Club, Rangitikei
Racing Club and the Feilding Jockey Club.
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Many people take part in equestrian sports in environments outside the club scene
and on private property and the rate of participation is unknown.
Cycling
Cycling has a number of component sports, each with its own set of needs. This
section deals mainly with track cycling and road cycling while mountain biking is
covered in the parks and reserves section.
Major existing off-road pathways include:
 Victoria Esplanade and Manawatū River Shared Pathway
 City to Longburn Shared Pathway
 City to Massey Pathway
 Mangaone Stream Pathway.
Additional planned pathways include:
 City to Linton Military Camp via Massey project
 City to Ashhurst (right bank) project.
Off-road recreational cycling (mountain biking) takes place on pathways or in
reserves. Arapuke Forest Park, Waitoetoe Park, the Manawatū Gorge track
opposite the Ballance Bridge Café and for MMBC members only, Raumai Forest
trails.
There is no track cycling facilities provided in Palmerston North. The track at
Memorial Park has been closed for over 15 years and was replaced with an inline
skating track in 2005.
Cycling facilities include City roads and off road shared paths and Manfeild Park race
track. The City has 68km of cycle lanes/paths and is in the process of developing
more. The Council has made significant investment in cycling facilities in recent
years and there are a significant number of projects in the 10 Year Plan 2015-2025
for the provision of cycle ways.
Consultation with the Manawatū Mountain Biking Club for the development of the
Linklater Reserve noted that Palmerston North has good, very easy facilities along
the Manawatū River, and is developing good intermediate and advanced riding
opportunities at Arapuke Forest Park but it lacks facilities in between. In response a
2.5km to 3km grade 2 (junior/beginner) track is planned for the Linklater Reserve.
Cycling is one of the top most popular sport and recreation activities. There are a
variety of different types of cycling clubs and limited data for club memberships and
about what trends have been occurring. Bike Manawatū Club membership has
been declining but there is insufficient data collected over time to determine if this is
a trend.
Many people take part in cycling in environments outside the club scene. For
example, census data shows the City has a high share of residents who cycle to
work 5.9%. There is no data for the track memberships or about what trends have
been occurring.
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The Metro counts scattered around the off-road network indicate there may be an
increase in cycle use, particularly at the Riverside Drive entrance to the Manawatū
River. The on-road cycle counts at the selected ‘baseline’ sites are fairly static
ranging between 160 and 190 AADT (Average Annual Daily Traffic). The Council
has recently introduced new pedestrian/cycle Eco counters to improve the accuracy
of the counts but it is too early to accurately say for off-road shared paths, what the
trends are.
There is a small group of cyclists advocating for development of a basic competition
BMX track in Palmerston North and further analysis would be required to determine
the need for Council investment in a BMX track.
There some cycling groups advocating for a local velodrome – with an emphasis
shifting to an outdoor one to replace the one taken out at Memorial Park –
Charge Grounds
The Council provides three charge grounds, Fitzherbert Park, Memorial Park, and
the Arena with the capacity to provide controlled access so entry can be charged by
the user group. The charge grounds have a higher standard of presentation and
facilities with the necessary infrastructure such as:
 Covered seating
 Lighting
 Facilities to meet media, players and official needs; and
 Fencing and gate facilities to restrict and charge for access.
The main charge ground venue is the Arena Oval. There are approximately 40
events in the City that charge to enter, including six rugby events (such as the ITM
Cup) and 20 speedway events e.g. stockcar and super car champs
Other
There are requests, from a number of different sports groups with low rates of
participation, for the Council to support the development of specialised facilities for
their sport. There are subject to a separate Recreation Needs Assessment and
require more in-depth analysis of their requests is required to determine the need for
these, including:
 Shooting
 BMX
 Rollers sports – inline hockey, derby, skating – Facility just lost at Leisureplex
and have been 2 to 3 approaches to Council officers over the last 5 years
looking for new facilities. Relevant to future Arena 5 scope decisions when
that shifts in planning in about 5 – 7 years. (construction not for 10 plus
years) but could well crop up again not that Leisureplex facility has gone.
 canoe water sports – esp on Hokowhitu Lagoon – long canoes, canoe polo,
waka ama
 Motor sport – full sized and model vehicles
 Other indoor small ball sports – Badminton, squash, table tennis
 Aussie rules and gridiron are occasionally raised with Council
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11.
Conclusion
There is a broad range of of sport and recreation facilities provided in Palmerston
North, and many are in good condition. There are some complexities in adequately
determining the need for facilities for various activities, and some interesting
conclusions can be drawn about the factors influencing recreation needs.
Trends
 It is getting more difficult to determine how many people are playing a
particular sport.
The reliability of the membership information varies
depending on the administration of the club. This means there is a risk of
over or underestimating demand for facilities. People appear to be less
inclined to commit to a sport or club, and pay-to-play participation is replacing
the tradition annual membership subscriptions.
 There has also been an increase in school student programmes and
coaching. School children are also not counted as members. Participation in
sports is provided via a Sport New Zealand survey by Sport New Zealand. We
have not been trending this information.
 Different age groups have varying preferences for particular sports and
activities. Participation by people 16 to 35 years is higher than participation
by people in the over 35 years age group and there is higher participation in
sports preferred by this age group, such as football rugby, netball, basketball,
hockey, cricket, rugby league, softball, tennis and touch. There are also high
rates of participation in sports provided by schools such as swimming,
athletics, rugby, and netball.
 There are a number of conflicting trends that are impacting on participation in
sport and recreation and demand for sport and recreation facilities. The
population is growing and participation in sport is increasing at a faster rate
than population growth, but the proportion of older less active people in the
population is also increasing.
 Participation in the high-participation and traditional sports drops off
significantly after 50 years of age, and participation in sports such as walking,
equipment-based exercise, fishing, bowls, golf and callisthenics increases.
How active the older population is depends on other factors such as the
ageing process, health and level of disability and disposable income. Changes
in overseas migration can have a significant impact on population projections,
particularly in younger age groups.
 Competition between the different sports codes for the active proportion of the
population will increase, with many sports codes already targeting secondary
schools as a way of increasing participation and membership.
 Disposable income is increasing, along with the standard of living and
expectations for quality recreation and sports facilities and playing services.
Demand for good quality sport and recreation facilities and parks and reserves
is expected to increase.
 People are working longer and are more are sedentary so they have less time
in their busy lives for active recreation and physical exercise, but a greater
need for it in order to maintain a healthy life and avoid obesity. People need
flexible options to maintain their physical health to fit in with their busy lives
without the pressure to volunteer their time to organising running of the club or
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

sport. Less structured sport and recreation such as gyms (equipment-based
exercise) and exercise classes, walking, cycling and swimming are among the
top most popular activities for people over 16 years of age.
Despite increasing participation in some sports, there can be a preference to
manage demand within existing sport club resources using demand
management techniques, such as capping teams or extending the time they
use of a ground or facility (e..g with lights). This is in order to maintain
centralisation of the sport and manage the limited club resources within the
capacity of existing grounds and facilities.
The limited operational and administrative capacity of some sports
organisations and the cost of providing additional fields markings, goal posts
and administration, mean there has to be a significant increase in members
and club administration to justify the use of additional venues or splitting
competitions /training to different nights.
Specific findings
 There is a need for improved changing and toilet facilities, particularly at
larger sports grounds where the centralised activities were occurring
 The need for improved playing surface quality and drainage in some grounds,
as well as improved lighting for training grounds and twilight games
 A preference for larger venues to provide sporting economics of scale and
centralisation
 There is an increase in ‘pay to play’ participation and shorter games that are
using less space.
 A more detailed analysis of aquatic facilities and demand is required to
determine if there are enough suitable types of facilities to meet future
demand
 There is high demand for the Arena indoor space, particularly at peak times
and this is creating an under capacity for indoor court sport at the times the
sports are being run. It is widely recognised that there are peak demand
issues for indoor space at the Arena and that some sports groups are capping
team numbers as well as struggling to secure all season use of indoor court
space for seasonal competitions and space for major sporting events. More
good quality, flexible indoor space with sufficient space around courts for
umpires and spectators is required at the Arena to ensure there are courts
available at the peak times sports are being played
 There is a good provision of good quality courts to meet the current and future
needs of outdoor court sports in both summer and winter. There may be
opportunities to reallocate existing court space between summer netball and
tennis for the benefit of both sports.
 There is a good provision of quality fields for summer sports and capacity to
accommodate any increase in summer sport. However, this may require a
shift to other nights or other venues, which can increase demand for club
resources. There is demand for sports to be able accommodate increases in
participation without having to shift to another venue or night to keep
operational and administrative burdens within club /sport resources.
 Winter field sports are high participation sports. There is a good provision, on
paper, of fields that meet current demand. But some fields are not being used
to capacity because of issues with drainage and playing surface quality.
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
There are also some unused fields that are in need of improvement for use in
winter e.g. the middle of the Manawatū Community Athletics Track, and the
International Pacific University fields. More field space is needed for football
rugby league, football training and hockey to enable continued centralisation
of the sports as participation grows and to host large tournaments.
The 10 Year Plan programmes, such as improved drainage projects and
development of artificial turfs will address playing surface quality issues and
accommodate any growth in sports participation for some years. As
participation in the different sports changes there will be opportunities to
reallocation of existing fields between the different sports codes to benefit all,
particularly if capacity increases as a result of improved drainage and the
addition of the artificial turfs.
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F. Appendix One: Sports Profile and Summary
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1. Introduction
The purpose of this profile is to provide a summary of the participation in selected sports.
Participation data
National participation rates for specific sports are provided by Sport NZ. Sport NZ
information identifies the top 20 most popular or targeted sport and recreation activities and
provides profiles of these.
Participation is in the activity one or more times a week, in any setting – at home, at school
or somewhere else.
Sport NZ data is for young people 5-18 years and adults 16+ years and targets 20 most
popular sport and recreation activities identified from surveys undertaken.
Sport NZ profiles target four main ethnic groups: NZ European, Māori, Pacific and Asian.
Participation rates for most sports/activities are higher in the school setting (i.e. for
sports/activities organised by schools outside of class time) than with clubs80.
“Schools and clubs play an important role in providing sporting opportunities for young
people” – Sport NZ1. Sport and recreation activities organised by schools during class time
do not appear to be included in the survey results from Sport NZ. This potentially
underestimated demand as schools are increasingly using facilities provided publically and
may generate improved utilisation of some public facilities.
In the absence of local participation information, national participation rates are used to
estimate absolute numbers for local participation.
Membership data
Key sports clubs/associations were asked to provide the Council with their membership data
and comments about the sport and recreation facilities they use via a survey monkey survey.
National club membership data was provided by Sport NZ for the top 20 targeted sports.
Local club membership data was provided by sports clubs/associations in response to a
survey of Manawatū Sports Associations; by Sport Manawatū or from historic information
kept by the Council.
Much of the local club membership includes people from other territorial authority
catchments, such as Manawatū, Whanganui, Horowhenua, Tararua and Rangitikei.
Note, there are gaps in the membership data because membership data is not always
available or collected annually.
Facilities and capacity
Council provides around 24 sports grounds for all year round use. This includes:
Grass surfaces (135 ha) with 168 playing surfaces (87ha)
 Non-grass surfaces, 68 surfaces
 20 sports field buildings
 28 sports field car parks and 57,612 m2 of pavement area
80
Sport and Recreation in the Lives of Young New Zealanders, New Zealand Young people’s survey series (2011).
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Sports field training lights are not owned or managed by the Council as these are installed
and owned by the Sports Clubs or Associations. However, the Council does own and
manage sports field lighting at Arena Manawatū.
There are seasonal changes to facility and ground use based on changes to participation in
the different sports codes.
Participation levels and preference change over time and with age, making it difficult to
predict the long-term future requirements of the various individual sports codes. The focus
for sports fields is on ensuring that the overall sports field capacity is sufficient and flexible.
Capacity of the grass sports fields is between one to six games per week (times 22 days per
season) depending on different drainage characteristics of the fields.
Many sports grounds and facilities are used for more than one sports and recreation activity,
with summer and winter uses. Sports grounds often host casual play and operate as
neighbourhood reserves when not in use as sports fields.
Demand for facilities
Many sports that are based primarily in Palmerston North have catchments that extend well
outside the territorial authority boundary. In fact, due to the compact nature of the territorial
boundary, it would be extremely difficult to find a sport that only drew on residents from
within the City boundary. This means that local club membership and national participation
rates used to estimate demand for facilities in the City, based on the City population, is likely
to underestimate demand for City facilities, where regional club membership is not included.
Demand for both indoor and outdoor facilities is highest in winter (May to August).
Projecting future demand
The profiles in this document are based on a snapshot in time. The trends and projections
provide a useful indicator of potential demand but it is difficult to provide any certainty with
regards to actual or future demand. This is because projections assume changes over time
to the proportion of different age and ethnic groups in the population who influence facility
demand. For example, the proportion of elderly is increasing as well as the proportion of the
Asian population.
Demographics play some role in determining foreseeable demand, however many sports
have grown or declined in contrast to demographic change. The past is not necessarily a
good predicator of the future and so some caution is always advisable. For example, past
work in 1994 saw a rapid rise in softball predicting major demand on grounds, which did not
come to pass. Other work suggested rapidly rising elderly population numbers would see
growing demand for codes traditionally seen as popular with the elderly, such as bowling –
which has not proven to be the case. There can also be a honeymoon period for rapidly
growing sports where a peak of demand flattens out after a rapid rise.
Statistics New Zealand published new population projections in February 2015, which now
cover the period to 2043 and are based on a 2013-base population. Palmerston North was
projected to reach a population of 97,900 by 2031 but is now projected to reach 98,800 by
2043. The significant difference between the 2006 and 2013 base projections reflects both
the much weaker actual growth in the City population than estimated between 2006 and
2013 and a general lowering in the average annual growth rates for future years.
When you look at the projections by the five-year age bands there is very little growth
projected in the City for the school age groups and declines when the wider region
population is taken into account. After 2004 there was an increase in the number of births in
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Palmerston North which peaked in 2012 but numbers declined up to the end of 2014. This is
supported by the school roll data that is published annually by year group. Growth in the
number of births in 2015 may reflect the significant decline in migration to Australia over the
last 18 months. Also, there has been a short-term change in the secondary school
enrolments since the global financial crisis, with more students staying on for years 12 and
13, but this may change in the future as the labour market improves. There is considerable
uncertainty over the longer-term trend for how long older people will remain in the labour
force.
2. Athletics (track and field)
National participation and demographics of athletics
Participation varies from club membership. Many people take part in active leisure and
sports in environments outside the club scene.
The key demographic profiles identified in Sport NZ81, for Athletics are:
Young people (5-18 year olds)
 Athletics is one of the top three activities in which all young people regularly
participate
 70% of all young people (568,000) nationally participate in athletics one or more
times a week. It is one of the main activities, outside of class time and organised by
schools, in which most young people take part.
 79% of 5-10 year olds, 67% of 11-14 year olds and 61% of 15-18 year olds
participate in athletics.
 Participation of young male (69%) and female (71%) in athletics is fairly even.
 Athletics is one of the 10 top sport and recreation activities all ethnic groups
participate.
 The proportion of young ethnic groups participating in athletics is similar, with 73%
NZ European, 70% Māori, 69% Pacific and 69% Asian.
 If national participation proportions for young people are applied to the local
population of young people, it is estimated that 10,800 young people participate
locally in athletics, including 5,400 males and 5,400 females.
Adults (16+ year olds)
 Sport NZ does not currently provide a sport profile for athletics for adults, there is no
demographic analysis provided by Sport NZ.
 Only 1.9% of all adults (approx. 63,000) nationally participate in athletics.
 If national proportions for adults are applied to the local population of adults, it is
estimated that 1,197 adults participate locally in athletics.
81
Young People’s Survey Series – Sport and Recreation in the Lives of Young New Zealanders, 2011; Sport and Active
Recreation in the Lives of New Zealand Adults, 2013/2014 Active New Zealand Survey Results.
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National club membership trends
National club membership data provided by Sport NZ for athletics shows a significant (46%)
drop in members from the peak in 2001 (31,814) to the low of 17,270 in 2003/04 followed by
a 25% increase to 21,528 members in 2008/09 before declining 18% to 17,697 members in
2014. According to Athletics NZ, there is a general decline in participation with age, “we are
seeing significant drop out rates in participation at key ages along with a slowing rate of new
officials interested in training, in particular young adults.”
Local club membership trends and discussion
There are 2 clubs operating in the Palmerston North area registered with Athletics NZ - the
Ashhurst Harrier and Athletic Club and the Palmerston North Athletic and Harrier Club Inc.
Local club membership data provided by Sports Manawatū and Palmerston North Athletic
and Harrier clubs shows erratic growth in members from 215 members in 1990 to 280
members in 2014 (30% increase). Membership peaked at 319 in 2005.
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Facilities
The main venue used for athletics is the Manawatū Community Athletic Track (MCAT) at
Massey University, with the Palmerston North Athletic and Harrier Club the biggest user.
Palmerston North Girls High School marks out an athletic track on Ongley / Manawaroa Park
and the Palmerston North Athletic and Harrier Club run around the outside of the parks.
Ashhurst Club –use Lincoln Park
The MCAT is a high quality internationally rated facility. Local activities can be managed at
existing facilities but the track is starting to show signs of wear. “Overall the track and
associated facilities are in reasonable condition but the report by Bob Jones of Sports
Surface Consultants Ltd in July 2014 highlighted that considerations should be started
regarding a suitable replacement of the rubber surface as it starts to deteriorate.”82 The
Palmerston North Athletic and Harrier Club is planning to increase the sun shading for
spectators at MCAT.
The field in the middle of the MCAT has been unplayable in winter due to a compaction layer
under the top soil that has affected the drainage system. It is one of the few floodlit playing
fields in the City and is used for football in winter. It is unknown if the drainage will affect
summer use for athletics.
A report has been carried out by a sports surface specialist who notes a typical life is around
10 years. The current view of the Advisory Committee is that a couple of year’s further use
can be made from the surface. Massey University, who are responsible for renewal under
the Memorandum of Understanding with the Council, are initiating their renewals budgeting
process. Council has contributed to the renewals through its annual payment towards
maintenance and renewals.
The Council pays a $50,000 operating grant to Massey
University to maintain the MCAT.
The Palmerston North Athletic and Harrier Club is intending to increase the sun shading for
spectators at MCAT.
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Report on Manawatu Community Athletic Track, prepared by Manawatu Community Athletic Track Advisory Committee, 13 th
Annual Report December 2014.
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Supply versus demand
According to the MCAT 13th Annual Report December 2014, prepared by MCAT Advisory
Committee, there were approximately 19,237 users in 2014 of the MCAT.
In 2010, Athletics NZ noted an above average number of clubs – 27 clubs compared to 19,
in the Manawatū/Whanganui region compared to in other regions. However not all users of
the track are members of clubs. Secondary schools are large users of the track.
The Track Advisory Committee in its 13th Annual Report (2014) reported around 19,000
users per year. Track bookings remain strong with 355 bookings, nearing an average of one
per day. Estimated use from bookings is a little over 19,000. Total use will be higher as
casual use is not captured.
Manawatu Community Athletics Track
- User and Bookings Statistics
30000
450
400
25000
20000
300
250
15000
200
10000
150
Bookings
User numbers
350
100
5000
50
0
0
2010
2011
2012
User estimate
2013
Bookings
2014
The MCAT is near capacity for athletics events but local activities can be managed within
existing facilities. There are insufficient local participation to justify an additional athletics
track of the MCAT quality and insufficient existing capacity to grown numbers.
There are plans by the Palmerston North Athletic and Harrier Club to increase the sun
shading for spectators at MCAT.
A report has been carried out by a sports surface specialist who notes a typical life is around
10 years. The current view of the Advisory Committee is that a couple of year’s further use
can be made from the surface. Massey University, who are responsible for renewal under
the Memorandum of Understanding with the Council, are initiating their renewals budgeting
process. Council has contributed to the renewals through its annual payment towards
maintenance and renewals.
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Bookings data, in the graph below, shows peak demand occurring in March and November
from secondary and primary schools. In 2014 the track staged the first ever North Island
Athletics Championships and planning has started to host the North Island event in 2016.
“The Colgate games are to be held in Palmerston North and this will be the largest event
ever held at this track and will be among the largest sports events the Manawatū has held,”
says George McConachy, Head Coach.
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3. Badminton
Previously, Sport NZ grouped badminton, squash and table tennis into a combined profile
termed ‘racket sports’. This time these sports are profiled separately.
National participation and demographics of badminton
Participation varies from club membership. Many people take part in active leisure and
sports in environments outside the club scene.
The key demographic profiles identified by Sport NZ for badminton are:
Young people (5-18 year olds)
 Badminton is ranked 12th most popular sport and recreation activity in which all young
people participate regularly.
 46% of all young people (373,500) nationally participate in badminton one or more
times a week.
 The proportion of 15-18 year olds (46%) and 11-14 year olds (46%) participating in
badminton is similar. Note, badminton was not included in the survey form given to 510 year olds.
 The proportion of males and females participating in badminton is similar with 46%
males and 46% females.
 Badminton is one of the top 10 most popular sport and recreation activities in which
young Asian people participate. Badminton does not feature in the top 10 most
popular sport and recreation activities for the other ethnic groups.
 A slightly higher proportion of young Asian people (60%) participate in badminton than
other ethnic groups.
 A slightly higher proportion of Asian females (64%) participate in badminton than Asian
males (57%).
 If national participation proportions for young people are applied to the local population
of young people, then it is estimated that 7,100 young people 11-18 years old
participate in badminton, including 3,600 male and 3,500 female.
Adults (16+ year olds)
 Badminton does not feature in the top 20 most popular sport and recreation activities
in which adults participate, ranking 28th.
 3.5% of all adults participate regularly in badminton.
 The proportion of males (3.5%) and females (3.6%) participating in badminton is
similar.
 15% of adults participating in badminton are of Asian ethnicity.
 If national participation proportions for adults are applied to the local population of
adults, then it is estimated that 2,200 adults, including 1,200 females and 1,000 males
participate in badminton locally.
National club membership trends
National club membership data provided by Sport NZ shows a steady increase in members
from 8,346 members in 1997 to 10,702 (28%) in 2013.
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Local membership and discussion
Local club membership data provided by Sport Manawatū and Manawatū Badminton shows
erratic changes in membership from 199 members in 1990 to 250 members at its peak in
1993, followed by a rapid decline to a low of 134 members in 1999 and 2001 before
unevenly increasing to membership of 189 in 2014.
Facilities
Badminton is played at various halls throughout the City but the main venue is the Arena
Manawatū. There are 24 permanently marked courts at the Arena but there is space for up
to 45 badminton courts.
Massey University also provides 6 badminton courts for students, staff and members
Supply versus demand
Badminton is played at a number of different halls throughout the City but the main venue is
the Arena Manawatū. Badminton participation is fairly static but is declined -16% as a
proportion of the population from 2011-2014.
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Badminton is mainly played during winter months (March-September) with some school
competitions from February-April (Primary), October-December (Intermediate) and MayJune (Secondary). Manawatū Badminton also runs a weekly Thursday night super league.
A small number of people play badminton, which is popular with Asian people. Manawatū
Badminton has focused heavily on school programmes and has seen increased participation
as a result.
There is spare capacity at Arena Manawatū for additional court space with 24 permanently
marked courts and space for 45 courts if needed. Existing facilities are not designed
specifically for badminton. Badminton requires non-slip surfaces on courts with floors that
have some give/spring (i.e. not concrete). They also require specific lighting on the sides of
the courts and dark coloured wall surrounds. This is to prevent losing sight of the shuttle.
Manawatū Badminton would like a 4-court hall designed specifically for badminton to run all
their club games, training and to enable hosting of the New Zealand league.
Currently, all of the facilities used for badminton are for multipurpose use - that is the courts
are not design specifically for the badminton and surfaces, lighting, wall colour and
surrounds are not suitable for the dynamic movement of badminton and for sighting the
shuttle.
It is noted that there are some difficulties with competing users of some Arena Manawatū
facilities wanting the courts at the same time.
4. Basketball
National participation and demographics of basketball
Participation varies from club membership. Many people take part in active leisure and
sports in environments outside the club scene.
The key demographic profiles identified by Sport NZ for basketball are:
Young people (5-18 year olds)
 Basketball ranked 11th most popular sport and recreation activity for young people.
 50% of all young people (403,000) nationally participate in basketball one or more
times a week.
 A slightly higher proportion of young males (55%) than females (44%) participate in
basketball.
 A higher proportion of 11-14 year olds (66%) participate in basketball compared to 510 year olds (35%) and of 15-18 year olds (54%).
 Significantly a higher proportion of young Pacific (54%) people participate in basketball
than other ethnic groups, with NZ European (5%), Māori (30%) and Asian (29%).
 Basketball is one of the top 10 sports and recreation activities in which all young male
NZ European (53%), Māori (59%) and Asian (57%) people participate.
 If national proportions for young people are applied to the local population of young
people, then it is estimated that 7,600 young people participate locally in basketball
with 4,300 males and 3,300 females.
Adults (16+ year olds)
 Basketball is not one of the top 20 sports and recreation activities in which adults
participate regularly, ranking 21.
 5% of all adults (152,000) nationally participate in basketball one or more times a
week.
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

A slightly higher proportion of adult males (7%) than females (2%) participate in
basketball.
If national participation proportions for adults are applied to the local population of
adults, then it is estimated that 2,896 adults, including 722 females and 2,136 males
participate in basketball locally.
National club membership trends
National club membership data, provided by Sport NZ, shows a decline in membership from
47,244 in 1997 to 23,551 in 2006 before increasing to 80,564 members in 2014.
Local membership and discussion
The club membership data provided by Sport Manawatū for basketball shows gradually
increasing membership from 1,712 members in 1990 to 2,296 members in 2014 (70.5%
increase). The Palmerston North Basketball Association says it is experiencing increasing
numbers of teams and players.
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Facilities
Basketball is played at Arena Manawatū, local school gyms, and Linton Military Camp gym.
There are 11 permanently marked basketball courts at Arena Manawatū with Arena 2
providing a show court for major events. The International Pacific College has 1 basketball
court in its main gym for students and Massey University has 2 cross court (or 1 full size)
basketball courts that are accessible to Massey University members.
There are also basketball courts at the Highbury Whanau Centre and many school gyms.
The Council provides 1 marked outdoor basketball court at Kelvin Grove Park with a second
shortly to be added to Takaro Park.
Supply versus demand
A large number of people play basketball, which is popular with young people. Basketball
membership is increasing. Basketball is played at a number of venues throughout the City
but the main venue is the Arena Manawatū. Basketball is played mainly in winter (AprilSeptember) with masters games held in February. The Palmerston North Basketball
Association needs more courts with better availability on Thursday nights.
Facilities are described as good and the Palmerston North Basketball Association would like
to use more of the venue if possible and also better seating provided. Basketball uses the
Arena approximately 23% of the total time the spaces are used compared to other sports
and approximately 13% of the total time that the spaces are available for.
It is noted that there are some difficulties with competing users of some Arena Manawatū
facilities wanting the courts at the same time.
5. Bowls (Outdoor)
Sport NZ does not currently provide a sport profile for bowls. This makes the amount of
readily accessible demographic information available limited.
National participation and demographics of bowls
The key demographic profiles identified by Sport NZ for bowls are:
Young people (5-18 year olds)

Less than 1 % of young people participate in bowls
Adults (16 + year olds)



4.2% of all adults nationally participate in bowls (139,000).
A higher proportion of 65+ year olds participate in bowls than other age
groups, with 9.5% of 65-74 year olds and 12% of 75+ year olds participating in
bowls one or more times a week.
If national participation proportions for adults are applied to the local population
of adults, then it is estimated that 2,600 adults participate in bowls.
National club membership trends
National club membership data provided by Sport NZ shows a steady decline in bowls
membership from 67,000 members in 1997 to 28,997 members in 2014 (58%).
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Local membership and discussion
Local membership data provided by Bowls Manawatū mirrors the national trend with a
steady decline in membership from 1,098 members in 1996 to 497 members in 2014 (-55%).
Facilities
Land leased to bowls clubs include: Terrace End Bowling club (7,664 m2); Wahikoa Park
(11,600m2); Hokowhitu Domain (10,140 m2) and Takaro Park (11,940 m2). There is a
privately owned Palmerston North Bowling Club in Linton Street and at Ashhurst.
Supply versus demand
Bowls is popular with people 65 year olds and older but membership has been declining.
Four (Takaro, Northern, Hokowhitu and Terrace End) of the 6 bowls clubs in Palmerston
North lease their land from Council and manage the greens and clubrooms themselves. The
Palmerston North and Ashhurst (RSA) Clubs own their own land and facilities.
Bowls is played primarily in the spring and summer months.
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Sport NZ advise an optimal number of players per green as 80-95 players per green. There
are 15 greens in Palmerston North and on that basis capacity for 1,200-1,425 players –
representing a current oversupply of 9 greens.
6. Boxing
National participation and demographics of boxing
The Sport NZ does not currently provide a sport profile for boxing. This makes the amount
of readily accessible demographic information available limited.
Young people (5-18 year olds)

Less than 1% of young people nationally participate in boxing.
Adults (16+ year olds)


3.5% of all adults (115,994) nationally participate in boxing.
If national participation proportions for adults are applied to the local population
of adults, then it is estimated that 2,200 adults participate in boxing.
National club membership trends
Sport NZ does not currently provide membership data for boxing. Historically, national club
membership data provided by Sport NZ shows a significant 67% decline in membership from
5,280 members in 1997 to 1,812 members in 2003.
Local membership and discussion
Sports Manawatū does not currently provide membership data for boxing and the Manawatū
Boxing Association numbers are unavailable.
Facilities
Te Awe Awe Scouts Hall, Huia Street, Palmerston North.
Fight Club Church St
Meehan Boxing Gym on Miro St
87 Bourke St
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Palmerston North Boxing Club, 72 Church St
7. Canoeing (and Kayaking)
National participation and demographics of canoeing
Participation varies from club membership. Many people take part in active leisure and
sports in environments outside the club scene.
The key demographic profiles identified by Sport NZ for canoeing are:
Young people (5-18 year olds)
 Canoeing ranked 15th most popular sport and recreation activity for all young people.
 40% of all young people (321,700) nationally participate in canoeing one or more times
a week.
 The proportion of young males (41%) than females (39%) participating in canoeing is
similar.
 A higher proportion of 15-18 year olds (36%) than 11-14 year olds (20%) participate in
Canoeing. Note, Sport NZ survey forms were not provided to 5-10 years.
 Canoeing does not feature in the top 10 sports for the different ethnic groups participating.

If national proportions for young people are applied to the local population of
young people, then it is estimated that 6,100 young people participate locally in
canoeing with 3,200 males and 2,900 females.
Adults (16+ year olds)
 Canoeing is ranked the 12th most popular sports and recreation activity for all adults.
 8% of all adults (270,000) nationally participate in canoeing one or more times a week.
 The proportion of adult males (10%) and females (7%) participating in canoeing is
similar.
 If national participation proportions for adults are applied to the local population of
adults, then it is estimated that 5,100 adults, including 2,300 females and 2,800 males
participate in canoeing locally.
National club membership trends
Sport NZ does not currently provide membership data for canoeing.
Historically,
membership has declined -35%, from 5,643 members in 1997 to a low of 1,382 members in
2001 before steadily increasing to 3,673 members in 2005.
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Local membership and discussion
Sport Manawatū does not currently provide membership data for canoeing. The historical
membership shows a steadily declined membership from 240 members in 1993 to a low of
150 members in 2003 before increasing to 263 members in 2014. However, it is unclear if
this information includes all canoe clubs. 2014 data was provided by Kiwi Canoe Polo but
other clubs were not asked for their information.
Facilities
There are a variety of different canoeing sports, some using the Freyberg Community Pool
and Lido Aquatic Centre, and others using Hokowhitu Lagoon and river environments in the
greater Manawatū and Rangitikei, and the Environmental White-water Park at Shannon.
Entry numbers for canoe polo Freyberg pool have declined -4% from 3,557 people in 2004
to 3,350 in 2014.
Supply versus demand
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A small number of people participate in canoeing, which is popular with young people.
Membership has been increasing with the club experiencing exponential growth in the
number of junior/intermediate members participating in canoe polo. There are issues with a
lack of water at Hokowhitu Lagoon, particularly in summer. Also, swimming pools are not
quite big enough for a canoe polo court 35m x 23m. There is a programme in the 10 Year
Plan to improve Canoe Polo Club Courts at the Hokowhitu Lagoon.
8. Cricket
National participation and demographics of cricket
Participation varies from club membership. Many people take part in active leisure and
sports in environments outside the club scene.
The key demographic profiles identified by Sport NZ for cricket are:
Young people (5-18 year olds)
 Cricket ranked 17th most popular sport and recreation activity for young people.
 37% of all young people (300,000) nationally participate in cricket one or more times a
week.
 A slightly higher proportion of young males (43%) than females (31%) participate in
cricket.
 The proportion of young people participating in cricket declines by age from 38% of 510 year olds to 26% of 11-14 year olds and 16% of 15-18 year olds.
 Cricket does not feature in the top 10 sports for the different ethnic groups
participating.
 If national proportions for young people are applied to the local population of young
people, then it is estimated that 5,700 young people participate locally in cricket with
3,400 males and 2,300 females.
Adults (16+ year olds)
 5% of all adults (174,000) nationally participate in cricket one or more times a week.
 A higher proportion of males (9%) than females (2%) participate in cricket.
 If national participation proportions for adults are applied to the local population of
adults, then it is estimated that 3,300 adults, including 700 females and 2,600 males
participate in cricket locally.
National club membership trends
National club membership data provided by Sport NZ shows a steady increase in
membership, from 87,035 members in 1997 to a peak of 102,759 members in 2003 before
steadily declining to 77,414 members in 2014. Membership has declined 25% since its peak
in 2003.
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Local membership
Local club membership data provided by Sport Manawatū and Manawatū Cricket shows an
erratic increase in membership from 2,678 members in 1990 to a potential peak of 3,561
members in 2014 (33% increase). However, according to Manawatū Cricket, “there is a
general consensus that traditional cricket numbers are declining. The numbers may not
reflect that as a whole but they are being propped up by those playing modified cricket or
“pay to play” games and Kiwi Cricket programmes delivered to clusters of schools, which
were not previously counted in the membership numbers. Traditionally numbers from
primary through to adult are decreasing each year and clubs are finding it more difficult each
year to fill teams.”
Facilities
Cricket is generally well catered for with approximately 43 different cricket playing surfaces
in the City (around 21 artificial and 22 grass and 2 practice surfaces). This includes facilities
at Ongley / Manawaroa Parks, including an indoor training facility; the Fitzherbert Park oval,
an elite level venue; and the Ashhurst Domain, Coronation Park, Colquhoun Park,
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Hokowhitu Domain, Paneiri Park, Papaioea Park and Wallace Park. There is a cricket pitch
as Massey University also.
Supply versus demand
Cricket is one of the popular sports. The proportion of the population participating in cricket
increased 14% from 2011-2014. Despite a decline in traditional cricket club membership
participation in cricket has increased due to the introduction of other programmes.
According to Manawatū Cricket, “traditional membership is declining each year and clubs are
finding it difficult to fill teams. The membership appears to be increasing because different
forms of cricket, that were not previously counted and that don’t necessarily take up field
space, are being counted, for example school cricket programmes.” These are changing the
way the game is played, so that less field space is needed and the duration of games is
shorter, consequently more games can be played within existing ground space.
Junior and secondary school Saturday morning cricket are using all the available space
provided, including school grounds. There is currently higher demand than pitches available
and if more cricket pitches were available they would be used. There is no spare capacity
and if schools decided to restrict access then there would be a shortage of cricket fields.
The existing fields are at capacity and cricket is in need of more space if it is to continue to
grow the sport.
Further, changes to the grades means there is likely to be a shortage of grass fields in the
coming season due to removal of the Premier 4 cricket – normally played on the artificial
pitches, and an increase in the number of people playing Premier 3 cricket on the grass.
Consequently, Manawatū Cricket would like another grass cricket block for the 2016 season.
Existing grass blocks are in good condition provided they are properly renovated at the end
of each season.
Fitzherbert Park is Palmerston North’s premiere cricket facility and Cricket Manawatū would
like to upgrade Fitzherbert Park with the help of Council to create a facility that will allow the
Club to attract high profile matches.
9. Croquet
National participation and demographics of croquet
Sport NZ does not currently provide a sport profile for croquet. This makes the amount of
readily accessible demographic information available limited.
Young people (5-18 year olds)
 Less than 1% of young people nationally participate in croquet.
Adults (16+ year olds)
 Less than 1% of adults nationally participate in croquet.
National club membership trends
National club membership data provided by Sport NZ shows an 11% decline in membership
from 4,124 members in 1997 to a low of 3,674 members in 2009 before steadily increasing
to peak (4,211) members in 2013. Membership fell -7% from 2013 to 2014 to 3,925
members.
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Local membership and discussion
Sport Manawatū does not currently provide club membership data for croquet and local
clubs were not asked for their membership information.
Historically, croquet club
membership steadily declined from 76 members in 1990 to 59 members in 2005 before
increasing to 79 members in 2007. Council does not have recent croquet membership
information.
Facilities
Croquet facilities include 3 lawns at the Rose Garden and 3 at Takaro. National level events
are hosted between the two clubs with 3 lawns at the Rose Garden and 3 at Takaro.
Supply versus demand
Membership has been fairly static with less than 100 people playing croquet. Current local
membership numbers are unavailable. If local membership mirrors national trends then
membership may be declining.
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10.
Cycling
National participation and demographics of cycling
Participation varies from club membership. Many people take part in active leisure and
sports in environments outside the club scene.
The key demographic profiles identified by Sport NZ for cycling are:
Young people (5-18 year olds)
 Cycling ranked the 4th top most popular sport and recreation activity for young people.
 67% of all young people (546,300) nationally participate in cycling one or more times a
week.
 The proportion of young males (67%) and females (67%) participating in cycling is
similar.
 A slightly higher proportion of 5-10 year olds (78%) participate in cycling than 11-14
years (65%) and 15-18 years (54%).
 Cycling is one of top 10 sports and recreation activities for the different ethnic groups.
 The proportion of young NZ European (75%) is slightly higher than the proportion of
young Māori (66%), Pacific (54%) and Asian (64%) people.
 If national proportions for young people are applied to the local population of young
people, then it is estimated that 10,400 young people participate locally in cycling with
5,200 males and 5,200 females.
Adults (16+ year olds)
 Cycling is the 3rd top most popular sport and recreation activity for adults.
 25% of all adults (823,000) nationally participate in cycling one or more times a week.
 A slightly higher proportion of males (28%) than females (22%) participate in cycling.
 A slightly higher proportion of 35-49 years (33%) participate in cycling than 16-24
years (23%), 25-34 years (25%) and 50-64 years (27%).
 Participation in cycling declines with age with 35-49 years 33% compared to 8% of 65+
year olds.
 A higher proportion of NZ European adults (28%) participate in cycling than Māori
(19%), Pacific (no data), Asian (11%) adults.
 If national participation proportions for adults are applied to the local population of
adults, then it is estimated that 15,600 adults, including 7,200 females and 8,400
males participate in cycling locally.
National club membership trends
Sport NZ does not currently provide membership data for cycling. Many people take part in
active leisure and sports in environments outside the club scene.
Local membership and discussion
Bike Manawatū has around 300 members (2014) and the Manawatū Mountain Bike Club
(MMBC) has around 660 members. But many people also take part in cycling in
environments outside the club scene. For example, census data shows the City has a high
share of residents who cycle to work 5.9%.
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
Facilities
Cycling facilities include City roads and off-road shared paths and Manfeild Park race track.
The City has 88 km of cycle lanes/paths and is in the process of developing more.
Major existing off-road pathways include:
 Victoria Esplanade and Manawatū River Shared Pathway
 City to Longburn Shared Pathway
 City to Massey Pathway
 Mangone Stream Pathway.
Additional planned pathways include:
 City to Linton Military Camp via Massey project
 City to Ashhurst (right bank) project.
Off road recreational cycling (mountain biking) takes place on pathways or in reserves.
Arapuke Forest Park, Waitoetoe Park, the Manawatū Gorge track opposite the Ballance
Bridge Café and for MMBC members only, Raumai Forest trails.
Consultation with the MMBC for the development of the Linklater Reserve noted that
Palmerston North has good, very easy facilities along the Manawatū River, and is
developing good intermediate and advanced riding opportunities at Arapuke Forest Park but
it lacks facilities in between. In response a 2.5 km to 3 km grade 2 (junior/beginner) track is
planned for the Linklater Reserve.
Supply versus demand
Participation in cycling has been increasing. Many people take part in cycling in
environments outside the club scene. The census data shows the City has a high share of
residents who cycle to work 5.9%. There is no data for the track memberships or about what
trends have been occurring.
The Metro counts scattered around the off-road network indicate there may be an increase
in cycle use, particularly at the Riverside Drive entrance to the Manawatu River. The onroad cycle counts at the selected ‘baseline’ sites are fairly static ranging between 160 and
190 AADT (Average Annual Daily Traffic). The Council has recently introduced new
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pedestrian/cycle Eco counters to improve the accuracy of the counts but it is too early to
accurately say for off-road shared paths, what the trend is.
11.
Equestrian Sports
National participation and demographics of equestrian sports
Participation varies from club membership. Many people take part in active leisure and
sports in environments outside the club scene.
Sport NZ does not currently provide a sport profile for equestrian sports. This makes the
amount of readily accessible demographic information available limited.
Young people (5-18 year olds)
 Less than 1% of young people nationally participate in equestrian sports.
 5.3% of young females participate in horse riding.
Adults (16+ year olds)
 Approximately 2.6% of adults nationally participate in equestrian sports.
National club membership trends
Sport NZ does not currently provide membership data for equestrian sport. Many people
take part in active leisure and sports in environments outside the club scene.
Local membership and discussion
There is limited membership data for equestrian sports provided by Sport Manawatū for
trend analysis so equestrian sport membership has not been included. Also, many people
take part in Equestrian sports in environments outside the club scene.
Equestrian clubs were not asked to provide membership information.
Facilities
The Manawatū River pathway and the Arapuke Forest Park are available for horse riding.
Tielcey Park is built to an international standard and organises and hosts more than 35
equestrian events a year.
Awapuni Racing Centre, Racecourse Road, Palmerston North is a regional racing facility.
Home of the Manawatū Racing Club, Marton Jockey Club, Rangitikei Racing Club and the
Feilding Jockey Club.
Pony Clubs on Council land includes Ashhurst Pohangina Pony Club in the Ashhurst
Domain, Turitea Pony Club at the Linton Domain and the Palmerston North Pony Club on
Otira Reserve.
Massey University also provides comprehensive equestrian facilities for students and staff.
Outside of Palmerton North, but a significant regional equestrian facility is also available at
Manfeild Park.
12.
Football (Soccer)
National participation and demographics of football
Participation varies from club membership. Many people take part in active leisure and
sports in environments outside the club scene.
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The key demographic profiles identified by Sport NZ for football are:
Young people (5-18 year olds)
 Football is the 5th top most popular sport and recreation activity in which all young
people participate.
 60% of all young people (486,000) nationally participate in football one or more times a
week.
 Football is one of the top 10 most popular sport and recreation activities in which all
young males participate.
 A higher proportion of young males (68%) participate in football than young females
(52%).
 A higher proportion of young Asian (74.4%) and NZ European (72%) males participate
than Māori (67%) and Pacific (62%) males.
 A higher proportion of young NZ European (52%) and Asian (48%) females participate
than other young ethnic females.
 If national proportions for young people are applied to the local population of young
people, then it is estimated that 9,200 young people participate locally in football with
5,300 males and 3,900 females.
Adults (16+ year olds)
 Football is the 13th top most popular sport and recreation activity in which all adults
participate.
 6% of all adults (209,000) nationally participate in football one or more times a week.
 A higher proportion of adult males (11%) than females (2%) participate in football.
 Football is one of the top 10 most popular sports for Asian adults (10%).
 A higher proportion of 16-24 year olds (14%) participate in football than the other age
groups.
 If national participation proportions for adults are applied to the local population of
adults, then it is estimated that 4,000 adults participate in football locally, including
3,200 adult males and 800 adult females.
National club membership trends
The club membership data provided by Sport NZ for football shows membership increased
from 71,600 members in 1997 to a peak of 109,300 members in 2002 before steadily
declining to 77,660 members in 2013. Football membership has increased 9.3% to 84,936
members from 2013 to 2014.
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Local membership and discussion
The winter club membership data provided by Central Football shows a period of fairly stable
membership from 1990-1998 before rapidly increasing to a peak 4,140 members in 2000.
Membership remained fairly stable until 2004 before falling sharply to 3,161 members in
2005. From 2005 membership has followed the national trend and increased to 3,946
members in 2014. Note. Membership data is not available for all of the clubs.
Summer Soccer and Futsal
Summer soccer and futsal are different sports. Summer soccer is played on outside fields in
summer with Arena Manawatū as the main outdoor venue and Futsal is played indoors with
Arena Manawatū the main venue for Futsal.
There were approximately 330 people playing futsal term 4 of 2014. Central Football started
collecting registrations for Futsal in 2014 so there currently no available trend data. Central
Football has indicated that participation numbers in Futsal appear to be increasing.
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Summer soccer is managed by the Marist Football club.
These are fairly young sports and registrations have not been previously collected so there
is insufficient membership data for analysis.
Facilities
There are approximately 48 winter football fields plus 4 football training fields. Football
grounds include: Arena Manawatū, Ashhurst Domain, Bill Brown Park, Celaeno Park,
Colquhoun Park, Hokowhitu Domain, Mahanga Kakariki Reserve, Memorial Park, Monrad
Park, Papaioea Park, Rangitāne Park, Skoglund Park, Wallace Park and 2 fields at Massey
University and 1 field at Linton Military Camp. All but 3 of these grounds also provide
changing facilities. In 2015, the Rugby Union relinquished its grounds (two rugby fields) at
Ashhurst to Football Manawatū.
Memorial Park is the City’s second sand-based sports ground that caters for top central
football competitions.
Massey University provides 2 soccer fields and Linton Military Camp 1 football field.
Football training fields include: Celaeno Park, Waterloo Park, Takaro Park, Ashhurst
Domain, Monrad Park.
Supply versus demand
A large number of people are playing winter football, which is one of the popular club sports.
Football Club membership is increasing participation. The proportion of the population
playing football increased 6% from 2011-2014.
Football shares several parks with other winter sports. Football clubs are dissatisfied with
the quality of the football playing surfaces, holes and poor drainage, which are contributing
to an increase in player injuries and impacting the quality of the games in Palmerston North.
The playing surface quality varies from field to field depending on rainfall, drainage and other
factors, and some fields don’t handle the increased player traffic when games have to be
shifted. Central Football is struggling to find suitable all-season playing surfaces for some
grades to reduce game cancellations. Consequently, there is limited capacity to cope with
further growth in membership. Central Football would like an artificial tiger turf to improve
the quality of play in Palmerston North and provide a more reliable quality playing surface for
local games, and regional and national tournaments.
Summer football participation is increasing. The main venue for summer football is the
outdoor fields at the Arena Manawatū. There are lights near the Marist clubrooms, if
needed, to increase use of the fields for summer football.
Futsal is a relatively new game and registrations were collected for the first time in 2014.
Numbers are small but increasing. Arena Manawatū is the main venue for futsal and Central
Football is generally very happy with the quality of the venue and management of it. Central
Football is trying to grow futsal participation and membership and would like to host a
national league. In the meantime, the sport has to balance the added venue costs with
participation numbers using demand management techniques, such as capping teams.
Also, the use of Arena is shared with other sports and futsal is struggling to secure seasonal
use of the same venue week after week due to clashes with national events. Futsal would
like more space but cannot currently justify the additional cost of venue hire requires with the
number additional participation and are currently balancing participation within existing
facilities without compromising the quality of the games.
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13.
Golf
National participation and demographics of golf
Participation varies from club membership. Many people take part in active leisure and
sports in environments outside the club scene.
The key demographic profiles identified by Sport NZ for golf are:
Young people (5-18 year olds)
 Golf does not feature in the top most popular sport and recreation activities for young
people.
 A significantly higher proportion of young males (31%) than females (17%) participate
in golf.
 24% of all young people aged 11-18 (192,300) nationally participate in golf one or
more times a week. Golf was not listed in the survey forms provided to 5-10 year olds.
 If national proportions for young people are applied to the local population of young
people, then it is estimated that 3,600 young people participate locally in golf with
2,400 males and 1,200 females.
Adults (16+ year olds)
 Golf is 10th most popular ranked sport and recreation activity for adults.
 10% of all adults (318,000) nationally participate in golf one or more times a week.
 A higher proportion of adult males (15%) than females (5%) participate in golf.
 A higher proportion of 35-75 year olds participate in golf than other age groups, with
11% 35-49 years, 11% 50-64 years, 12% 65-74 years and 7% 75+ years.
 11% of NZ European adults participate in golf.
 If national participation proportions for adults are applied to the local population of
adults, then it is estimated that 6,000 adults, including 1,500 females and 4,500 males
participate in golf locally.

National club membership trends
Club membership data for golf provided by Sport NZ shows a rapid increase (58%) in
membership, from 83,367 members in 1997 to a peak of 132,063 members in 2003 before
steadily declining (-20%) to 106,086 members in 2014.
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Local membership and discussion
Club membership data provided by Sport Manawatū and the Manawatū Golf Club shows a
steady increase in membership, from 3,723 members in 1998 to 3,952 members in 2003
followed by a rapid increase to a peak 5,085 members in 2005 before steadily declining to
3,415 members in 2014.
Golf reports a greater number of people paying green fees each time they play, rather than
joining a club so while membership numbers are declining, this does not necessarily mean
fewer players. However data on pay-to-play numbers is difficult to come by.
Facilities
Golf facilities include:
 Manawatū Golf Club in Hokowhitu bordering the banks of the Manawatū River and
the City’s Hokowhitu Lagoon – this is regarded as Manawatū’s premiere 18 hole
layout.
 An 18 hole golf Course at Linton Military Camp - which is available to the public.
 Palmerston North Golf Club on Brightwater Terrace - an 18 hole course operated on
Council leased land.
 A private 9 hole golf course on Rangitikei Line - the Orlando Golf Course.
Note, The Brookfield Park Golf course (9 holes) on Te Matai Road closed in 2011. Golf
City (9 holes) has also closed.
14.
Gymsports (Gymnastics, trampoline, aerobics)
National participation and demographics of gymsports
Participation varies from club membership. Many people take part in active leisure and
sports in environments outside the club scene.
The key demographic profiles identified by Sport NZ for gymsports are:
Young people (5-18 year olds)
 Gymsports is the 11th top most popular sport and recreation activity for young people.
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50% of all young people (398,300) nationally participate in gymnastics one or more
times a week.
A higher proportion of young females (54%) than males (44%) participate in
gymsports.
Gymsports is one of the top 10 sport and recreation activities in which young female
NZ European (30%), Māori (28%) and Asian (22%) people participate.
A significantly higher proportion of 5-10 year olds participate in gymsports (66%) than
11-14 years (24%) and 15 -18 years (16%).
If national proportions for young people are applied to the local population of young
people, then it is estimated that 7,500 young people participate locally in gymsports
with 3,400 males and 4,100 females.
Adults (16+ year olds)
 Less than 1% of all adults nationally participate in gymsports.
 Sport NZ does not currently provide a sport profile for gymsports for adults, there is no
demographic analysis provided by Sport NZ.
National club membership trends
The gym club membership data provided by Sport NZ shows a steady increase in
membership, from 13,212 members in 1997 to 28,236 members in 2014 (113%).
Local membership and discussion
The club membership data provided by Sports Manawatū for gymsports shows a sharp
increase from 2003 to peak members (281) in 2007. Membership dropped from 481 in 2007
to 261 members in 2012 and increased to 399 members in 2014.
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Facilities
Gymnastics need a large indoor space with particular dimensions for height and length to
enable apparatus use. The Palmerston North Gymnastics Club uses 10 Downing Street as
its main recreation and competitive gym but also hire Freyberg School Gymnasium for
trampoline classes.
Palmerston North Gymnastics Club had approached Arena Manawatū management
enquiring about the availability of space noting that it pays commercial rents at their current
location which were considered a barrier to growth. Arena Manawatū had no facilities
available with the necessary height for some of the apparatus.
The redevelopment of Arena 5 (which currently includes a smaller gymnastics facility) will
present an opportunity to considering a facility at that location, however that facility is not
scheduled for renewal for another 20 years.
15.
Hockey
National participation and demographics of hockey
Participation varies from club membership. Many people take part in active leisure and
sports in environments outside the club scene.
The key demographic profiles identified by Sport NZ for hockey are:
Young people (5-18 year olds)
 Hockey does not feature in the top 20 most popular sports in which young people
participate, it ranks 23rd.
 30% of all young people aged 5-14 (242,000) nationally participate in hockey one or
more times a week. Note, there is no Sport NZ information for 15-18 year olds.
 The proportion of male (31%) and female (29%) participation in hockey is similar.
 If national proportions for young people are applied to the local population of young
people, then it is estimated that 4,600 young people participate locally in hockey with
2,400 males and 2,200 females.
Adults (16+ year olds)
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Hockey does not feature in the top 20 most popular sports in which adults participate.
1.3% of all adults (43,084) nationally participate in hockey one or more times a week.
If national participation proportions for adults are applied to the local population of
adults, then it is estimated that 800 adults participate in hockey locally.
National club membership trends
The club membership data provided by Sport NZ shows a steady increase in hockey club
membership from 35,394 members in 1997 to a peak 56,983 members in 2010 then dropped
to 44,507 members in 2011 before steadily increasing (8%) to 48,174 members in 2014
(36% from 1997-2014).
Local membership and discussion
The club membership data provided by Hockey Manawatū shows an erratic 54% increase in
winter membership from 1990-2014. Membership increased erratically from 1,555 members
in 1990 to peak 2,849 members in 2003 before steadily declining to 1,748 members in 2010.
Membership then significantly increased to 2,388 members in 2014 (37% from 2010-2014)).
Summer hockey has also increased erratically with membership peaking at 3,168 members
in 2012 before declining 8% to 2,906 members in 2014.
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Facilities
Hockey facilities include 2 full-sized artificial water based turf surfaces, the Endeavour
Community Trust Twin Turfs, based at Fitzherbert Park. This includes a stadium, full
lighting, shelters, a pavilion and Hockey Manawatū offices. There are also 24 half-sized (12
full-sized) junior grass hockey fields at Ongley / Manawaroa Park.
Supply versus demand
Winter participation rates are the key driver in demand for facilities. A large number of
people play hockey, which is popular with young people. Intermediate, secondary school
and senior players currently play on the artificial twin turfs and junior members (5-10 year
olds) currently play on the grass. A separate analysis has been completed for use of the
twin turfs. This concluded that demand for the twin turfs is on or near the tipping point
(maximum capacity) for a new turf and planning needs to start for some additional turf
capacity to reduce demand issues. An additional 0.5 FTE or 1.0 FTE is required for games
and competitions. If a 1.0 FTE turf was installed it would increase the capacity for mid-week
competitions and reduce the need for late night practices. This would significantly increase
the quality of the games and competitions and support strategies to grow participation in
hockey.
Junior hockey is played on the grass and intermediate and senior hockey is played on the
artificial turf. Junior hockey fields are smaller than senior fields and are meeting demand.
There are 24 junior hockey (half-sized) grass fields which are meeting demand. However,
there are issues with poor drainage and slumping that affect about 10 junior fields (half the
grass playing fields). This means play has had to be moved to other fields on Manawaroa
Park which puts increased pressure on these fields. Hockey is considering growing the
number of fields next year to meet growing demand and to avoid these less durable fields.
Existing fields would cope with the growing junior demand if they are all in good quality
condition.
Summer hockey participation is increasing. Summer hockey is played on the twin turfs
artificial surfaces at Fitzherbert Park. Summer hockey competitions are less formal in
summer with more pay to play games that make it easier to manage the demand within
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existing facilities. An additional turf is budgeted for hockey and this will add to the capacity
available for summer hockey.
16.
Netball
National participation and demographics of netball
Participation varies from club membership. Many people take part in active leisure and
sports in environments outside the club scene.
The key demographic profiles identified by Sport NZ for netball are:
Young people (5-18 year olds)
 Netball is the 16th top most popular sport and recreation activity in which all young
people participate.
 38% of all young people (309,800) nationally participate in netball one or more times a
week.
 A significantly higher proportion of young females (57%) participate in netball than
males (20%).
 A higher proportion of young females 11-14 years old (36%) participate in netball than
5-10 years (25%) and 15-18 years (25%).
 The proportion of participation in netball by young NZ European 29%, Māori 30% and
Pacific 31% people is similar. The proportion of young Asian (3%) participation is
significantly lower than the other ethnic groups.
 A higher proportion of young female NZ European (58%), Māori (61%) and Pacific
(62%) than young Asian 46% females participate in netball.
 If national proportions for young people are applied to the local population of young
people, then it is estimated that 5,900 young people participate locally in netball with
1,600 males and 4,300 females.
Adults (16+ year olds)
 Netball is the 17th top most popular sport and recreation activity in which all adults
participate.
 6% of all adults (187,000) nationally participate in netball one or more times a week.
 A higher proportion of adult females (8%) than males (3%) participate in netball.
 A higher proportion of 16-24 years olds (17%) participate in netball than other age
groups.
 A higher proportion of Pacific (14%) and Māori (11.3%) adults participate in netball
than other ethnic groups.
 If national participation proportions for adults are applied to the local population of
adults, then it is estimated that 3,600 adults participate in netball locally, with 2,700
females and 900 males.
National club membership trends
The club membership data provided by Sport NZ, despite a peak in members at 155,290,
shows fairly stable membership in netball with a less than -1% decline in members from
1997-2014.
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Local membership and discussion
The club membership data provided by Netball Manawatū shows a period of stable
membership, from 3,760 members in 1990 to 3,820 members in 1997 before increasing 34%
to a peak 5,130 members in 2003. From 2003 netball membership has declined 45% to
2,820 members in 2013 before increasing to 3,190 members in 2014.
Facilities
Outdoor netball facilities are centralised at Vautier Park and indoor facilities are at Arena
Manawatū. Vautier Park has 17 courts; Arena Manawatū has 12 permanently marked
indoor netball courts; there are 2 unused netball courts at Bill Brown Park; and there is
provision for 8 netball courts at Massey University plus provision for 1 indoor netball court.
Supply versus demand
A large number of people play netball, which is popular with young females, particularly
Māori and Pacific people. Netball has centralised to Vautier Park, which is the main venue
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for netball. Netball runs from 9am to 3pm on Saturdays and all 17 courts are filled most
Saturdays. Netball membership had been gradually declining but has started increasing
again with the introduction of business house and summer netball as well as junior netball
programmes – with year 1 and 2 playing.
There is capacity for netball at many other hardcourt facilities if demand required and grades
were separated rather than centralised. For example 6 courts could be accommodated at
Wallace Park and 4 at Takaro Park. However the trend is towards indoor play rather than
outdoor play.
Netball also runs a business house social league in summer but has had to move outdoors
to Vautier Park because of a lack of availability of space on a Wednesday night at the Arena.
The use of Vautier Park in summer is limited to a few courts because the courts are used for
tennis and there are not enough courts available for summer netball.
Netball Manawatū also runs an indoor summer netball competitive league on a Tuesday
night at Arena Manawatū in the B & M Centre that involves about 16 teams. Capacity at
Arena Manawatū meets current demand but there is no spare capacity to grow the summer
competitive league as additional space depends on the availability of other Arena indoor
space, such as the Ballroom. It is also noted that there are some difficulties with competing
users of some Arena Manawatū facilities wanting the courts at the same time.
17.
Orienteering
National participation and demographics of orienteering
Sport NZ does not currently provide a sport profile for orienteering. This makes the amount
of readily accessible demographic information available limited.
Young people (5-18 year olds)
 Orienteering is not one of the top 20 most popular sports in which all young people
participate.
 19% of all young people (153,800) nationally participate in orienteering one or more
times a week.
 The proportion of young males (19%) and females (19%) participating in orienteering
is similar.
 If national proportions for young people are applied to the local population of young
people, then it is estimated that 2,900 young people participate locally in orienteering
with 1,450 males and 1,450 females.
Adults (16+ year olds)

Less than 1% of all adults participate in orienteering one or more times a week.
National club membership trends
Membership data provided by Sport NZ shows a steady increase in membership from 1,420
in 1997 to 2,299 in 2014 (62%).
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Local club membership trends and discussion
Sport Manawatū does not currently provide membership data for orienteering. Historically,
club membership decreased from 40 members in 2000 to a low of 36 members in 2003 then
peaked at 62 members in 2004 before declining to 56 members in 2006. An overall
membership increased 40% between 2000 and 2006. The club organises a number of
orienteering events and not all events require people to be members, such as school events.
Regional and North Island School Champs can include up to 300 participants per event.
Facilities
Orienteering uses various forest and farmland around the greater region. Within Palmerston
North the focus of use is in the Gordon Kear Forest and the Victoria Esplanade provides
permanent orienteering courses.
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18.
Rugby League
National participation and demographics of rugby league
Participation varies from club membership. Many people take part in active leisure and
sports in environments outside the club scene.
The key demographic profiles identified by Sport NZ for rugby league are:
Young people (5-18 year olds)
 Rugby league ranked 25th most popular sport and recreation activity in which all young
people participate. It is does not feature in the top 20 targeted sports by Sport NZ.
 30% of all young people (241,000) nationally participate in rugby league one or more
times a week.
 A significantly higher proportion of young males (40%) than females (19%) participate
in rugby league.
 Rugby league is one of the top 20 most popular sport and recreation activities in which
young males participate.
 A slightly a higher proportion of young 11-14 years old (45%) males participate in
rugby league than 15-18 years males (35%). Note, rugby league was not listed in the
survey forms given to 5-10 year olds.
 With the exception of Asian young people (3%), the proportion ethnic groups
participating in rugby league is similar with NZ European 29%, Māori 30% and Pacific
31%.
 A higher proportion of young male Pacific (67%) and Māori (55%) participate in rugby
league than other ethnic males.
 If national proportions for young people are applied to the local population of young
people, then it is estimated that 4,500 young people participate locally in rugby league
with 3,100 males and 1,400 females.
Adults (16+ year olds)
 Rugby league is not one of the top 20 targeted sports and recreation activities in which
adults participate.
 1.3% of all adults (43,084) nationally participate in rugby league one or more times a
week.
 If national participation proportions for adults are applied to the local population of
adults, then it is estimated that 800 adults participate in rugby league locally.
National club membership trends
The club membership data provided by Sport NZ shows a fall in membership, from 42,300
members in 1997 to a low of 15,136 members in 2003-2006, then a steady rise in member
numbers to 33,512 members in 2014. A -21% decline in membership from 1997-2014.
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Local membership and discussion
Membership data provided by the Manawatū Rugby League mirrors the national
trend with a fall in members from 570 members in 1990 to a low of 225 members in
1996 followed by stable membership (225) to 2007 before increasing to 577
members in 2014. An overall 1% increase from 1990-2014.
Facilities
The Arena, Coronation Park, Fitzherbert Park Oval, Monrad Park and Linton Military Camp.
There are 7 rugby league fields in the City. The facilities are described as ok to good but
lighting at Arena Manawatū on the back fields is poor and are restricting Friday night junior
competitions games. There is also 1 rugby league field at Linton Military Camp.
Supply versus demand
Rugby league is one of the popular club sports. Membership has increased and this trend is
expected to continue. The proportion of the population playing rugby league increased 1%
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from 2011-2014. The rugby league season crosses with rugby in winter and cricket in
summer with which it shares the grounds. During the winter rugby league games are played
over the outfield and cricket blocks at Fitzherbert Park. Touch has reached capacity on
Friday nights but can move some grades to other nights if more capacity is needed,
depending on the availability of the fields.
More timely maintenance is needed during the transition from winter to summer sports,
particularly for the start of the touch season at Fitzherbert Park as the cricket pitch centre
field is too hard for league to play on until around June, despite rugby league taking over the
field in April.
The majority of the junior games are played at the Arena on a Friday night but is becoming
dangerous because of poor lighting on the back fields. There is spare capacity to
accommodate growth but this is dependent on lighting and timelier ground maintenance.
Touch Manawatū is exploring changing some games to a Sunday night – so rugby players
are not injured for Saturday games and make the most of the daylight by spreading games
over more nights.
The Club would like their own ground dedicated to use by Manawatū Rugby League.
League is also looking to upgrade lighting at Coronation Park for training and is currently
putting a proposal to Central Energy for funding.
19.
Rugby
National participation and demographics of rugby
Participation varies from club membership. Many people take part in active leisure and
sports in environments outside the club scene.
The key demographic profiles identified by Sport NZ for rugby are:
Young people (5-18 year olds)
 Rugby is the 8th top most popular sport and recreation activity in which all young
people participate.
 51% of all young people (416,000) nationally participate in rugby one or more times a
week.
 Significantly a higher proportion of young males (65%) participate in rugby than
females (37%).
 Rugby is one of the top 10 most popular sport and recreation activities in which young
males participate.
 A higher proportion of young male Pacific (77%) and Māori (76%) participate than
young NZ European (65%) and Asian (49%) males participate.
 If national proportions for young people are applied to the local population of young
people, then it is estimated that 7,800 young people participate locally in rugby with
5,000 males and 2,800 females.
Adults (16+ year olds)
 Rugby is not one of the top 20 targeted sports and recreation activities in which adults
participate, it ranks 25th.
 4% of all adults (119,308) nationally participate in rugby one or more times a week,
with a higher proportion of adult males (7%) than females (1%) participating.
 A higher proportion of Pacific (14%) adults participate in rugby than other ethnicities.
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If national participation proportions for adults are applied to the local population of
adults, then it is estimated that 2,200 adults participate in rugby locally with 2,000 adult
males and 200 adult females.
National club membership trends
The club membership data provided by Sport NZ for rugby shows a constant increase in
membership from 123,481 members in 1997 to 148,483 members in 2014 increasing by
20% between 1997 and 2014.
Local membership and discussion
The club membership data provided by the Manawatū Rugby Union shows a rickety decline
in members from 4,690 in 1990 to an all-time low of 4,231 members in 2014 with peak
members reaching 6,250 members in 1995. Rugby membership decreased -10% from
1990-2014.
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The membership numbers do not include secondary school participants from outside of the
Manawatū Rugby Union boundary that play competitions in Palmerston North (from
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Masterton to Whanganui and including Horowhenua and Kapiti). There are 27 teams from
outside the region that play in the Manawatū competition.
Facilities
Rugby facilities are centralised at the Arena Manawatū. Other facilities used by rugby
include: Bill Brown Park, Bunnythorpe Domain, Colquhoun Park, Coronation Park, Lincoln
Park, Ongley / Manawaroa Park, Paneiri Park, Papaioea Park, Savage Reserve, and
Cloverlea Park. There are also rugby fields at Massey University, the Sport and Rugby
Institute and the Linton Military Camp. The Massey University Sport and Rugby Institute
receive a service fee of $50,000 from Council.
Rugby shares its fields with rugby league. Ground conditions depend on the season and
how much rugby and rugby league is played on the fields. Ground conditions are described
as good, 2015 was one of the wettest seasons on record and according to the Manawatū
Rugby Union field conditions held up well against the higher rainfall and higher use. The
Manawatū Rugby Union is happy with the quality of fields and appreciates the good working
relationship they have with the Council staff looking after the fields.
There are currently approximately 40 rugby playing fields and 8 rugby training fields in the
City with some use made of the Arena Manawatū indoor facilities for practices and meetings.
Supply versus demand
Rugby is one of the popular club sports. Membership in rugby is static but the proportion of
the population playing rugby decreased -6% from 2011-2014. Rugby facilities are generally
centralised at the Arena Manawatū, with games played on a number of City parks. Existing
facilities meet current demand and 3 fields were relinquished this last season (2015) at the
Ashhurst Domain for football in exchange for an additional field at Colquhoun Park. Also, 2
fields were added at Cloverlea Park for Rippa Rugby and the Manawatū Rugby Union is
considering increasing the number of fields for Rippa Rugy next season to 4 fields at
Cloverlea Park to accommodate increased demand for Rippa Rugby. According to the
Manawatū Rugby Union there will be more mid-week school programmes and more midweek games in the future rather than more traditional Saturday play, thus reducing pressure
on grounds on Saturdays. Also, “secondary schools are a growth area and numbers are
starting to increase.”
Typically, ground conditions deteriorate as the winter season progresses. There is limited
flexibility to play night rugby in the City due to poor lighting. The club would like the flexibility
to play under lights mid-week as a way of moving away from traditional Saturday afternoon
games. Also, rugby supporters have been suggesting the Arena is lacking a further
grandstand and has capacity and quality shortcomings compared to some peer Council
facilities.
There is currently spare ground capacity to accommodate an increase in rugby games, with
additional capacity if lighting at the Arena Manawatū was improved. The changing rooms at
Colquhoun Park are communal and need to be upgraded.
20.
Softball (and T-ball)
National participation and demographics of softball
Participation varies from club membership. Many people take part in active leisure and
sports in environments outside the club scene.
The key demographic profiles identified by Sport NZ for softball are:
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Young people (5-18 year olds)
 Softball is the 18th top most popular sport and recreation activity in which all young
people participate.
 37% of all young people (300,000) nationally participate in softball one or more times a
week.
 The proportion of young males (38%) and females (36%) participating in softball is
similar.
 Softball does not feature in the top 10 most popular sport and recreation activities for
young ethnic groups.
 If national proportions for young people are applied to the local population of young
people, then it is estimated that 5,700 young people participate locally in softball with
2,900 males and 2,800 females.
Adults (16+ year olds)
 Softball is not one of the top 20 targeted sports and recreation activities in which adults
participate.
 1.1% of adults participate in softball one or more times a week.

National club membership trends
The club membership data provided by Sport NZ shows membership has increased 29%
from 20,790 members in 1997 to a peak at 32,520 in 2014 before declining to 26,895 in
2014.
Local membership and discussion
Membership provided by Sport Manawatū and the Manawatū Softball Association shows an
erratic decline (32%) in membership from 1,050 members in 1990 to 713 members in 2014.
According to Manawatū Softball they “are still growing their game with the reintroduction of
the men’s competition and secondary school competitions played mid-week. Member
numbers are growing ever so slightly.”
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Facilities
Colquhoun Park is the main venue used for softball, which is also host to national secondary
school champs. The field is good but in need of maintenance. There are approximately 11
fields and 2 skin diamonds. The Colquhoun Park fields are also used by Touch Manawatū in
summer. Linton Military Camp and Ohakea Airforce base also host tournaments.
Supply versus demand
A small number of people play softball, which has experienced a number of ups and downs
in membership. This is growing again with the reintroduction of men’s competition and
secondary school competitions being played mid-week, and more grass diamonds may be
required.
Currently, there is an adequate provision of softball fields that meets current demand. If
membership continues to increase there is space for more softball diamonds within existing
grounds.
More accessible toilet facilities are required at Colquhoun Park. Existing toilet facilities are
not located conveniently to where games are being played and people have to travel a long
way to get to the toilets. Also, out of hours access to toilet facilities is required for children
playing at Colquhoun Park. Note. Colquhoun Park is shared with touch rugby, which also
has increasing membership. There may be implications for the use of shared space for
touch or softball if both sports continue to grow.
Colquhoun Park is described as in good condition but in need of maintenance. There are
small issues with the transition from winter sports finishing and softball starting in October
with a small window of opportunity, made worse by poor weather, for field maintenance.
The Manawatū Softball Association believes the grounds will need to be upgraded to meet
future needs and the club is considering relocating some skin diamonds, and upgrading
some diamonds to turf. The Association would like the grounds upgraded to enable the
hosting of international tournaments.
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21.
Special Olympics
Sport NZ does not currently provide a sport profile for special olympics.
demographic analysis provided at this point.
There is no
National participation
Young people (5-18 year olds)

Special Olympics involves a number of sports, including football, swimming,
basketball, bocce, athletics, golf, equestrian, ten pin, indoor bowls, power lifting,
table tennis, snow sports skiing/board, social cycling.
National club membership trends
There is no Sport NZ membership data for special olympics.
Local club membership trends and discussion
Membership information provided by Special Olympics Manawatū shows a steady increase
in members from 125 members in 2009 to 275 members in 2014.
Facilities
Special Olympics use a variety of different sports and recreation facilities in the City, some of
which are privately provided. Venues include: Bowlaramaa, Community Leisure Centre,
Highbury Whanau Centre, Human Movement, church halls, PN Golf Club, Riding for
Disabled and private equestrian providers.
22.
Squash
National participation and demographics of squash
Sport NZ does not currently provide a sport profile for squash. This makes the amount of
readily accessible demographic information available limited.
Young people (5-18 year olds)
 Squash is not one of the top 20 most popular sports in which all young people
participate.
 1.5% of all young people nationally participate in squash one or more times a week.
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
The proportion of young males (1.6%) and females (1.4%) participating in squash is
similar.
Adults (16+ year olds)

2.4% of all adults participate in squash one or more times a week.
National club membership trends
Membership data provided by Sport NZ for squash shows membership peaked at 33,936
members in 2000 before rapidly declining (51%) to 16,595 members in 2003. From 2003 to
2014 membership has increased gradually (14%) to 18,934 members.
Local club membership trends and discussion
Membership data taken from the Squash Associations annual reports shows a steady rise in
members, from 315 members in 2000 to peak members of 1,170 in 2010 followed by a rapid
decline 35.5% to 755 members in 2014. Note. The membership date includes the
membership for Inspire gym and the reason for the decline is opening of other gyms.
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Facilities
Palmerston North has a high standard of squash facilities at Inspire Squash Gym and
separate Manawatū bowling club on Linton Street. These provide for club sports and casual
court hire. The club boasts 8 glass back squash courts including a championship gallery
court along with a public gym. There are 3 ASB courts with 'movable wall' courts which
allow members to also play doubles on full-sized courts. Other facilities include; pro-shop,
club office, bar and lounge, changing rooms and free parking for members and guests. The
Inspire Squash gym is host to 5 national tournaments, such as the PSA NZ Squash open.
There are also 2 courts at Ashhurst Village Valley Centre and 3 courts at the Massey
University Recreation Centre.
23.
Swimming
National participation and demographics of swimming
Participation varies from club membership. Many people take part in active leisure and
sports in environments outside the club scene.
The key demographic profiles identified in Sport NZ for swimming are:
Young people (5-18 year olds)
 Swimming is the number one top most popular sport and recreation activity in which all
young people participate.
 81% of all young people (661,000) nationally participate in swimming one or more
times a week.
 A slightly higher proportion of young females (84%) than males (79%) participate in
swimming.
 A higher proportion of 5-10 year olds (86%), than 11-14 (79%) and 15-18 year olds
(72%) participate in swimming.
 A slightly a higher proportion of young NZ European (87%) and young Māori (81%)
participate in swimming than young Pacific (74%) and Asian (77%) people.
 A higher proportion of young NZ European females (88%) participate in swimming
than other ethnic males and females.
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
If national proportions for young people are applied to the local population of young
people, then it is estimated that 12,500 young people participate locally in swimming
with 6,100 males and 6,400 females.
Adults (18+ year olds)
 Swimming is the 2nd top most popular sport and recreation activity in which adults
participate regularly.
 30% of all adults (1 million) nationally participate in swimming one or more times a
week.
 The proportion of adults participating in swimming declines with age with a higher
proportion of 16-50 year olds (69.5%) participating in swimming than of 50-75 year
olds (29%) and of 75+ year olds (8%).
 A higher proportion of NZ European (31%), Māori (28%), and Asian (30%) adults than
Pacific adults (20%) participate in swimming.
 If national proportions for adults are applied to the local population of adults, then it is
estimated that 19,010 adults participate locally in swimming with 8,011 males and
11,033 females.
National club membership trends
Membership data provided by Sport NZ shows a gradual -28% decline in members from
24,268 members in 1997 to 17,389 in 2014.
Local membership and discussion
Swimming membership data provided by Swimming Manawatū shows a gradual decrease in
members, from 493 in 1993 to 371 members in 2007 followed by a rise to peak members at
967 in 2012. From the peak membership fell 192 (-20%) to 775 members in 2014.
Membership increased 57% from 1993-2014.
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In contrast to membership numbers, Lido entry numbers declined (-3%) from 2004-2014,
while Freyberg entry numbers increased (50%). Also entries for school groups and
programmes increased significantly from 2004 -2014 while aqua aerobics and canoe polo
have decreased.
Facilities
Public swimming facilities include: H2O gym at Palmerston North Boys High School,
Freyberg Community Pool, West End Aquatic Centre, Linton Military base, Lido Aquatic
Centre
Ashhurst Community Pool (Ashhurst School).
The Lido Aquatic Centre and Freyberg Community Pool are in a generally good condition.
Use of the pools increased following the Lido $5.6 million upgrade in 2002 and patronage
has remained at the same levels until 2014 when the outdoor slides and zero depth play
facilities were added in a private/public partnership. Availability of pool space generally
meets community needs.
Supply versus demand
Pool facilities are used by swim clubs, for recreational purposes and for casual use.
Swimming is one of the most popular sports of young people and adults. A small number of
people participate in swim clubs, which are popular with all ages but particularly with
females. It is noted that there are some difficulties with competing users of some aquatic
facilities wanting the pools at the same time.
24.
Table Tennis
National participation and demographics of table tennis
Participation varies from club membership. Many people take part in active leisure and
sports in environments outside the club scene.
The key demographic profiles identified by Sport NZ for table tennis are:
Young people (5-18 year olds)
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




Table tennis is the 13th top most popular sport and recreation activity in which all young
people participate.
41% of all young people (302,000) nationally participate in table tennis one or more
times a week.
A slightly higher proportion of young males (46%) than young females (35%)
participate in table tennis.
Table tennis does not feature in the top 10 most popular sport and recreation activities
for young ethnic groups.
If national proportions for young people are applied to the local population of young
people, then it is estimated that 6,300 young people participate locally in table tennis
with 3,600 males and 2,700 females.
Adults (16+ year olds)
 Table tennis does not feature in the top 20 most popular sport and recreation activities
in which adults participate, it ranks 22nd.
 4.5% of adults (209,000) participate in table tennis one or more times a week.
 The proportion of adult males (6%) and females (3%) participating in table tennis is
similar.
 Table tennis does not feature in the top 10 most popular sport and recreation activities
for adult ethnic groups.
 If national proportions for adults are applied to the local population of adults, then it is
estimated that 3,600 adults participate locally in table tennis with 1,800 males and
2,800 females.
National club membership trends
There is no current membership data provided by Sport NZ for table tennis. Historically,
table tennis club membership declined 58% from 5,753 members in 1997 to a low of 2,421 in
2000 then shot up 103% to 4,915 members in 2003.
Local membership and discussion
Membership data provided by Table Tennis Manawatū from 2012-2014 shows it rose 25%
from 349 members in 2012 to 435 in 2013 and declined 25% to 349 in 2014.
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153
Facilities
The main venue for table tennis is the Arena Manawatū. Hokowhitu School Hall and Takaro
Bowling Clubrooms are also used.
Supply versus demand
Only a small number of people are table tennis members, which is popular with young
people. Members currently fit the required table tennis tables into the space provided.
Minimum space requirements depend on the level of play.
25.
Tennis
National participation and demographics of tennis
Participation varies from club membership. Many people take part in active leisure and
sports in environments outside the club scene.
The key demographic profiles identified in Sport NZ for tennis are:
Young people (5-18 year olds)
 Tennis is ranked 21st most popular sport and recreation activity in which all young
people participate.
 35% of all young people (283,000) nationally participate in tennis one or more times a
week.
 The proportion of young males (36%) and females (34%) participating in tennis is
similar.
 Tennis does not feature in the top 10 most popular sport and recreation activities for
young ethnic groups.
 If national proportions for young people are applied to the local population of young
people, then it is estimated that 5,400 young people participate locally in tennis with
2,800 males and 2,600 females.
Adults (16+ year olds)
 Tennis ranks 14th top most popular sport and recreation activity in which all adults
participate.
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



6% of adults (209,000) participate in tennis one or more times a week.
The proportion of adult males (7%) and females (6%) participating in tennis is similar.
Tennis does not feature in the top 10 most popular sport and recreation activities for
adult ethnic groups.
If national proportions for adults are applied to the local population of adults, then it is
estimated that 3,973 adults participate locally in tennis with 1,958 males and 2,000
females.
National club membership trends
The club membership data provided by Sport NZ for tennis shows club membership has
steadily declined 24% from 48,987 members in 1997 to 37,152 members in 2012 then
increased slightly (5%) to 38,909 members in 2014. Membership declined 21% from 19972014.
Local membership and discussion
The club membership numbers provided by Sport Manawatū and Tennis Manawatū show
membership has progressively declined -65% from its peak in 1991 of 2,144 members to
732 members in 2014.
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Facilities
There are 48 tennis courts provided by Palmerston North City Council:
2 at Bill Brown Park
4 indoor courts at Arena Manawatū
4 at Awapuni Park
12 at Vautier Park
8 at Wallace Park
4 at Takaro Park
4 at Colquhoun Park
1 at Lakemba Reserve
1 at Kelvin Grove Park
8 at Huia Street Reserve owned by the Manawatū Lawn Tennis Club on Council land.
Schools and Massey University also provide courts/artificial grass surfaces suitable for
tennis.
The main venues for tennis are Vautier Park and the Manawatū Lawn Tennis Club courts
and these are in good condition. The Manawatū Lawn Tennis Club maintains its own
facilities. Vautier Park has had maintenance completed on courts 1-6 but courts 7-12 have
not been maintained for some years and are in need of maintenance. There are unused
tennis court at Takaro Park.
Supply versus demand
Tennis is one of the popular club sports but Tennis club membership has been declining
steadily since 1990. The proportion of the population playing tennis decreased -2% from
2011-2014. According to Tennis Manawatū the number of casual tennis players has been
growing.
Facilities mostly meet current tennis needs. There is no shortage of tennis courts available
for organised and casual play. There is a variety of tennis courts scattered throughout the
City with a number of unused tennis courts that could be repurposed, such as Takaro Park.
In addition there are tennis courts provided by some schools.
Tennis Manawatū wants more clubs in closer proximity to where people are living to create
more local competition. There are currently no suitable indoor tennis facilities and Tennis
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Manawatū would like an indoor facility to provide all-weather us. It was suggested the
vacant land at Huia Reserve would suit their need for an indoor tennis facility.
26.
Touch rugby
National participation and demographics of touch rugby
Participation varies from club membership. Many people take part in active leisure and
sports in environments outside the club scene.
The key demographic profiles identified by Sport NZ for touch rugby are:
Young people (5-18 year olds)
 Touch is the 9th top most popular sport and recreation activity in which all young
people participate.
 51% of all young people (412,700) nationally participate in touch one or more times a
week.
 A slightly higher proportion of young males (58%) than females (44%) participate in
touch.
 A higher proportion of young Pacific (72%) and Māori (63%) than young NZ European
(28%) and Asian (27%) people participate in touch.
 A slightly higher proportion of young Pacific (75%) males participate in touch than
other ethnicities, males and females.
 A higher proportion of young Māori (60%) and Pacific (69%) females participate in
touch than other female ethnic groups.
 If national proportions for young people are applied to the local population of young
people, then it is estimated that 7,800 young people participate locally in touch with
4,500 males and 3,300 females.
Adults (16+ year olds)
 Touch is the 20th top most popular sports and recreation activities in which adults
participate.
 5% of all adults (163,000) nationally participate in touch one or more times a week,
with slightly higher proportion of adult males (7%) than females (3%) participating.
 A higher proportion of Pacific (14%) adults than Māori (12%) adults and other
ethnicities participate in touch.
 If national participation proportions for adults are applied to the local population of
adults, then it is estimated that 3,100 adults participate in touch locally with 2,200 adult
males and 900 adult females.
National club membership trends
The club membership data provided by Sport NZ for touch rugby shows a 49% increase in
membership from 75,000 members in 1997 to 111,472 in 2014.
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Local membership and discussion
Club membership data provided by Sport Manawatū and the Manawatū Touch Association
shows a sharp increase (457%) in membership, from 600 members in 1990 to a high of
3,344 members in 1997. This was followed by a gradual decline (43%) to 1,900 members in
2009 before rising rapidly (77%) to 3,365 members in 2014, slightly above the high in 1997.
Facilities
Touch rugby is played at 10 touch fields at Colquhoun Park and 15 junior fields at Monrad
Park as well as fields at Monrad intermediate. Touch used to use Ongley Park but this is
now primarily used for cricket.
Supply versus demand
Touch is one of the popular club sports. The Manawatu Touch Association membership is
increasing and this is a trend reflected nationally. The proportion of the population playing
touch increased 65% from 2011-2014.
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Existing grounds are just meeting current demand because of the size of the playing fields.
But the main junior and adult competitions are at capacity with regards to fields’ size and
time/space. Demand management techniques are being used to manage the number of
teams playing and games played.
Note. Touch shares Colquhoun Park with softball. The current sharing of grounds with
touch has worked well as touch is played mid-week and softball is played mostly weekends.
Clashes occur when tournaments are held; currently softball games are postphoned to
accommodate touch tournaments. Membership for both sports is increasing and this has
implications for the future of both sports as the Manawatū Touch Association don’t want to
encroach on softball pitches/fields and redraw lines each week. There is insufficient space
within existing grounds to grow participation and more field capacity is required for touch.
According to the Manawatū Touch Association the condition of fields are adequate but
playing surface quality at the start of the season transition from winter to summer sport are
poor with roughness, ruts and deep field marking.
Also, there is a lack of grounds suitable for national touch tournaments which were
previously hosted at Ongley Park, the only ground large enough to host such events, but this
is used for cricket. National touch tournaments are no longer held in Palmerston North. The
Manawatū Touch Association would like minimum 12-15 fields (15 preferable) to allow
growth and to host national touch tournaments. Touch is exploring potential partnerships
with Fregberg Rugby Club, and Manawatū Softball Association at the Colquhoun Sports
Complex.
27.
Triathlon (and duathlon)
National participation and demographics of triathlon
The key demographic profiles identified by Sport NZ for triathlon are:
Young people (5-18 year olds)
 14% of all young people nationally participate in triathlon one or more times a week.
 The proportion of young males (14%) and females (13%) participating in triathlon is
similar.
 If national proportions for young people are applied to the local population of young
people, then it is estimated that 2,100 young people participate locally in triathlon, with
1,081 male and 1,019 female.
Adults (16+ year olds)
 There is no triathlon participation data provided by Sport NZ for adults.
National club membership trends
There is no membership data provided by Sport NZ for triathlon.
Local club membership trends and discussion
The club membership data provided by the Manawatū Triathlon Club shows reasonably
stable membership from 2009-2011, followed by a decline in 2012 (45%) to a low 128
members before increasing to 198 members in 2014. An overall -10% decline in members
from 2009-2014.
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Facilities
Triathlon facilities include: Freyberg Community Pool, Lido Aquatic Centre, Skoglund Park
and Linton Military Camp.
Supply and demand
There are a small number of triathlon members, which has been fairly static. Family
numbers have been increasing with more families competing together. According to the
Manawatū Triathlon Club, existing facilities are in excellent condition but not are designed for
triathlon as cycle and pool access for competitors is awkward. Ideally, the club would like a
50 metre covered swimming pool that is not land locked by major roads.
28.
Volleyball
National participation and demographics of volleyball
Participation varies from club membership. Many people take part in active leisure and
sports in environments outside the club scene.
The key demographic profiles identified by Sport NZ for volleyball are:
Young people (5-18 year olds)
 Volleyball is ranked 24th most popular sport and recreation activity in which all young
people participate.
 30% of all young people (241,500) nationally participate in volleyball one or more times
a week.
 A slightly higher proportion of young females (33%) than males (26%) participate in
volleyball.
 A slightly higher proportion of 15-18 year olds (37%) than 11-14 year olds (22%)
participate in volleyball. There was no data provided by Sport NZ for 5-10 year olds.
 A higher proportion of young Pacific (25%) than other ethnicities participate in
volleyball.
 If national proportions for young people are applied to the local population of young
people, then it is estimated that 4,600 young people participate locally in volleyball with
2,100 males and 2,500 females.
Adults (16+ year olds)
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


Volleyball is ranked 30 most popular sports and recreation activities in which adults
participate.
3% of all adults (96,109) nationally participate in volleyball one or more times a week,
with slightly higher proportion of adult males (7%) than females (3%) participating.
A slightly higher proportion of Pacific (14%) adults than other ethnicities participate in
volleyball.
If national participation proportions for adults are applied to the local population of
adults, then it is estimated that 1,800 adults participate in volleyball locally, including
300 Pacific people.
National club membership trends
The club membership data provided by Sport NZ shows steady decline (-93%) in
volleyball membership from 1997-2013.
Local membership and discussion
Membership numbers provided by Sport Manawatū and Palmerston North Volleyball shows
a gradual increase (69%) in membership from 227 members in 1990 to 384 in 2007 followed
by a sharp (123%) increase to 855 members in 2014. Palmerston North Volleyball keeps
team numbers rather than individual member numbers and says that the number of teams
playing has been gradually increasing.
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Facilities
The Arena Manawatū is the main venue for volleyball which has around 20 courts. School
gyms are also used for volleyball. There are also 2 volleyball courts at Massey University, 1
beach and 1 grass volleyball court.
Lido Aquatic Centre removed its beach volleyball court in late 2000’s.
It is noted that there are some difficulties with competing users of some Arena Manawatū
facilities wanting the courts at the same time.
Supply versus demand
There is a small number of people playing volleyball, which is popular with 15-18 year olds
and Pacific people. Volleyball is played in winter at the Arena Manawatū.
Entries are
currently capped and growth in participation is limited by the number and availability of courts
at the Arena.
Volleyball is one of the popular club sports. Volleyball membership has been fairly static but
increased sharply between 2009 and 2014 with entries in 2015 capped as numbers reached
capacity for the B & M Centre and Ball Room facilities.
Volleyball is played at a number of halls throughout the City but the main venue is the Arena
Manawatū.
29.
Walking (for fitness)
National participation and demographics of walking
Participation varies from club membership. Many people take part in active leisure and
sports in environments outside the club scene.
The key demographic profiles identified by Sport NZ for walking are:
Young people (5-18 year olds)
 Walking is the 6th top most popular sport and recreation activity in which 11-18 year old
young people participate. Note, the Sport NZ survey form given to 5-10 year olds did
not include walking.
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



60% of 11-18 year old young people (486,000) nationally participate in walking one or
more times a week.
A significantly higher proportion of young females (73%) than males (47%) participate
in walking.
A significantly higher proportion of 11-14 year olds (62%) than 15-18 year olds (58%)
participate in walking.
A significantly higher proportion of young Pacific (63%) and Asian (64%) people than
NZ European (38%) and Māori (33%) participate in walking.
If national proportions for young people are applied to the local population of young
people, then it is estimated that 9,200 young people participate locally in walking with
3,700 males and 5,500 females.
Adults (16+ year olds)
 Walking is the number one top most popular sport and recreation activity in which all
adults participate.
 60% of all adults participate in walking one or more times a week.
 A significantly higher proportion of adult females (72%) than males (47%) participate in
walking.
 A higher proportion of 50-74 year olds (70%) participate in walking than 16-24 year old
(40.5%) and 25 to 49 (59%) year olds and 75+ year olds (62%).
 A higher proportion of NZ European (63%) than Māori (47%), Pacific (52%) and Asian
(52%) people participate in walking.
 If national proportions for adults are applied to the local population of adults, then it is
estimated that 37,800 adults participate locally in walking with 13,800 males and
24,000 females.
National club membership83 trends
There is no membership data provided by Sport NZ for walking. Many people take part in
active leisure and sports in environments outside the club scene. Paths and walkways in
towns and cities are one of the most used facilities people use for recreation and exercise84.
Local club membership trends and discussion
Sport Manawatū does not currently provide membership data for walking and club data is
unavailable. The Manawatū Striders membership has been increasing. Manawatū Striders
runs a super seven walking event each year for 7 weeks which involves 1200-1800
participants. Numbers for the super sevens have stayed constant.
Many people take part in walking and jogging in environments outside the club scene.
Census data shows that City has a high share of residents who walk or job to work (8.9%).
Facilities
The Council provides 68 km of walkways and they are extended at a rate of about 600 m per
annum. The current provision equates to 0.6 metres per person. Local walking facilities
include: the Victoria Esplanade, Manawatū River pathway, the network of tracks in
Aokautere and the cycle/pedestrian path on the Fitzherbert Bridge and out to Massey
University, the Arapuke Forest Park, in and around the racecourse, the Hokowhitu Lagoon,
and Te Apiti – the Manawatū Gorge track. The figure below shows increasing patronage of
the Manawatū Gorge Track.
83
84
Sport NZ
Page 18 http://www.srknowledge.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Future-of-Sport-FINAL.pdf
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Manawatu Gorge Track
60,000
50,000
Walkers
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Year
Supply and demand
Walking is one of the most popular activities everyone participates in. Walking is a high
participation activity for older people and our ageing population means demand for and on
walkways is likely to increase. Refer to Appendix Six of the Draft Recreation Needs
Assessment 2015 for the long-term walkway scheme (Master Plan).
Recent extension of the walkways has been focused on the Manawatū River, Pioneer
Highway pathway to Longburn, Mangaone Stream, Summerhill gullies and in the
Kahuterawa Outdoor Recreation Hub area. There are also projects planned from the City to
Ashhurst (right bank) and the City to Linton Military Camp via Massey University.
30.
Other Sport and Recreation Activities
There are a number of popular sport and recreation activities not included above that place
demand on the Council, community and school halls and facilities. These include:
Palmerston
North
Activity
Rank
Dance
Young People
Participation
M
F
Total
%
%
(estimated) %
26 56 41 (6,300)
14
16+
Participation
M F
Total
% %
(estimated) %
5 14 10 (6,159)
Martial Arts
22
13
18 (2,700)
28
2.1
Māori
activities
Aerobics
29
33
31 (4,800)
22
<1
Pilates/Yoga
Included
in
gymsports for
kids
<1
Callisthenics
Exercise
classes
299
Rank
8
4
13
9 (5,646)
11
4
16
11(6,615)
7
5
3
7
4
6 (3,840)
4 (2,268)
16
164
Tai chi
Darts
<1
<1
<1
<
1
<1
1.1
<1
<1
Other sport and recreation activities that place demand on swimming pools:
Young People
16+
Participation
Participation
M%
F%
Total
M% F%
Total
(estimated) %
(estimated) %
Aquarobics
2.8 (1,764)
Water
Polo 11.4
11.2
<1
<1
<1
(Flippa ball)
Canoe Polo
<1
<1
<1
<1
<1
<1
Underwater
<1
<1
<1
<1
<1
<1
Hockey
Diving (spring
<1
<1
<1
boarding)
Other sport and recreation activities that place demand on pathways:
Young People
16+
Participation
Participation
Activity
M
F
Total %
Rank M % F
Total %
and rank
%
%
%
Tramping
51
52 51 (7,900)
7
11
8
9.7 (6,121)
Running
74
78 76 (11,700) 2
20
18 19 (12,072)
Mountain
36
19 27 (4,184)
26
Biking
Trail
Bike
<1
Riding
300
Rank
11
8
165
G. Appendix Two: Regional
facilities plan/ framework
301
sport
and
recreation
166
Active Recreation Strategy
Regional Facilities Plan
Lead: City Future
Lead:
Sport Manawatu
PNCC: CF – Strategic Overview
CN – Facilities development & impact
Recreation Needs Assessment
Lead: City Future
Recreation and Sports Families
Reserves
Concept Plans
Concept Plans
Lead: City Future
Lead: City Future
Aquatic
City-Wide
Pathways
Neighbourhood
Arena
River
Sportsgrounds &
Courts
Existing Documentation:
Outdoor
Recreation
Athletics Track MoU
Arena Master Plan (framework)
Kohuterawa Outdoor Recreation Plan
River Framework (in progress)
Playgrounds
Existing Documentation:
City Centre Framework
City-Wide Vegetation
Reserve Management Plans
Local Facilities Management Plan/s
Lead: City Networks
Lead: City Networks
Asset Management Plans
Lead: City Networks
302
167
H. Appendix Three: Past findings and priorities
303
304
A review of costs to meet the drainage needs of the four parks
identified in the 2002 NZ Sports Turf Institute report should be
completed and a programme for implementation presented to the
Long Term Council Community Plan.
 This has been partially addressed by reviewing sports field
2005 recommendations
Field Sports
Renewals and quality focus
Palmerston North City Council should continue to concentrate on its
current direction for renewals and improvement to the quality of
facilities at exiting field sport area, before initiating new ‘greenfields’
projects.
Centralisation is placing increased demand on large field areas and
their associated facilities including toilets, changing facilities and, to a
lesser extent, seating.
Sports Grounds and Facilities
Programme 1133 has been included in the LTP for provision of an
artificial sportsfield, subject to 50% funding from external sources in
2019 to 2021.
Drainage improvement programmes were included in AMP’s and
submitted to LTP preparation processes. The 2015/25 LTP includes
Programme 1097 for drainage from 2018 -2023 for various
sportsfields.
Planned pavilion renewals at Bill Brown park, Colquhoun Park,
Hokowhitu Domain, Lincoln Park (Ashhurst) and Bunnythorpe Domain
are included in the AMP and LTP.
Pavilion renewals have been completed at:
 Ongley park
 Skogland Park
 Vautier Park
 Coronation park
Drainage improvement programmes were included in AMP’s and
submitted to LTP preparation processes. The 2015/25 LTP includes
Programme 1097 for drainage from 2018 -2023 for various
sportsfields.
The Colquhoun Park sportsfield drainage was improved in 2005 to
2009.
A proposal to develop further fields in Aokautere was cancelled as a
result of this direction.
Progress since 2005
Past Findings and Priorities since 2005 recreation needs assessment
168
305
A review of covered seating provision at charge grounds should be
The reviews of Vautier Park/Skoglund Park/Featherston Street Pit
area should consider establishing training fields in the Featherston
Street Pit.
 There is a shortage of training field space for winter field
sports with appropriate lighting. There is the opportunity to
improve supply within existing budgets, in partnership with
sporting organisations, which would also benefit the security
of the Featherston Street Pit.
Charge Grounds
Palmerston North City Council should focus television standard

facilities for field sports at Arena Manawatū and Memorial Park
should be progressively upgraded as a boutique stadium but lighting
development restricted to training and club level activity.

improvement budgets in the 2005/2006 year.
 The report established minimum drainage standards but current
Long Term Council Plan programmes do not allocate sufficient
funding to meet the recommended specifications.
 Improving drainage to meet minimum quality standards will also
increase the capacity of fields.
 Full implementation of the report will require increased capital
funding in Long Term Council Plan budgets in the short term.
Training fields
Palmerston North City Council should review the provision of sports 
field training grounds in the city and consider a range of opportunities
to improve the number of training grounds. This should include

exploring opportunities with those schools that may have spare
capacity.
 Centralisation of sport is seeing activities previously played on

school fields shift to large centralised grounds. The opportunity
to partner with schools with large playing fields areas has not
been explored fully to date.

A report on lighting provision was prepared in 2010. No progress on
implementation has been made to date.

On reflection Memorial park has limited capacity to accommodate
training and matches.
No formal review was completed but there has been no demand for
Clubs are sharing existing training lights e.g Waterloo Park and
Takaro Parks lights are owned by one club which allow use by another
club.
Training facilities are still stretched at times, particularly in the winter.

The planned artificial turf will likely meet a significant amount of the
training demand.

The potential for a training field in Edwards Pit Park (formally
Featherston St Pit) remains an option and can be considered further
when the contouring of the northern banks are completed.
169
306


The Vautier Park/Skoglund Park/Featherston Street Pit LTP budgets
should be reviewed.
 Visions for the facility were based on significant works that have
Vautier Park

The Vautier Park/Skoglund Park/Featherston Street Pit area reviews
should consider the need for an additional rebound pro-court to meet

tennis needs. Any future provision of rubberised surfaces is

completed in sets of four courts.
 Ensuring that tennis and netball work towards multiple use of this
facility provides the most optimal use in the long term. High-level

tennis requires courts in sets of four courts of the same surface. 
Outdoor Court Sports
Administrators and user groups of the charge grounds should be
asked to record the number and details of events which exceed the
current capacity of covered seating at the facilities.
conducted in 2007/2008. Any new facilities at Fitzherbert Park
should work with hockey where possible to maximise multiple use.
Shade/shelter facilities were added in 2014 and 2015. Accessibility
improvements have also been made and renewal of failing court
surfaces completed.
An additional rebound pro court was provided in 2006 to make up a
set of four as requested by tennis.
The Visitor Solutions – Arena Manawatu Review – final report 2012
suggest:
Ascertaining current capacity and the ability to optimise usage of each
of the arenas is one area
where the lack of appropriate quality data has hindered analysis.
However, at a high level the
review identifies that there is a decrease in hours of use for all arenas
apart from Arena 5. Assuming the original data were accurate this
would suggest an opportunity potentially exists to increase the use of
those arenas back to historical levels.
Hockey Manawatu have advocated for seating expansion at the Twin
turfs.
Youngheart Manawatu’s relegation from the national football
competition means that none of the charge grounds have been
experiencing an undersupply of covered seating.
The Arena Manawatu review and master plan work of 2014 allowed
for a covered embankment at Arena 1.
additional covered facilities at Fitzherbert Park.
170
307
since been discounted.
Indoor Space
Arena Indoor Space

Indoor space requirements should be reviewed in 2006/2007 when
Arena 4 has been embedded for three years.
 It is difficult to gauge if demand is currently outstripping supply at
Arena Manawatū as Arena 2 has been under renovation. Longterm trends suggest the hours of use of Arena indoor facilities
have been growing at twice the rate of population growth. More
indoor space will likely be required in the medium to long term.
 The review should consider options for increasing the range of
users in Arena 4’s inline hockey areas.
The 2007 Master Plan for Arena Manawatu and the Council’s Long
Term Plan 2009-19 (LTP) identify that future indoor arena space will
be considered for development. The master plan identifies a separate
new events space as well as a community sports space which would
replace the ageing Arenas 3 and 5. Given available data it is not
possible to identify the need for additional space above the current
levels of provision. However, an upgrade or replacement of existing
facilities may be warranted dependant on a cost benefit analysis
(underpinned by the currently unavailable data) being carried out.
The Visitor Solutions – Arena Manawatu Review – final report 2012
suggest:
 Ascertaining current capacity and the ability to optimise usage of
each of the arenas is one area where the lack of appropriate
quality data has hindered analysis. However, at a high level the
review identifies that there is a decrease in hours of use for all
arenas apart from Arena 5. Assuming the original data were
accurate this would suggest an opportunity potentially exists to
increase the use of those arenas back to historical levels.
 The priority is likely to be for better quality facilities, which are
more functional and flexible, rather than a net expansion of indoor
space on the site.
 Visitor Solutions has been unable to sight any robust needs or
demand data to support the large capital development of a
separate events space at this time .
 Based on available data community sport is likely to remain or
become even more important to Arena Manawatu in the future. To
assist with the planning for the future indoor community sport
space consideration should be given to the following:
o Review the wider network of facilities in the city (Council
In 2006 inline Hockey were relocated out of Arena Manawatu and the
space they occupied was converted to 3 netball sized courts
increasing the capacity by around 25%.
171
308
o
and Non Council Owned).
Maximise existing space whist gathering the required use
data.
o Ensure future provision for Arena 5 users.
Arena Management should be asked to record cancellations of
The Arena Manawatū’s old and new bookings systems recorded
bookings for the 2-year period including the reasons for the
cancellations and the reasons for these. The new booking system
cancellations.
‘Priava’ installed in May 2015 records cancellations as a change in
 This information would complement booking information to status and the reason for the cancellations are also recorded but
assess why interruptions occur, and hence the nature of demand these are not reported, although they could be.
for indoor space.
172
309
Council should recommend that the development plan for Arena 5
considers including gymnastics space to meet local need if this will
increase the use of the gym area.
 Gymnastics require a specialist space where they can leave their
equipment permanently set up. Arena Manawatū management
have indicated they are comfortable with providing this space
within the planned development of Arena 5 if the clubs can work
together
Specialised Facilities
Beach Volleyball
The outdoor pool planning for the Lido should consider the extension
of the volleyball court, fencing of the leisure pool, installation of
anchors systems and low shelter fence around the court. The impact
of this on the overall Lido facility should be assessed.
 Providing for two courts with appropriate facilities will increase
the usefulness of this facility. Swimming pool regulations require
fencing of the Leisure pool if the volleyball courts are to be
assessable outside normal Leisure Pool hours.
The beach volleyball community should be directed to appropriate
funding channels to purchase a rotary hoe as the best solution to the
variable maintenance needs of the sand at the Lido beach volleyball
court.
 The quality of the sand could be improved by replacing it but it
would still require maintenance. The underlying issue is the
maintenance impractical. The best solution is provision to be
able to undertake the maintenance as it is needed.
Athletics Track
Council should note the need for covered seating at the Manawatū
Community Athletics Track to enable hosting significant events.
 There is a need for cover to meet local need and to allow large
events to be attracted to the facility
 The Manawatū Community Athletics Track is not a Council
owned facility and Council is making a significant contribution to
the annual operational costs.
Since 2007 Council and Massey University have provided a
shelter/shade facility. Council has scheduled to match Massey’s last
contribution in 2017/2018.

Massey University and its associated hostels have installed 2 courts
since.
Lido Aquatic Centre removed its beach volleyball court in late 2000’s.
The 2014 Arena Manawatu Review and subsequent LTP plan
considerations have scheduled the Arena 5 replacement for after
2025. There is still potential to centralise gymnastics when that
replacement occurs.
173
310
85
The only events using covered seating at the Arena are the sell-out
Hurricanes games, the team champs and ITM semi-final last year,
which requires people to sit in the uncovered seating. Speedway also
Arena Manawatu was independently considered in the 2014 review.
Youngheart Manawatu’s relegation from the national football
competition means that none of the charge grounds have been
experiencing an undersupply of covered seating.
Takaro Sports Club has added an artificial bowling green and is
completing the extension of their clubrooms.
Memberships continue to decline but some clubs have had some
success in supplementing their operations by accommodating other
groups in their facilities.
A review of Bowling clubs was completed and reported to Council in
2012.
The Bike Plan was updated with the Manawatu Active Transport
Strategy 2007 and the Cycle Action Plan 2011. The Integrated
Transport Strategy 2015 identifies priority cycle routes for Council
investment.
Charge grounds are those grounds that are fenced and gated so that access can be restricted and events can charge people entry.
The review of the Bike Plan should include statistically significant
survey work to establish baseline numbers of people participating in
recreational and road cycling, including separate categories for
mountain biking and on-road recreational cycling.
 There is limited data on the number and type of recreational
cyclists in Palmerston North
Bowls
In the event that additional bowling club amalgamations occur, a
strategic assessment to determine what Council owned land
currently occupied by bowling clubs would provide the most benefit
to other recreational purposes.
 The decline in bowling participants has led to club
amalgamations. If this continues additional amalgamations are
likely. To optimise opportunities to meet other recreational needs
Council may need to take a role in the amalgamation process
where it affects Council land.
Covered Seating
A review of covered seating provision at charge grounds85 should be
conducted in 2007/2008.
 By 2007/2008 the existing budgeted developments should be

completed at Arena Manawatū.
 Also by 2007/2008 key structural changes of stakeholders

(Premier 12 rugby and the new promoter for stockcars) will be

embedded, the National Football Championship will be
established in its current format, and trends in attendance will be
Cycling

The review of the Bike Plan should identify preferred road cycle
routes and consider strategies to improve them.
 Evidence suggests growth in roading cycling numbers and that
this is potentially a significant activity in the city. The majority of
road cycling takes place in the rural environments of Palmerston
North City Council area and the Manawatū District Council
174
311
Administrators and user groups of the charge grounds should be
asked to record the number and details of events which exceed the
current capacity of covered seating at the facilities. It is suggested
that this include visual evidence (digital photographs) where ticketing
information is not available.
 This would assist in the review recommended in 2007/2008.
able to be determined.
uses the seating but do not use it to full capacity.
175
312
Ownership of the Linklater Block was retained with 4.4 ha sold to
provide the funds for the development of the initial 5.5 ha area off
Kelvin Grove Road at no cost to the ratepayer. The initial 5.5 ha has
been open for several years and proving popular as a summer slip n
sliding event venue and with dog walkers in particular.
Linklater Reserve
Council should look at disposal of the Linklater Block and apply the
proceeds to other reserve development of acquisition.
Riverside Recreation
Continued development, in conjunction with Horizons Regional
Traffic counts have not been established outside the four reserves.
Additional count work has been initiated around the playground at
the Victoria Esplanade. 29 spot surveys over the last two years
have had simple assumptions applied and indicate the playground is
used in the order of 153,000 times per year.
The entrances to the four City Reserves should be added to the
traffic counting schedule, to establish visitor vehicle movements.
Planning for the completion of the development of Linklater Reserve
is underway and Work on the 20 ha currently not open to the public
is planned to begin in 2017 and be spread over four years. The
consultation for the development planning has seen a focus on a
country adventure theme and a strong desire for good dog walking
and park facilities.
Significant improvements to the level of service along the Manawatu
River have been made over the last 10 years.
Since the 2005 recommendation to consider Linklater Reserve sale
(if the Aokautere Lake went ahead) there have been several shifts in
the urban growth directions. In the early 2000’s the direction was
focused around Cloverlea, then Staces Road and Te Matai Road.
The current urban growth direction is for Whakarongo, close to the
Linklater Reserve, effectively extended Kelvin Grove to the east.
This is expected to increase demand on/for large reserves on the
eastern side of the City and Linklater Reserve is well placed to meet
that demand in a timely way.
Progress since 2005
2005 recommendations
Data on City Reserves
Parks and Reserves
176
313
Council, or riverside recreation opportunities should occur bearing in
mind other water-based developments being planned.
Both the length and quality of the path surfaces in the urban area
have been improved with a 2.9 m wide 8 km asphalt section now
extending from Riverside Drive to the Holiday Park.
A 3 km limestone section from the Holiday Park to Maxwells Line
has been added along with significant signage upgrades,
additional seating and planting work.
Horizons Regional Council added two major structures in the
Okatia Steps and Dittmer Drive steps which have become
popular destination and points of water access.
Rangitāne o Manawatu through Tanenuiarangi Manawatu Inc
have added cultural history interpretation and interest to the
three sites and, with the support of Council and Horizons, added
associated planting/landscaping.
A number of carparking access areas have been improved.
Wayfinding signage has been upgraded.
10.6 hectare extension to Waitoetoe Park has been purchased,
additional paths added within Waitotoe Park and community
plantings and interpretive signage added.
In the rural environments Council has made significant
improvement in the community aspiration of path along the
Manawatu from Ashhurst to Palmerston North which was first
mooted in the early 1960’s. The first section, the 3.3 km from
Raukawa Road to Ashhurst has been completed thanks to some
willing landowners.
The end point at the Ashhurst Manawatu River Bridge has been
tidied up significantly with the addition of a sealed carpark and
plantings.
The Manawatu Gorge Partnership has made major improvements
over the last 10 years to this major drawcard on the Manawatu
River.
 A high quality entrance and interpretation established.
 New loop tracks developed, feature made of the major slip.
 Mountain bike track additional and









177
314
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
200720082009201020112012201320142015
Year
Manawatu Gorge Track
Urban growth development over the last 10 years has been focused
in Kelvin Grove and Aokautere. New playgrounds have been added
in Kelvin Grove while Aokautere growth areas has not warranted a
new playground to date.

Council should develop additional play activities that challenge and Following the 2005 RNA a Reserves Development Programme was
target older children and youth including:
developed and approved by Council. This programme included
 The Featherston Street Pit/Skoglund Park/Vautier Park wider youth focused facility developments targeting older children (11 – 14
area should consider a play environment to challenge and year olds):
interest older youth.
 Milverton Park had a climbing frame and outdoor volleyball
net added.
 Monrad Park had a new playground established next to Te
Play Facilities
New playgrounds should continue to be established in urban growth
areas, central to as large an area of residentially zoned land as is
practical, without over lapping the catchments of other playgrounds.
walking track quality improvements as well as interpretive
signage added.
Some small progress has been made on the community
aspiration for a pedestrian and cycle facility over the Manawatu
River at Ashhurst. Feasibility work and consideration by NZTA is
underway.
178
2015 use numbers are now four times higher than they were in
2007. Additionally a new mountain bike section beside the Ballance
Café attracted 2,788 uses in 5 months of 2015.


Walkers
315
Another area of potential, highlighted, was Milverton Park. This park
is an excellent example of visible useful open space. The addition of
play environments for older youth would complement the mix of
opportunities at this location.
Completed in 2006.
The Ashhurst Community has also successfully galvanised
themselves in recent years and sourced community funds for a small
skatepark development at Guildford Street Reserve.
Pātikitiki Library,
 Skogland Park (also central to Vautier Park and Edwards Pit
Park) had a new “Parkour” style development as well as
swings and climbing walls, and
 Colquhoun Park had an additional playground added at the
northern end – although arguably this did not successfully
target the age group specified.
 Victoria Esplanade had features suited to older children
added in 2015.
 Outdoor basketball improvements have been made at Kelvin
Grove Park in partnership with Te Kura Kaupapa Māori O
Manawatu who use the courts for the school.
The success of the skate park be built on with associated facilities Progress has been hampered by changes in the skating community
developed and aimed at the youth age groups.
representatives and the nature of skating is an individual sport, not
built around club structures. More recently excellent progress has
been made and the addition of a bowl and features to the existing
railway Land Skate park will be completed in 2015/2016. The
current skating community representatives appear satisfied with
partial implementation within Council’s portion of the overall budget
and it is unlikely that there will be enough skating community
organisation to fundraise for the full extension originally envisioned.
179
316
The Council has improved the branded signs along parts of the Te
Araroa trail to better identify where the trail passes through the
City.
Earlier reference to a new lake in the RNA 2005 assessment has
been removed. This is because the lake concept has been
dropped.
There are two major shared pathway projects that have been
confirmed following a successful application to the Urban
Cycleway Fund and indicative funding from the National Land
Transport Fund.
The Linton Shared Pathway and Manawatu River bridge project
will receive $6.2m, and the Mangaone Stream Shared Pathway
will receive $400,000 to complete two underpasses.
The Manawatu Gorge Biodiversity Group has been formed to
undertake Biodiversity enhancements in the Gorge area and this
includes the development of new walking and cycling tracks, which
have proved very popular with the public. There has been no
progress with regards to linking existing windfarms with the
Manawatu Gorge at this stage.
The project (LTP programme 232) is well underway with the first
3.2km stage completed in November 2013 between Ashhurst
Bridge and Raukawa Road.


The potential packaging of the wind farm and Manawatu Gorge 
walk should be supported as a regional project.
Council should continue to pursue the Palmerston North-Ashhurst 
pathway linkage as land becomes available.



Track development has continued at pace and there is a marked
increase in community use and engagement.

Progress since 2005

2005 recommendations
Major pathways
 Council should support the continued development of major
pathways
 Demand and support is high amongst community stakeholders.
There are new opportunities to work towards shared goals across
organisations.
 Council should continue to support the Te Araroa New Zealand
Trail (Length of New Zealand walkway project)
 The project offers the opportunity to build on community driven
projects
 It aligns with long held vision for linkages to Feilding
 Being part of a national network means increased profile and buyin for local projects.
 The opportunity to establish a major loop pathway associated with
the river through a new bridge/ and or recreational lake should be
a priority for Council.
Pathways
180
317
The Kahuterawa Outdoor Recreation Plan86 (KORP) was
developed in 2008 and approved in 2009. KORP included
development of Arapuke Forest Park (formerly known as the
Woodpecker Forest and colloquially in the mountain bike
community as K-Loop). Over the last 5 years a strong partnership
has developed with the Manawatu Mountain Bike Club who have
committed significant volunteer hours and provided some of their
own funding as well as sourcing additional funds from other
sources. The forest harvest was completed 1 year early in 2015
and track building will now progress uninterrupted by forest
harvest work.
Linklater Reserve is now confirmed for retention and development.
Initial consultation suggests it will very likely include some grade 2
mountain bike track, skills features and a soil pump track.
The draft Manawatu River Framework includes some suggestion
that there is an opportunity to provide some fun features for lowlevel mountain biking along the Manawatu River in the form of
small skills areas and features. It is noted that these sorts of
features would double as play features for children and people
walking who would also sue the features.
An off-road path has been formed along part of Railway Road
toward Bunnythorpe.
Land owner negotiations are still taking place for the delivery of
stage 2 and 3 in order to link the pathway to the existing pathway
at Riverside Drive. It is expected these stages will be delivered by
2016/17.
The process for the development of the management plan followed the requirements of the Reserve Management Act 19977 but official recognition was not applied for from the Department of
Conservation.
86


Cycleways
 Palmerston North City Council should support development of a 
cycle between Feilding and Palmerston North
 Possible linkages with the Te Araroa project should be explored.
Mountain biking
 Council should continue to work to develop the Kahuterawa 
Outdoor Recreation Hub
 The opportunity to develop a specialised mountain biking area on
the landfill area should be pursued as a priority mountain biking
facility associated with the City
 Mountain bike access to the Linklater Block should only be
permitted if it can be provided in the interim to disposal or income
generation options. At little or no cost.

181
182
I. Appendix Four: Residential areas within
walking distance of reserves – October 2014
318
500m
183
Area Unit
Aokautere
Ashhurst
Awapuni North
Awapuni South
Awapuni West
Cloverlea
Highbury
Hokowhitu East
Hokowhitu Lagoon
Hokowhitu West
Kairanga
Kelvin Grove
Longburn
Massey University
Milson
Palmerston
North
Central
Palmerston
North
Hospital
Papaeoia
Roslyn
Stoney Creek
Takaro
Terrace End
Turitea
West End
Westbrook
Whakarongo
Totals
all
Residential
Rated Parcels
869
1045
1233
1251
541
759
1123
1910
659
1532
61
2350
116
35
2046
Residential Rated
Parcel within 500m
733
937
1054
1085
541
545
1034
1636
589
1131
45
2183
70
33
1777
%
84%
90%
85%
87%
100%
72%
92%
86%
89%
74%
74%
93%
60%
94%
87%
732
595
81%
932
1072
2034
105
1887
1149
67
1685
1583
40
26816
114
714
1810
88
1453
622
67
1155
1481
29
21521
12%
67%
89%
84%
77%
54%
100%
69%
94%
73%
80%
319
184
Reserves within 500m walking distance of neighbourhoods – October 2014
320
185
J. Appendix Five: Playgrounds in Palmerston North
321
186
Achilles Court
Mahanga Kakariki Reserve
Apollo Park
Matheson Reserve
Atawhai Park
Milverton Park
Awapuni Park
Missoula Reserve
Bill Brown Park
Monrad Park
Cambridge Ave Play Area Monrad Park (Library)
Ashhurst
Campbell Reserve Bunnythorpe Newton Reserve
Campbell Street Reserve
Owen Street Reserve Bunnythorpe
Celaeno Park
Pacific Drive Reserve
Chippendale Reserve
Papaioea Park
Clausen Reserve
Parnell Heights Reserve
Clyde Crescent
Peren Park
Cloverlea Park
Raleigh Reserve
Colquhoun Park South
Rangiora Reserve
Colquhoun Park North
Rangitane Park
Crewe Park
Riverdale Park
Dahlstrom Reserve
David Spring Park
Salisbury
Street
Ashhurst
Savage Reserve
Farnham Reserve
Skoglund Park
Franklin Reserve
Takaro Park
Gloucester Reserve
Totaranui Reserve
Play
Guildford Street Reserve/Village Tui Reserve
Valley Ashhurst
Hokowhitu Domain
Waltham Reserve
Jefferson Reserve
Waterloo Park
Kaimanawa Park (68 Kaimanawa Rakaia Place
Street)
Kelvin Grove Park
Milson Shopping Centre
Kimberley Park
Lakemba Reserve
Langley Reserve
322
Area
187
K. Appendix Six: Long-term walkway scheme (Master
Plan)
323
188
Long-term walkway scheme (Master Plan)
324
189
L. Appendix Seven: Non-Council facilities provided for
public use
325
190
Massey University
The following sport and recreation facilities are available to the public for sport and
recreation use:
 1 athletics track – Manawatu Community Athletics Track
 8 rugby fields (including the Sport and Rugby Institute)
 2 soccer fields
 8 outdoor courts (4 netball and 4 tennis)
 1 cricket pitch
 1 beach and 1 grass volleyball courts
 8 sports team changing room for Massey University codes
Recreation facilities within the Sports hall are accessible subject to membership,
including:
 2 cross court or 1 full sized basketball courts
 3 cross court volleyball courts
 6 badminton courts and 1 indoor netball court
 3 squash courts
The teaching gymnasium is accessible evenings and weekends outside of Massey
University club needs but is not part of membership package.
Recreation centre not open for casual use
Linton Military Camp
The following recreational facilities available to the public for sport and recreation
use:
 18 Hole Golf Course
 3 rugby,
 1 rugby league, and
 1 soccer field
Fields used in support of Linton Army teams playing in Manawatu based
competitions.
Note. Access into Linton Army Camp is restricted with entry subject to NZDF
Security regulations.
Linton Military Camp hosts a multitude of New Zealand Defence Force level and
Army level codes also local club competitions – Rugby, Rugby League, &
Football. Other Linton based clubs play on council facilities – Basketball, Softball,
Netball, Volleyball etc. On a case-by-case basis access has also been allow to the
camp environ to be used for Manawatu based clubs – i.e. triathlon, cycle Manawatu
etc. but nothing routinely permanent.
International Pacific University
No longer provide facilities for causal use but some fields are available for general
use but are in need of drainage.
326
191
M. Appendix Eight: New Zealand secondary school
sports events
327
192
328
6184183
TO
Chairperson and Committee Members
Sport and Recreation Committee
DATE
OF 7 December 2015
MEETING
FROM
Councillor Billy Meehan
DATE
30 November 2015
SUBJECT
WINTER FESTIVAL
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Recommendations to Committee
That a programme “Winter Festival” of $150,000 be submitted for consideration in the Annual
Plan process.
That a feasibility study be undertaken on an overnight Campervan Park located near the City
Centre.
Background
At its September 2015 meeting, the Sport and Recreation Committee instructed the Chief Executive to
set up a working group to develop a programme of events, with cost estimates, that will attract tourists
and British Lions Rugby supporters to visit Palmerston North between 27 June and 8 July 2017 and
report back to the Sport and Recreation Committee in December 2015.
Since that time, Councillor Meehan set up a Steering Group that included the Mayor, Councillor Hapeta,
Lance Bickford (Destination Manawatu) and several members of the community.
Proposal
The proposal is to plan for a winter festival between 27 June and 8 July that will also be promoted to
supporters of the British Lions Rugby Tour. Taking this approach will meet an identified community need
for a winter event as well as taking advantage of the Lions Tour by attracting visiting supporters to the
City. The need for a winter festival in the City was identified by Destination Manawatu through its
submission on the Long Term Plan.
329
-2Indicative events that could be part of a festival include:
Kapa Haka Competition (with national Standard Teams)
Worlds’ largest Hangi (Guinness World Record attempt - GWR)
New Zealand Food & Beer Festival
Rugby events - Most consecutive passes
)
Rugby events - Biggest Scrum
)
Rugby events - Most tackles in a minute
)
All world record attempts
Classic All Blacks v International Lions Rugby Match
Golden Oldies Rugby tournament
Manawatu Ranfurly Shield Team Reunion
Rugby Conference to be held by Massey University
Consideration would need to be given to the infrastructure to support visitors to the City as many will
travel by campervan.
Attached is Destination Manawatu’s submission in support of a winter festival. The Events and Festival
Strategy is under review. While the submission suggests a reallocation of existing Core Community
Events Funding to support a winter festival, this needs to be considered as part of the review
recommended in the draft Strategy. Therefore, it is recommended that new funding for the British Lions
Rugby Tour Event/ Winter Festival be considered through the annual plan process.
Conclusion
As there is no funding to support a British Lions Tour Event/ Winter Festival to attract rugby tour
supporters to the City, a programme will need to be developed for consideration in the Annual Plan.
Billy Meehan
Councillor
330
331
TBA
TBA
December 2015
December 2015
December 2015
December 2015
December 2015
TBA
2
3
4
5
6.
7.
8.
Estimated Report
Date
1
Item
No.
Recreation Needs Assessment
British Lions Rugby Tour Programme of Events
Hockey Turf
Sport and Recreation Planning Framework
Hokowhitu Lagoon Water Level Issues
Draft Manawatu River Framework
Reserves Spatial Concept Planning
Sport and Recreation Spatial Concept Planning
Subject
General Manager,
City Future
General Manager,
City Future
General Manager,
City Future
General Manager,
City Networks
General Manager,
City Future
General Manager,
City Networks
Officer Responsible
Workshop
Awaiting second opinion
Public Consultation
Current Position
COMMITTEE WORK SCHEDULE – DECEMBER 2015
SPORT AND RECREATION COMMITTEE
14 September 2015
Clause 16-15
8 June 2015
Clause 7-15
Date of Instruction/ Point of
Origin
REF# 2889899