‘About time’: New A&P Park pavilion could get underway by next financial year

they intended to get the new pavilion underway by the next financial year.

A “master plan” is in the works for Blenheim’s A&P Park, which could finally see movement on the council’s promise of a new pavilion.

The Marlborough District Council has hired a consultant to investigate how different groups use the park, and provide the council with a master plan for a “possible reconfiguration” of the park. Located on the corner of Maxwell Rd and Alabama Rd, A&P Park is home to Marlborough Football, the Marlborough Farmers' Market and dog obedience training groups. The A&P Show and other travelling events use the park too. The master plan would slot in with the timing of the building of the new pavilion and grandstand at the park, first pencilled in the council’s 2015-25 long-term plan at a budget of $1.7m. The plan had signalled the project would be delivered between 2019 and 2020.

Council parks and open spaces officer Robert Hutchinson said

“It's been sitting there for quite a few years, the new pavilion and all the work ... that's why we need the study done,” Hutchinson said. Marlborough Football general manager Andrea Smith-Scott said the organisation had been “really patient” in its wait for a new hub and development of the park.

“We’re really excited about the opportunities ahead, it’s about time to be honest,” Smith-Scott said.

“We’ve spent a lot of time over the years going back and forth.”

She said the current building was not up to standard, and it at times was “embarrassing” to host teams from other regions.

There was not enough storage for gear and there were no changing rooms for women, she said.

She said only one of the senior football pitches could be lit enough at night, yet they had 19 senior teams.

During discussions with the consultants they had asked for more changing rooms and showers, more storage, field lighting and hoped for an artificial turf because they needed at least one all-weather pitch for training.

Hutchinson said a draft report from the study, undertaken by

Visitor Solutions, was expected to be delivered to council within the next six to eight weeks.

“The review came out of a number of conversations with the Farmers’ Market, and the dog obedience people who came to staff in about August last year,” he said.

“That was around the time we were confirming the new sports pavilion and its location.”

He said both the dog obedience and Farmers’ Market had signalled plans to expand, so they thought it was appropriate to finalise a master plan for how the park was used, before they decided where the new hub would be built on the park.

“That way we have got everything covered, and all the boxes ticked and a plan for the future,” he said.

It came after annual plan hearings last year, Marlborough Farmers’ Market chairman Rob Harrison asked if the council could “formally endorse” an extension of the area they leased from A&P Park.

Harrison said they would like the market to extend north of its current area, but would make sure they did not overtake the space used by dog agility groups. Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ on Air.