At the May meeting of Waikato Council’s Infrastructure Committee. GM Tim Harty told councillors that a lighting mast with floodlights at the Raglan Rugby Sports Ground had crashed down.
Mr Harty said: “Early in May one of the sports field lights at the Raglan Sports ground collapsed. Whilst no one was injured, this was a risk given the open space and use of the field. The light post was completely rotten. Apart from the near miss that this event caused, it is apparent that the remaining lights are of the same age and need to be urgently assessed and are likely to need replacing. The Long Term plan has these assets up for renewal in 2021 however they may well need to be done before this time. The cost for new lights is $110,000. with no funds available in the short term.”
A Waikato Council spokesperson added, “We’re currently sourcing temporary lighting to overcome the immediate issue and a full assessment of the remaining lights will be completed before the end of the month to determine next steps. This could include funding a new set through our Long Term Plan.“
In the meantime I’d recommend that anybody using the grounds gives the remaining lighting masts a wide berth!
Council watchdog John Lawson said, “I wonder if the assessment will include a cost/benefit? It seems to me unlikely that $100,000 spent on lighting is likely to provide that amount of benefit for the rugby club.”
From my observation the lights are used on Wednesday evenings for a couple of hours over winter. Didn’t WDC put in many tens of thousands of dollars for building change rooms on the wetlands some years ago. The tennis courts are used sometimes in summer.
2 hours a week for 20 weeks is 40 hours a year. $110,000 at a 3% interest rate is $3,300 a year. So a bit over $80 an hour. What value an hour of rugby practice?
“many tens of thousands of dollars for building change rooms” is optimistic. In 2006 the changing rooms were estimated to cost $160,000, but by 2007 the cost was $833,254 due to the deep foundations needed in the former boat harbour. In addition over $200,000 has been spent on parking.