Christchurch City Council proposes new indoor court facility for Nga Puna Wai

Christchurch City Council is considering the Nga Puna Wai Sports Hub as a potential home for a new indoor multi-court sporting facility.

Netsal, an organisation jointly set up by Mainland Football Federation and the Christchurch Netball Centre, wants to develop a 10-court indoor sports facility and has been working with the Council on finding an appropriate site.

A report is due to be brought to the Council which recommends that it begin consulting the public about the possibility of leasing reserve land at Nga Puna Wai to Netsal so it can build the indoor courts there.

The report advises “Nga Puna Wai Sports Hub is ideally set up to accommodate a multi court indoor facility. Netsal will complement the sporting activities already being offered at Nga Puna Wai."

Nga Puna Wai, in Halswell, currently provides top-class sporting facilities for athletics, tennis, hockey, and rugby league. It was developed after the earthquakes by the sporting codes, in partnership with the Council.

The land being eyed for the new indoor courts is on the south-west side of Nga Puna Wai. If the indoor courts are developed there, parking will be provided alongside them.

The Council report says there is a shortage of high quality multi-court indoor facilities in Christchurch. The city is one of the few in New Zealand where there is not at least one multi court indoor facility.

While the new indoor courts Netsal is planning to build will be predominantly used for netball and futsal - an indoor variant of soccer, which is one of New Zealand’s fastest growing sports - they will also be available for other sport and community use requiring high-quality indoor, sprung wooden floor surfaces and facilities.

The report adds "a large indoor facility will have benefits of being able to accommodate a range of other indoor sports organisations and diverse community groups."

Click here to read the full report.