Wellington Sports Arena Moves East

The independent review into Wellington's proposed Indoor Community Sports Centre has recommended Kilbirnie in eastern Wellington as the preferred site.

The review, conducted by Sir John Anderson, looked in detail at the proposal to build a 12-court area, comparing the proposed site at Cobham Drive Park in Kilbirnie with an alternative site on the Westpac Stadium Concourse.

Speaking about the review, Sir John observed "this review has been a thorough and rigorous process. It has taken nearly five weeks and I am certain we have resolved the issue of the best location for Wellington's Indoor Community Sports Centre.

"Four experts in traffic, quantity surveying, architecture and engineering, together with others who are specialists in property and valuation, legal matters, building control, urban design and town planning have supported the project manager and I throughout the review.

This team has worked largely independently but has collaborated in many areas, including meeting five times during March and April.

"We talked with, and sought advice and input from, more than 40 people and reviewed in excess of 170 documents, culminating in the experts providing reports covering the relevant issues in their areas. The short forms of those reports are contained in the appendices of the review."

The sport arena proposal is separate to the City's plans to build a 10,000-seat entertainment venue in Wellington.

For more information go to www.wellington.govt.nz/projects/new/indoorreport.html

Image: Fans at Wellington's TSB Bank Arena.