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The removal of two of Hibiscus Coast Netball Centre’s light poles during lockdown has the centre worried about how to replace them.
Auckland Council contractors spent two days assessing and removing the lights from Edith Hopper Park in Manly last week as the poles became unstable after the recent storm and were a health and safety risk. The risk to the public was serious enough for the work to be carried out under Alert Level 4.
Council’s head of operations, Julie Pickering, says the foundations had been severely compromised.
It leaves just two light poles over the courts.
The centre is a satellite of North Harbour Netball (NHN). While NHN chief executive Lynette Brady understands why the light poles had to be made safe, the netball centre only found out about it from Hibiscus Matters.
“It would have been nice to be notified, and see whether they could be repaired onsite rather than removed,” Brady says.
Lighting was already difficult for the centre, with only half of its 16 lights working. Brady was due to approach the local board this month about funding for repairs – now deferred to next month. An electrician quoted around $10,000 for the work.
“Now we’re faced with fully replacing two sets of lights, poles and fittings – it’s a completely different ball game,” she says. “We could be looking at around $50,000-$60,000.”
With the final two weeks of the winter season cancelled, Brady says the centre should be able to deliver summer twilight and social games from the end of October to Christmas without the lights.
However, next winter’s college/adult social competitions played in the evening, are not possible without lights.
Pickering says that due to the urgency, Council was unable to contact the centre before the work was done, but they have now been in touch and will work with them.
