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Floodlighting that has been on the cards for Wellsford Centennial Park since 2010 is finally being installed in time for the winter season.
The $190,000 standard metal halide lighting scheme was originally part of a Rodney District Council project to improve facilities at the sports ground, and the design was completed and put out to tender in late 2014.
However, installation was later pushed back a further year to give Auckland Council time to upgrade an existing switchboard at a cost of a further $45,000.
Grant Jennings, manager sports parks, said the upgrade is now nearing completion, but added it does not include upgrading existing floodlights on an adjoining field, which is to be completed “at a later stage”.
Meanwhile, new experimental LED lighting planned for Warkworth Showgrounds is due to be installed and running by the end of May. The new sportsfields have been chosen as the pilot for trialling LED lighting for all Council sports fields. The project is expected to cost of $580,000.
“LED lighting has a lower running cost than conventional lighting but it is a relatively new technology for sports field lighting, and the capital outlay is more expensive,” Mr Jennings says. “We expect to learn a lot from this pilot project as sports field technology is still in its infancy and there is a limited choice of high quality products.”
He added that the type and strength of light generated by LED and the long lead-time for the delivery of components would make it impractical to redesign the Wellsford scheme at this time.
Meanwhile, temporary floodlighting is being installed at the Warkworth netball courts at the Showgrounds until the LED installation is complete.
