The Truth

Official Information Request - Response

Q. When did Hastings District Council start working on the Mountain bike hub concept plan?

A. Officers began work on a draft concept plan for the reserve on or about the 16th June.

Q. What is the expected additional traffic due to the MTB Hub and how was this calculated?

A. The club suggested that they might attract to between 75 - 100 people on busy weekend use.

Q. How will the ongoing maintenance of the assets in the proposal including "the bridge, widened access road, new car parking, loop track" be paid for?

A. Council has not made any decisions on the proposal, let alone considered funding for maintenance. Any Council funding streams would need to be included in the Long Term Plan which will be open to public submission.

Q. Will the assets listed above be available to public to use at no cost forever?

A. The HBMBC indicated that the public could freely use the bridge and pedestrian access. If Council decided to co-fund some assets it would likely also contribute to their maintenance as it does in other parks.

Q. What will happen to the assets after the 25 year lease with PanPac is ended?

A. There has been no discussion on how the assets might be managed if the HBMBC departed. This would need to be considered in any lease arrangement.

Q. Has there been any planning consent applications made yet for Eskdale Park and if so what are they?

A. No planning consents have been applied for on Eskdale Park.

Q. How will the huge increase in traffic be controlled to keep pedestrians safe while walking into the park and once in the park?

A. While it is expected that the proposed activity will create additional traffic, it is not expected to be of a level that cannot be accommodated on the park. The concept plan suggests a central access spine with carparking. There are also other options for locating carparking away from the middle of the park. The plan also shows a pedestrian footpath on the side of the main entry road.

Q. The intersection from State Highway 5 and Shaw Road is a dangerous intersection. With increase traffic, in particular MTB events, how in the proposed plan will you mitigate that risk?

A. An initial assessment of the Shaw Road intersection indicated it is a safe configuration for traffic entering and exiting Shaw Road. A fuller engineering assessment will need to be undertaken if the concept is to be advanced.

Q. How will the Eskdale park proposed works be paid for?

A. The proposal put to Council by the H.B. Mountain Bike Club was for them to fund their required work on the park. This would include the bridge, widened access road, new car parking, commercial activities, loop track.

Q. How was this idea conceived?

A. The Mountain Bike Club brought a concept to Council to consider. Their idea is to establish Eskdale Park as the gateway to their new Pan Pac forest track network.

Q. Why remove the playground equipment and bathroom blocks as per the proposal plan?

A. Some of the playground equipment and toilet blocks are nearing the end of their useful life and are due for replacement. This proposal gives Council the opportunity to consider the redevelopment of the park as one master project, rather than carrying out ad hoc improvements.

Q. As per your reply, what "parties" are you referring to?

A. The parties we would engage with will be the local and wider community, mountain bikers, Esk care group and the local hapu.

Q. How will you initiate local consultation and when?

A. We are currently in the process of organising an open public meeting provisionally to be held at the Hukarere College on Tuesday 19th August. We will advise you shortly of timings.

Q. Was any surveying done and /or money spent before July 18, 2020? And total spend?

A. $3,900 was spent on the draft concept plans.

Q. Why have 3 spots for freedom camping when we should be supporting the local campground?

A. The inclusion of three Freedom Camping carparks responds to a desire from the motorhome association for HDC to meet its obligations under the legislation. They are a draft idea and need not be included.

Q. In the proposal the plan shows a cafe to operate in the park, is there opportunity for other cafes to operate.

A. Any café proposal would need to obtain planning consent. The draft plan shows an area where it might be located if it were consented to.