A plan that includes a multipurpose space for indoor sports and concerts, plus tunnelled parking for visitors, has been presented to Tauranga City Council in a last-ditch attempt to preserve the city's racecourse.

Board members of Racing Tauranga presented the submission to the city's commissioners, led by Anne Tolley, in the hope of swaying opinion during the current Greerton Maarawaewae Study that is looking to cement the future use of the 85-hectare site.

Council officials recently revealed their preferred choice would see a new public hospital built on the site alongside parkland and an existing 18-hole golf course.

Of the three options currently being debated, the 'enhanced status quo” has been endorsed by racecourse officials and would incorporate all existing users.

With council's cards firmly on the table in terms of their favoured outcome, Racing Tauranga chairman Carl McComb, along with deputy chair Michael Bayly, presented their submission this week in the hope of renewing a lease with the Crown that spans five generations.

The lease is currently halfway through its current 33-year term and expires in June 2039 - a lease that McComb claimed has been renewed 'continuously and without question” since its inception in 1873.

'Our concept focuses on utilising the nine-hectare area around the existing grandstands and involves the design and building of a new 10,000m2 facility,” says McComb.

Racing Tauranga's submission would preserve the racecourse, which has been established for 150 years.Image: Racing Tauranga/Supplied.

'That would accommodate a comprehensive, multipurpose space catering for indoor sports, cultural events, concerts, exhibitions, and conferences, and include viewing facilities and administration for racing.

'Vehicle parking will be established around and up to the new buildings as well as within the course itself, via a tunnel for cars and a tunnel for pedestrians.”

McComb also confirmed the equestrian activity in the centre of the racetrack would be retained.

Racing officials maintain the status quo option was 'significantly underrepresented” in respect to the activities of existing users of the reserve.

They also claim the study 'under-stated” the interests of tangata whenua and iwi, who have subsequently initiated Tribunal claim proceedings that have been accepted and will be triggered should the site's reserve status be amended.

Racing Tauranga chairman Carl McComb. Photo: John Borren.

'Racing Tauranga has previously submitted to the commissioners that there is already significant community use of the reserve, and the commissioners have confirmed that Tauranga lacks amenity space within the current planning process,” says McComb.

'More than 100,000 people use the racing club buildings and grounds each year.”

'We have always been open to working with Tauranga City Council and appropriate community groups – including mana whenua – to explore an increased community use while maintaining our core function of conducting race meetings.”

Tauranga Equestrian Sports Association occupies the centre of the racecourse and provides a venue for large-scale equestrian events in the Bay of Plenty.

McComb confirmed the board's preferred outcome is to remain on the reserve in the suburb of Greerton and have certainty of tenure beyond the lease expiry in 2039, allowing for 'capital investment in infrastructure to future-proof the facility”.

'We believe this option best reflects the original intent of our forebears in the creation of the racecourse reserve and we have been guardians of this reserve for 150 years,” he says.

An interior impression of the proposed new facility. Image: Racing Tauranga/Supplied.

'This proposal offers multiple opportunities for the community while still retaining the reserve status. It does not require controversial government law changes of the Reserve Act or use of the Public Works Act.

'Instead, any funds that might become available can be invested in an existing Crown-controlled site to meet the needs of a growing city.”

The proposed enhancements put forward by Racing Tauranga claim to increase the site's recreational value 'without impinging on the greenspace which will remain central to Tauranga's recreational future”.

'In much the same way that the Auckland Domain or Hagley Park in Christchurch, or Central Park in New York or Hyde Park in London exist, these are ‘green islands' in an otherwise relentless urban landscape,” says McComb.

Initial plans to use the site for housing were taken off the table in June this year.

A study panel will hear community views and consider received submissions in November before a final report and recommendations are put to the commissioners. A final decision is expected in December.

Dan Sheridan/Stuff