A win for the little guy at Birkenhead War Memorial Park

Members of the resident Birkenhead Cricket Club were shocked to find a council contractor digging the foundations for lighting towers directly on the playing fields.

Denise Montgomery, responsible for communications for the Birkenhead Cricket Club, said there were numerous issues with the placement of the towers impacting all sports teams and spectators.

“One of the light towers was sited slap in the middle of the view from the grandstand, and the other impedes the view from the clubhouse.”

The placement of the towers also encroached on the 100m and 300m athletics tracks, onto the league field and would have sat within the cricket boundary.

“As you can imagine trying to field anywhere near a huge concrete pole is not something any cricketer would relish – it would have been incredibly dangerous,” said Mrs Montgomery.

Mrs Montgomery, along with other members, contacted the council to complain and were told that the council had no knowledge of the construction.

Andrew Gale, Birkenhead Cricket Club chairman, said they weren’t consulted at any point about the lighting, and neither were the athletics or league clubs.

Mr Gale contacted Evan Hicks, Auckland Council sports turf advisor, who said that the holes had been dug and the concrete poured “without proper consultation with the park users by the contractors, and without sign-off by the council”.

Work on the lights ceased immediately with the council admitting there needed to be proper consultation. Mrs Montgomery was advised by a Kaipatiki Local Board member that following her initial contact there had been a “flurry of meetings”.

A new proposal by the council is to dig much deeper holes and use removable lights that can be taken down and covered over in the summer, so as not to impede on the cricket and athletics grounds.

Mr Gale welcomed the new proposal saying it was a good outcome for the club.