The project which was funded by the Federal Government has been managed and partly constructed by Port Macquarie-Hastings Council who now cannot hand the field over to the Port Macquarie Hockey Association due to the layout of the field not meeting the national standard for competition.

I believe with no power to the site, no water and no lighting - questions have to be answered as to why a million dollar development was so poorly planned.

There are also safety concerns over the height of the fence around the field which adjoins busy Ocean Drive.

What is also worrying is that council had minimal consultation with the Hockey Association regarding their requirements during the design and construction phase of the facility.

This is another example of a community sporting group being excluded from matters which are important to them and it smacks of the Tuffins Lane debacle being repeated. 

To date council’s only public statement on this matter is that the fields were not yet handed over to them by the contractor and that there were line marking issues.

Council has to come clean and explain to ratepayers and the general community what is going on here, how these problems occurred and what exactly is being done to fix it.

Should I be elected as Mayor on 29 July, I will guarantee all sporting groups are consulted by council and will ensure that the general manager introduces policies and procedures to prevent issues like this from reoccurring again.

Peta Pinson

Mayoral candidate