NORTH HARBOUR'S FIRST ARTIFICIAL PITCH OPENED ON 19 JULY

North Harbour’s First Artificial Rugby Pitch Opened 19 July

On Saturday 19 July North Harbour’s first artificial rugby pitch was opened by Deputy Chairperson of the Upper Harbour Local Board Lisa Whyte assisted by fellow board member Callum Blair at North Harbour Domain.  Evan Hicks, Auckland Council Turf Advisor for the Northern sector who had project managed the installation also spoke to representatives of North Harbour Rugby, Marist Rugby Club, the Northern Football Federation, HEB Construction and Council staff.  Domain No. 4 initially started life as a turf rugby pitch in 1997 and has been a sand-based football or soccer pitch for the last decade and was converted to an 1.5 artificial sportsfields at a cost of $2.4 Million.

The Local Board wanted to fund an artificial pitch that provided for both rugby and football for the local sporting community and on Saturday half-field rugby games were played alongside a number of half-field football games on Domain No. 4 and the immediately adjacent Domain No. 5, a half-sized pitch.  Two J5 and two J6 fixtures and a J1 fixture were played during the morning and into the early afternoon. The rugby posts were removed by Council staff, Marist rugby club volunteers and Union staff and football was played in the full-sized No. 4 pitch throughout the afternoon and into the early evening. The conversion of No. 4 pitch from rugby to football took 20 minutes. The field is fully lit for night fixtures and for training. The Union and Marist rugby club intend to use the artificial pitch for junior and senior team trainings/fixtures throughout August with Union representative teams training plus some fixtures throughout September, and with secondary school sevens tournament being held in October. 

The artificial pitch is a magnificent and very functional asset for rugby and football in the North Harbour region which will have an impact for many years to come in providing a quality and durable all-weather training and playing facility. Many thanks to the Auckland Council and Upper Harbour Board for their foresight and delivery of Domain No. 4 and to HEB Construction who installed the facility for a job well done. There is a few usage protocols to be put in place by Union staff to ensure the long term serviceability of the facility and there is an education programme about to be implemented.   Another artificial pitch will be constructed in 2015 at Greville Reserve, Castor Bay for use by rugby, league and football