Saxton Field of Dreams

At Saxton Field, a world-class multi-sport complex has just opened, provinding space for international competitions, an economic boost and top-level facilities | By Andrew Board | Photography by Tim Cuff


Those first weary trips out to what would become Saxton Field were taken in the early 1980s. Fast-forward to 2009 and the farm animals have gone; so too their mess and the lumpy paddocks they called home. In their place is a multi-million dollar, world-class sports and recreation area that links Nelson with Tasman; attracting scores of people piling praise on the new heart and soul of sport in Nelson.

One recent weekend gave stakeholders a glimpse of the future of Saxton Field, and boy did it look bright. “I couldn’t have been more excited about what I saw. We need to replicate that weekend and make it a regular thing. And I have no doubt we can do that,” beamed Sport Tasman CEO Nigel Muir.

The weekend in question was June 20 and 21 when, under typically-blazing winter sunshine, the South Island secondary schools’ cross-country champs were held; along with an international hockey fixture between the Black Sticks and an Indian invitational side, a Mainland football match and dozens of local netball games – all over two days. It was a weekend that proved that Saxton Field is not only a regional sports park but a national, and even international, facility with the potential to boost both the region’s economy and the success rate of local athletes.

But the foundations of that future lay in those first few years when the Nelson City Council was deciding what to do with their new overgrown field. A report to councillors in the mid 1980s read: “…it should be in the vein of Hagley Park in Christchurch… with the theme of ‘Sport in the Park’.”

That ‘Sport in the Park’ theme is still a very important, probably the most important, vision of Saxton Field according to the community services manager at NCC, Andrew Petherham. Andrew has been involved with Saxton Field right from the start. “From the beginning, we wanted it to be a place for recreation as much as sports. It had to be a destination, not a playing field.”

Since those early days in the mid 1980s – when the now manicured lawns, mounds and gardens were just bumpy, overgrown paddocks – rapid development has been undertaken; especially in the past decade.

The excitement around the park is rapidly rising as the new $13m indoor sports stadium prepares to open this month. The stadium has been dubbed the ‘jewel in the crown’ of Saxton Field. It will not only be the home to indoor sports in the region but also the home to various sporting administrators in its Sports House offices. This will allow sporting managers and Sport Tasman staff to interact on a daily basis.

Saxton Field is now being recognised nationally, with its current facilities including several that are world class. Softball diamonds, a water-turf hockey field and a cricket oval all have the capability to host international fixtures. The football fields, new stadium and athletics track have the capability to host national events, and the planned cycling track will be constructed to international standards.

On top of those key sports, archery, playgrounds, recreational cycling and running tracks, and gardens are key features in the area. It is a truly community-focused park; as much for the professional athlete as for the casual walker, say its designers. Together, the features culminate into a world-class facility that links Nelson City with Tasman District – not bad for a chunk of land that housed farm animals, not athletes, just 25 years ago.

Although major development has only occurred at Saxton Field over the last quarter century, it has a history as a centre of attraction for Nelsonians. In 1934, Kingsford Smith became a local hero when he landed his plane, Southern Cross, at what is now Saxton Field after the Nelson Aero Club leased the land from its original owners, the Saxtons, just two years earlier.

In 1849, John Warring Saxton bought the land from the New Zealand Company for £150. The family homestead, Oaklands, still stands on the land behind Saxton Field today. The space remained farmland until the King-Turner family, who had purchased it off the Saxtons, sold part of it to the NCC and the Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand in 1977.

But it wasn’t until 1986 that the first sports were played at Saxton Field when local hockey matches were moved to the park in the winter of that year. Following that success, the NCC held several meetings with other sporting codes and the Richmond Borough Council about the future of the land.

In 1991, netball representatives – rapidly running out of space and using the car park at Trafalgar Centre as courts – proposed building 13 new courts along with a pavilion to be shared with Nelson Suburbs Soccer. The following year, the courts were built and Tasman District Council entered the fray with a donation towards roading at Saxton Field. The idea of a truly regional facility, catering for sports over the two districts, became the new vision.

Closer to the millennium, both councils stepped up their interest in the concept. They acquired land to future-proof the area and formed a joint development team to manage it. It was then that work really began to take off.

In 2005, stage one of the Saxton Field extension project was carried out. This included the construction of two all-weather softball fields, seven junior football fields, three senior football fields and a playground. The following year, the world-class hockey turf was completed. And by 2008, the new football pitch and pavilion were finished, as was the cricket field. Work also began on “the jewel”.

The story behind the stadium is one of separate sporting codes working together and coming up trumps. Then-Sport Tasman CEO Neville Male chaired the first meeting of the Saxton Field Sports Stadium Society in the late 1990s. The society was made up of members from netball, basketball, volleyball and table tennis – all with the sole goal of leading the charge to get the stadium built. Male retired from the society and Sport Tasman in 2007, but it didn’t slow down momentum. Roger Ledingham took the reins and says “the stadium will be an immeasurable asset for the region”.

“An initial discussion in the mid 1990s focused on constructing just one covered netball court, and it’s grown from there to what it is today. Now with the four sports involved, and the size of it, we’re looking at one incredible sporting facility,” says Ledingham.

More than 450 consultants, suppliers and contractors worked on the 7,500m2, $13m stadium that accommodates five international-sized netball or basketball courts, 12 volleyball courts, a self-contained table tennis stadium and space for Sport Tasman and sports administrative offices. Ledingham says it’s a source of immense pride for the society.

“The whole experience has been positive, rewarding, satisfying and exciting. All of the sports worked really well together. I look at it now and think, ‘God, did we do that?’ We knew it would be big but have been blown away with the final size of it. It’s an experience just stepping inside.”

The role of the society in the project is impossible to overlook. It was their concept, right from the start. The vision and professionalism of the group made the project possible. Once the two councils came on board and agreed to build the stadium, it was still left to the society to raise $2,656,892 – a task Ledingham says was daunting but ultimately inspiring.

“When netball first looked at ways to build a stadium, we realised that funding would be an issue. That was one reason why we invited basketball, volleyball and table tennis to join in. It turned out that they were absolutely critical. Because we had a number of sports involved, it meant we could get very big grants. And making the facility available to everyday users made us quite popular with donors as well.”

Steve Kelso, area manager for Arrow International (project manager of the stadium), says it was a dream to work on. “This has been such a well-organised project. The communication between all the parties has been fantastic, and we are all excited to see it become a great facility for sportspeople.”

The design of the stadium is also very modern, with environmentally-sustainable design elements that include a Trombe wall to absorb solar heat and rainwater storage tanks for toilet-water supply.

But for all the back-patting and talk of innovative products and the immense size of the stadium, the reason for it all comes back to sports and providing local sportspeople with the best possible surfaces on which to play. “This has provided us, along with the rest of Saxton Field, with all the great ingredients. Now we’re ready to bake a great-tasting cake. We just need to coordinate our activities so we can make the most of it,” says Muir, struggling to wipe a big smile from his face.

A public open day for the stadium last month saw hundreds of people step inside and have a look. The grand opening of the stadium, later this month, will signal the completion of the most expensive single project at Saxton Field. While the benefits have already been lauded by almost everyone who has glanced inside the monster, the massive injection of quality infrastructure at the park isn’t about to slow.

Later this year, construction of the hockey and softball pavilion is due to begin, which will be followed by a utilities shed and scoreboard at the cricket pitch. An athletics and cricket pavilion will start soon after that, while another playground and recreational roading and cycle lanes are all to be added within the next few years.

The cycling velodrome – expected to be built next to the Avery football fields off Champion Road – is in the NCC’s plan for 2014. However, a current proposal before Rugby World Cup minister Murray McCully is to use government funds earmarked for the cup in Nelson to move the cycling track from Trafalgar Park to Saxton Field. If this is approved by McCully, work on the track is expected to begin within months.

While the benefits to sport and sportspeople from what is now the region’s sporting hub is without question, Muir believes it extends much further than that. He says that Saxton Field has the ability to inject millions of dollars into the local economy.

“There are lots of exciting advantages at Saxton Field – we are central for New Zealand, we have the most sunshine hours and we have the fourth busiest airport. We’ve looked at the nine key sports represented at Saxton Field and built most of them world-class facilities. For these sports we’ve asked: ‘How many regional, South Island, national, age group and masters’ tournaments do they run, and how many can we get?’ We believe there are 250-300 tournament opportunities available. Currently, we get about 25 per year – worth about $9m to the region. We think we can easily quadruple that number; $30m being a very conservative estimate.”

If Muir’s calculations are in the right ballpark, the financial spin-offs could last for decades.

Yet another added bonus, states Petherham, is that “as Nelson and Tasman both grow, this facility is going to be more important than just a place to play sport. Cycling paths will link both Nelson and Richmond to the park, and it provides a huge chunk of green space between Stoke and Richmond. The benefits just keep coming.”

Sixty-five hectares of space for sport and recreation was the dream, and the reason stakeholders are so excited is because now they’ve had a taste of it. Saxton Field is rapidly showing its true potential and the thought of it is making them, along with us onlookers, giddy.

However, there’s still work to do… a lot of work. But with the stadium finished, it now feels like 5.00pm on a Wednesday – hump day. The hard work is done, the climbing is over and it’s now a downhill slide to completion and celebration.

The visionaries who stepped onto some overgrown paddocks all those years ago and saw a “Hagley Park for Nelson” couldn’t have known how well it would turn out. With both Nelson and Tasman predicted to increase in population by 20% over the next 20 years, it will continue to grow in stature as one of the most important pieces of infrastructure in the region.

With remarkably little fuss, Saxton Field has become an icon and world-class facility with still more to come. Petherham says it isn’t hard to enjoy it whenever he visits the ever-expanding area: “It is a source of immense pride. If I want job satisfaction, I just go down to Saxton Field and take a look. It always puts a smile on my face. How could it not?”