By Dale Budge

Auckland Council will work with Franklin Basketball and Belgravia Leisure to try and find a resolution to their ongoing battle around the use of Franklin Pool and Leisure Centre.

A grumpy email from Franklin Basketball Association boss Jamie Reddish was made public this week, where he asked for the facility’s owners Auckland Council to step in a remedy what he describes as an untenable working relationship with centre management company Belgravia, who the council has charged with running the venue.

Reddish claims poor communication and late decisions to change bookings without warning is forcing his organisation to consider all options, including walking away from the facility.

But Auckland Council General Manager Active Communities Dave Stewart said he will attempt to mend the relationship.

“We support and value Belgravia Leisure while understanding that Franklin Basketball is frustrated and disappointed,” Stewart said via an email to Counties Sports Hub.

“We will investigate the complaint with the intention of supporting a robust and mutually productive relationship between Franklin Basketball and Belgravia Leisure.

“We expect Franklin Basketball and Belgravia Leisure to continue to work together to provide these well-used and much-loved sport and recreation services to the Franklin community.”

Stewart is adamant that Franklin Basketball is not being squeezed out and he said the council is committed to them remaining at the Franklin Pool and Leisure base.

“Auckland Council and Belgravia Leisure have invested significantly in basketball facilities to support the sport,” Stewart said. “The vast majority of the indoor court space will continue to be dedicated to basketball.

“Franklin Basketball have done an outstanding job in their community. There has never been any suggestion of squeezing them out and this has been backed up by the actions of both the council and Belgravia with significant investment in the sport.”

One of the criticisms of Belgravia Leisure’s management of Franklin Pool and Leisure Centre is the move to allow smaller sports or groups like indoor netball and pickle ball to have access to the centre, ahead of additional basketball times.

But Stewart defended that decision, claiming it was part of Belgravia’s mandate.

“Their management agreement with Auckland Council details that Belgravia must provide ‘a range of affordable, high-quality, structured and unstructured programmes and activities enabling users to be more active and improve their health and well-being,” Stewart explained.

“They also need to offer local programmes to targeted communities to increase their participation in sport and recreation and enable them to be more active. Belgravia are expected to provide a range of activities that meet the needs of diverse users in the community – this requires some compromise and understanding from all.

“We appreciate that all our leisure centre staff and operating partners have a difficult job managing operations, with staffing challenges, balancing the demand on space and facilities, and ensuring that we provide an exceptional experience during each of the eight million visits to our pools and leisure centres per year.”

With basketball’s popularity, particularly in youth grades, soaring and the population boom in Franklin set to continue, this issue is only going to become bigger in the coming years.

Stewart said that is a reality of the situation and something Belgravia and Auckland Council will do their best with while also managing the needs of other sports.

“In the last three years, in partnership with Franklin Basketball, we have increased court numbers from two to three courts with badminton giving up considerable space to accommodate basketball. “Basketball has been the beneficiary of Belgravia responding to community demand. Under Belgravia’s management, basketball hours have increased by over 50 per cent.

“Franklin is a growing region and community venues are experiencing pressure. Other sports, such as swimming, have similar capacity issues at Franklin Pool and Leisure centre.

“The Franklin area, and the pressure on the pool and leisure centre, is not unique: indoor court and pool space is a finite resource, and demand is growing. Often this demand is concentrated at particular times and requires the same resources, so we need to ensure that there is equitable access to our community assets.

“Auckland Council and Belgravia will continue to invest in the facility and balance our diverse community needs as best as we can. Whilst there is consistent demand for basketball, activities popular with other communities that also need our support are an essential part of our service strategy.”