Water infrastructure at Mystery Creek near Hamilton is undergoing a $2.7 million upgrade with the help of a Regional Infrastructure Fund loan of $1.35 million, the Government has today confirmed.
Regional Development Minister, Shane Jones said the events site’s ageing infrastructure had reached the end of its serviceable life and was starting to fail.
“The existing water infrastructure at Mystery Creek is more than 50 years old. The venue also needs to increase its water storage volume to cope with increasing visitor numbers and more than 1,000 exhibitor sites,” Mr Jones says.
Mystery Creek is where National Fieldays is held in June each year, showcasing New Zealand’s primary sector and attracting more than 110,000 visitors over four days. The event generates $528 million in total expenditure, including $213 million in the Waikato region.
More than 100 other events are hosted at Mystery Creek during the year, ranging from community to national events.
“The Mystery Creek event centre also serves as a critical infrastructure location for Civil Defence in Waikato and would act as a logistics and supply hub during a large-scale emergency,” said Associate Regional Development, Minister Mark Patterson.
“The site needs to be safe, accessible and resilient. This includes a reliable water supply.”
Work involves replacing the existing reticulated water network and installing one 600,000-litre water tank. Up to seven jobs will be created during construction. The work, which has already begun, is on track to be completed in time for this year’s Fieldays.
The Regional Infrastructure Fund loan will be made to New Zealand National Fieldays Incorporated Society, which is contributing $1.35 million to the project. The society owns the Mystery Creek event site.
“This investment will help future-proof the economic contribution the Mystery Creek venue and the National Fieldays event makes to Waikato and nationally,” Mr Patterson says.
