SIX-YEAR-OLD Ash Dearnley wants to be an ice skate dancer even though she has no skates.
However, she loves to roller-blade and now Ash has her own facebook page ‘Let’s Build Wellington an ice rink’.
“I want to be an ice skate dancer or a famous ballerina… or maybe a councillor person,” she says, giggling.
Ash got the idea for an ice skating rink when she saw the new Kilbirnie Sports Centre being built and her mother Libby Butcher encouraged her to write a letter to the council.
The project manager said they were “unable to build one because the sports centre will have soft floors that require warm air”, but that didn’t stop Ash.
“The man who wrote the letter said that maybe I could get enough signatures from my friends so we decided to go to lots of people.”
So far the Miramar Central School pupil has 1305 signatures, 935 of which were collected via the E-petition. The rest Ash collected from businesses and schools in the Eastern suburbs and Wairarapa.
“It’s good because you learn how to balance on something thin because ice skates have thin blades.
We would be the best city in the world if we had an ice rink and she [Mayor Celia Wade-Brown] would be the best councillor in the world,” she says.
Wellington City Council Sports and Recreation Planning manager Glenn McGovern says he was unaware of Ash’s petition but agrees that there is a lot of public interest.
“We are talking to a couple of companies at the moment but it is a challenge commercially,” he says.
In 2002, a temporary ice rink was built on what is now Waitangi Park.
“Around 20,000 people used it during a two-week period and a lot of them were visitors from outside the city. There have been many meetings about a permanent rink over the past eight years.
“It has been very frustrating as we have been close but the developer decided not to go ahead with it due to commercial viability.”
In 2007, Mike Kelly made a proposal for an ice rink to the Wellington City Council. His proposal was rejected.
“They said it was a great idea but they could see it as something which should be privately funded, not taxpayer funded.”
He still believes there is a strong case for an ice rink in the lower North Island.
“In NZ the expectation is that councils don’t need to provide ice rinks, and that they should be funded privately. I think this can be overcome by educating people on the huge benefits a local ice rink would bring.”
Environmental concerns were also an issue, he says.
“By far the most environmentally friendly solution is to run an ice rink and swimming pool together. That way the heat pump system can channel heat to the swimming pool, and the cold to the ice rink.”
He wishes Ash every success.
“What Ash is doing is phenomenal, especially as a six-year-old. I think she’s really onto something here.”
The deadline for Ash’s Wellington petition has been extended for one month till January 15. Sign the E-petition at www.wellington.govt.nz by clicking on ‘Have Your Say’ or at ‘Let’s build Wellington an ice rink’ on facebook.