A leaky roof at Ashburton’s sports stadium has put a dampener on the start of the Mid Canterbury netball season.

And then the treacherous road conditions resulted in the first round of premier netball being postponed.

Ashburton District Council people and facilities group manager Sarah Mosley said staff noted two small leaks to the side of the playing surface of the courts when the stadium opened on Wednesday morning.

And it’s not the first time the stadium has had the problem.

“The source continues to elude contractors,” Mosley said.

“Over the years there have been times when we believe the problem has been solved and no leaks occur in the rain events that follow the work, but then they reappear months later.

“It appears to be due to a combination of high levels of rainfall combined with wind from a particular angle.

“The roof undergoes an annual visual assessment, and contractors have been engaged and will investigate further when the weather allows.”

The leak occurred on the opening day of the netball season.

Mid Canterbury Netball centre manager Erin Tasker said social netball still went ahead on Wednesday night.

“We just had to play around the leaks.

“They’re both just off the side of the court, so the real hazard is for the umpires, so we just had to make them super aware and cautious that they didn’t run into the buckets.”

After seeking advice from the council and Civil Defence, the decision was made to postpone the opening games of premier grades “for the safety of our whole netball community”.

“This is not a decision that we have taken lightly.

“We worked with the stadium to find a temporary solution to the roof leaks, however, our main concern right now is safety.

“We’ve been advised that there are many routes that are virtually impassable in rural areas at the moment as well as significant issues with state highways, and these conditions will be much worse in the dark.

“Along with teams from rural areas, we also have a number of umpires, and players, travelling from Selwyn and Timaru.”

The last time the stadium had issues with leaks was the final night of Mid Canterbury netball’s summer league in 2021.

On that night, several matches were cancelled due to the leaks in the roof, and the council stated at the time it would continue to ensure water tightness of the facility for the future.

By Jonathan Leask