$900k Masterton track paced out | Wairarapa News | Local News in Wairarapa

Representatives of the company which will install the $900,000 all-weather athletics track at the Pugh Sports Bowl in Masterton visited the venue yesterday and were "pleasantly surprised" at what they saw.

Simon Bach, from Actionsports International's Hong Kong headquarters, and Mark Tapley, from Christchurch, met members of the Wairarapa Regional All-Weather Track Trust (WRATT) to gain a first-hand impression of what confronts them in the installation process and, according to trust chairman Jonathan Hooker, everything was to their liking.

"I think you can say they were pleasantly surprised at what the Sports Bowl offers.

"They were quite excited about the potential there," Hooker said.

Bach and Tapley suggested the rubberised track should be a mixture of blue and grey rather than the planned blue colour.

Hooker said there was a "good chance" that would now be the case when the track is laid later this year although a start date on the construction work is yet to be confirmed.

A shortfall of some $150,000 in funding is providing the main question mark for the trust in that respect.

Hooker is hopeful, however, further applications for grants will be successful and the preparatory work, which will be done by Oldfields, will get under way in October.

If that happens, the eight-lane track should be ready for use by February-March next year.