The Petone Working Men’s Club is to accelerate plans for a $19 million conference centre and hotel on its Udy Street site after getting the nod from members at a special meeting on Sunday the 11th April 2010.

PWMC President Barry Priest says while several of the 176 members at the weekend meeting had reservations about the ambitious development, “it went through by a large majority”.

Mayor David Ogden was briefed by Mr Priest on Thursday and expressed delight with a project that will deliver the city an 1,100 square metre conference facility capable of seating 800 people theatre-style (700 at sit-down dinners), and 58 hotel units of 3.5-Star quality and offer extra employment opportunities. This will be a great benefit and fantastic community asset.

Mr Priest said that if members gave it the sign-off at Sunday’s meeting, “we’ll be going forward asap” to get it underway.  It’s proposed that the new 3-storey building, double the size of the existing large clubrooms, will be built on land PWMC already owns to the west, bordering Bouverie Street.
The land is currently zoned industrial and the PWMC would be seeking resource consent from the Hutt City Council.

If the consent hearing goes smoothly, Mr Priest says work on foundations could get underway as early as January 2011, with  completion of the complex in June - 2012.

PWMC’s existing facilities were constantly under increasing pressure from an expanding membership of close to 12,000, boosted by its recent merger with the 600-member Lower Hutt Memorial RSA late last year.

The Petone club already hosts many regional and national chartered club sports events as diverse as indoor bowling, snooker, darts etc, not to mention conferences.  According to a report the club commissioned from The Stafford Group, there is a potential chartered and sports club market of over 800,000 people in New Zealand.  The consultants also saw strong prospects for accommodation demand from domestic and international tourists, and also from the “price sensitive” travelling businesspeople and Government department sectors, for which a 3.5 Star facility is seen as a good fit.

Mr Priest says the proposed club facilities/conference venue/sports stadium can be divided into a multitude of smaller/break-out spaces with folding walls.  There will also be an additional restaurant, a café for conference meeting/greeting, and better space for the club’s entertainment area.
The 58 hotel units will be built on upper floors, with views out over Petone Rec. and to the harbour.  There is potential for another 58 units to be built for $7.5m at a later date.

The new development would be linked to the existing clubrooms by an adjourning court yard and upper level air bridge and it can be built with minimal disruption to the existing facilities.
The favoured designed allows for a total of 124 on-site carparks, though a proposed conference centre roof garden could be replaced in favour of upper level carparking if required.

Mr Priest says $500,000 is budgeted for soundproofing alone between the conference centre and hotel units. The development would be debt-funded, with an option of looking to attract investors for the hotel component.

Mr Priest acknowledges some opposition from a few longer-term members who liked the club when it was smaller.  “People tend to resist change but this place has a 122 year history and change is going to have to happen.”  He describes the extension as “future proofing” the club for the decades ahead.