A Christchurch group is looking into bidding for the 2018 Commonwealth Games and formed an incorporated society last year.
Members of the group will meet with New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) members and the events division of Sport and Recreation New Zealand in Wellington Thursday to learn more about what is required by the Commonwealth Games Federation to bid for the Games.
John Filsell, Christchurch City Council manager of recreation and sport said, “Thursday’s meeting will explore the options surrounding a bid. After that my next port of call would be reporting back to stakeholders and the council’s Creating Stronger Communities group. If they decided to go any further it would then have to go before the council for guidance on how to proceed. It’s at a very early stage with no commitments”.
Christchurch held the Games in 1974.
NZOC secretary general Barry Maister said the Games were “right on the fringe for New Zealand. There would need to be a greater appetite for government support for an event this large”.
He added, “I don’t want to knock anyone’s enthusiasm and I’d love to see the Games in New Zealand but it’s a big ask. I’m mindful of what’s going on at the moment with the three cities that are bidding for 2014. The literature and glossy publications we are getting, plus invitations to visit their countries, all expenses paid, to see their facilities gives an indication of the costs of staging the whole thing”.
A feasibility study on New Zealand hosting the Games again was done last year and concluded that the Games were out of New Zealand’s reach, but Maister said Sparc, which commissioned the study, wanted more information.
