A bummer summer is hitting Hastings District Council in the pocket, with 12,864 fewer visitors to the city’s Splash Planet amusement park, meaning a drop in revenue of $320,000 (excluding GST) already.

Hastings District Council aquatics manager Tom Page said that up until Christmas Day, the numbers using the outdoor facilities were very similar to last year. “However, the miserable weather we have had since then has undoubtedly had an impact on both Splash Planet and Havelock North’s Village Pools,” Page said. “That rough weather is also likely why we have seen higher use of the indoor facilities at Clive and Flaxmere.”

“Until the season is finished we will not know if the total revenue budget has been met at Splash Planet. There is still time, weather permitting, for the revenue budget to be met. In the meantime staff are reducing expenditure, where possible, to mitigate the loss, with the intention that the net effect will be minimised,” Page said.

Figures were compared from December 1, 2023, to January 8, 2024, and December 1, 2024, to January 8, 2025.

At Ocean Spa in Napier, 2773 fewer people visited over the same period with a total of 24,714 from December 1 to January 8, while the same period last summer saw 27,487 visitors. At the Napier Aquatic Centre there were 338 fewer visitors with the total for the first period standing at 17,435 and the second 17,097.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.