Tauranga sporting organisations are seeking prioritisation and consultation when it comes to their right to book events on Tauranga City Council land.

TCC's City Vision Committee yesterday heard from six sporting code representatives who aired concerns about council's Draft Outdoor Spaces Booking Policy.

Mount Sports Club facilitator Matt Walsh, Helen Fabing, from Tauranga Dog Training, and Tauranga Hockey Association's Clyde du Toit present to council.

The policy, developed last year due to an increase in event applications and the need to juggle these with regular sports, provides a framework for booking outdoor spaces such as Blake Park, Coronation Park, and the Wharepai Domain.

Submitters for the draft policy included Bay of Plenty Cricket Trust, Tauranga Athletics, Mount Maunganui Sports Club and Tauranga Hockey Association.

Mount Maunganui Sports Club facility manager Matt Welsh says the club wants a higher level of council consultation on scheduled one-off events that clash with regular sports draws and impact on club revenue.

He says last year's Summerfest event at Blake Park meant the scheduled Wednesday night touch module couldn't go ahead. It cost the club money on an event that has been running for the last 20 years, says Matt.

He told council the club wants more consultation and co-operation on booking Blake Park, and potentially compensation from event organisers.

'Blake Park is becoming more and more popular for people wanting to use it - not just for training, but one off events,” says Matt.

'Our suggestion is that prior to a booking confirmation being set in place, that we as a club be consulted with the intended dates in order to establish a positive availability to alleviate any clashes of events.”

About 250 outdoor spaces are included in council's centralised booking system with more than 1200 bookings managed in one year for these areas. Prior to the draft policy, prioritisation was determined by a hierarchy starting with an international event through to club training.

Tauranga Dog Training Club treasurer Helen Fabling says council need to take a step back and look at the level of bureaucracy when it comes to setting up the booking process.

Under the draft policy the club – based at Morland Fox Park at Greerton – can only book one event every six months, as opposed to booking all four of their events at the start of each year.

Helen says the club, which has been using the park for more than 25 years, also has to submit site plans for each competition, instead of one generic plan for every event.

'It's creating a lot of work for both the council and us and it's quite stressful; surely we can only submit one plan a year?”

'Shows we hold on Morland Fox Park are planned and arranged at least six months ahead of the scheduled date. We therefore need to be confident well ahead of time that the requested booking is ours,” says Helen.

Tauranga Hockey Association general manager Clyde du Toit wants hockey included in the winter sports programme as it is essential for the sport to use the grass fields next the Blake Park and two turfs.

During the winter months the association use the fields for the primary school aged mini hockey programme and with a high level of investment and interest in the lower grades, council need to consider this submission.

'Our growth in junior hockey is substantial. 2014 is going to be even higher than last year; more kids are playing hockey and more teams are going to play and more space is needed,” says Clyde.

A decision on the six submissions is expected at a later date.