The Auckland Shooting Club is a sports club established with the goal of promoting firearms SAFETY, TRAINING, RESPONSIBLE firearm ownership, and to PROMOTE and FOSTER the various international shooting sport disciplines.
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It is unfortunate that despite undergoing a detailed and exhaustive process to select a highly suitable location for the club, and successfully operating one of New Zealand's largest shooting clubs on the site for several years, the dream has come to a complete halt.
Auckland Council has openly refused to recognise shooting as a legitimate sport despite the many international bodies that promote and administer the various disciplines. Despite numerous shooting events at the Olympic Games. Despite a number of ASC club members representing New Zealand at the highest level in international competition overseas. Several times.
Further, the Auckland Council provided incomplete and false information to the NZ Police regarding the club's fully certified ranges, knowing this would result in the cancellation of our range certifications. Which it did, after fierce debate with the council, and with what we consider a degree of regret from the police, who had no other option but to act on the council's advice.
Auckland Council also willingly acted on the ridiculous number of "noise complaints" from one or two of the neighbours, compiling a summary list spanning many pages, with every one of the complaints being personally investigated and confirmed NOT in breach of any noise restrictions. What a crazy waste of ratepayer money. One must wonder WHY the council persisted in investigating vexatious complaints over and over and over again. And at what cost?​
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It would seem that a small number of planners (both within Auckland Council AND overpaid external consultants) used every option available to create legal and financial obstacles for the ASC and its 600 members.
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All we wanted was to create a world-class shooting facility that would be an asset to New Zealand's sport-shooting community and, indeed, the entire local region.
It has been very eye-opening to see how the Auckland Council, our civil servants who work for us, provide so much support for rugby, tennis, basketball, pony clubs, etc., but work so hard to oppose the development of a worldwide sport that they, suburban commuters, have no knowledge of and such a philosophical adversity to.
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We would like to thank the many people who have shown so much support for the club since its inception almost 10 years ago in 2016:
The many members from all walks of life from accountants and IT professionals, builders and electricians, to Police and Defence Force.
The many contractors and volunteers who gave so much time and resource.
The committee members who put in so much of their time.
The many neighbours and locals who did support the club, visited, enjoyed, and saw the vision.
And ESPECIALLY the club founders, who put their heart and soul and more money than most of us will ever have, into their amazing dream, our amazing community.
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The Auckland Shooting club is closed, and the region is certainly worse off for it.
