The turf redevelopment committee had been exploring options in regard to redevelopment of its all-weather hockey turf.
Gore District Council chief executive Steve Parry said in a council report in June, the present turf, installed in 1992 at Mataura, was expected to last about 12 years and although it had served hockey well in that time, it was now well past its use-by date.
A hearing panel this week granted The Eastern Southland Hockey Association a land-use resource consent needed for the construction of the new hockey turf.
Eastern Southland Turf Redevelopment Committee chairman Vince Aynsley was notified on Wednesday of the outcome of the resource consent process and he was delighted it had been granted.
"We're definitely happy. It's a reasonably big hurdle out of the way," Mr Aynsley said.
He said the council had been swift in processing the consent and that had been very much appreciated.
It meant the committee would be able to keep to its time line.
It was expected construction of the turf would start in mid-November/December and it was hoped the turf would be ready for the start of next winter's hockey season.
The committee hoped to call for tenders for the construction of the turf next week and it almost had all the funds in hand that were needed for the project.
The committee would be talking to turf specialists within about two weeks, he said.
He was confident of meeting financial and time deadlines because the committee had employed a project manager who would ensure the project ran smoothly.
Mr Aynsley said the building of the new turf would bring beneficial economic spin-offs to the district.
It would mean large tournaments could be held at the facility.
It would also mean parents would be able to drop children off at the multi-sport site and they would be able to take part in different sports at the one site.
It would provide a single drop off and pick up point for children in those different codes.
Hearing commissioner David Pullar said in the consent document, the application had written approval from many of the site's immediate neighbours.
The submissions received on the application were either in support or neutral, Mr Pullar said.
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