2022 New Zealand Recreation Award winners announced

Recreation Aotearoa celebrated some of the best and brightest in the New Zealand recreation industry with the 2022 Recreation Awards, held on Thursday 24th November in Whakatū/Nelson.

The ceremony, held at Rutherford Hotel, marked the first time since 2019 that the awards were able to be held in person. Over 200 gathered at the hotel to celebrate the winners and their impressive contributions to New Zealand’s wider recreation and wellbeing industry.

Recreation Aotearoa Chief Executive, Andrew Leslie noted “It is an honour and a privilege to acknowledge the amazing mahi being done by groups and individuals within the recreation sector across Aotearoa. Every year our industry moves from strength to strength, continually highlighting the value recreation and activation brings to our communities.

“This year we had such a high calibre of nominations, and we were incredibly proud to see a strong focus on bi-culturalism, diversity and inclusion, and sustainability. The recreation sector stands in good stead.”

The Recreation Awards coincide with the national Recreation Conference, the flagship conference for New Zealand’s recreation professionals. This year’s conference was themed around ‘Oranga Taiao – Thriving Environments and Oranga Hapori – Thriving Communities’ and featured experts across disciplines including te ao Māori, community planning, sustainability, and youth engagement.      

Recreation Aotearoa presented awards across eleven categories, including the Emerging Recreation Leader of the Year and the Outdoors Manu Kura/Supreme Award.

The 2022 New Zealand Recreation Award Winners are:

Outstanding Project - Waimakariri District Council, Regeneration Kaiapoi

Merit:  Whanganui District Council,  Drews Avenue Innovation Streets, and Tūpuna Maunga Authority Tracks programme

Outstanding Event - Whanganui District Council, Lights on Bikes & Drews Ave Street Party

Merit:  Hamilton City Council and Waikato District Council, Dirty Dog Challenge

Outstanding Park - Auckland City Council, Ambury Regional Park

Outstanding Pool - Christchurch City Council, Te Pou Toetoe/Linwood Pool

Outstanding Community Recreation Programme - Bay Venues, Funky Fun Day

Outstanding Research, Planning & Policy - RSL Consultancy, Sport Northland, and regional partners, Te Tai Tokerau Regional Planning for Play, Active Recreation, and Sport

Manu Kura/Outdoors Supreme Award - Mike Elkington (Whenua Iti)

Paul Stuart Memorial Award (Facility Management) - Lynden Noakes (CLM)

Ian Galloway Memorial Cup (Parks, Amenity Horticulture, and Open Space) - Mace Ward (Auckland Council)

Emerging Recreation Leader of the Year - Abbe Banks (Gisborne District Council)

Recreation Aotearoa Fellows - Geoff Canham, Catriona McBean, Gareth Moore-Jones