Christchurch Council moves forward with two key sport and recreation facilities

Christchurch City Councillors have advanced two key pieces of aquatic, recreation and sporting infrastructure with designs for the new Eastern Recreation and Sport Centre agreed and the long awaited Nga Puna Wai sports hub getting development approval.

The $30.5 million Eastern Recreation and Sport Centre will be located at QEII Park along with Avonside Girls' and Shirley Boys' High School.

Features proposed for the facility include a 25 x 25 metre lane pool, hydroslides and water toys, a toddlers’ pool area, outdoor/BBQ areas, a fitness centre, a group exercise studio and a café.

The Council has also decied that a joint workshop will be held to further discuss the scope of the new facility with representatives from the Council's Communities, Housing and Economic Development Committee, the Burwood-Pegasus Community Board and the Community Advisory Group (which includes representatives from a group of eight community and sport organisations in north east Christchurch) to attend.

Councillors’ approval of the development at Nga Puna Wai comes after a two-month special consultative procedure with 4,725 submitters and public hearings with presentations from 26 submitters, which allowed Councillors and staff to consider all aspects of the proposal.

Nga Puna Wai will combine facilities for a number of sporting disciplines – including an athletics track, hockey turfs, outdoor tennis courts and sports fields – on a 32-hectare area of Nga Puna Wai, a reserve currently used mainly for livestock grazing and public recreation in southwest Christchurch.

Commenting on the process, Council Recreation and Sports Unit Manager John Filsell stated “the Council’s consultation process demonstrated widespread support across the city for a sports hub at Nga Puna Wai – about 90% per cent of submitters were in favour.

“Consultation also reinforced the need to keep local communities involved and engaged, especially over traffic and ecological issues.”

Filsell added “(this is) great news for the whole city.

“A number of sports organisations were displaced by the earthquakes and have been crying out for facilities ever since, and today’s decision means we can start work in earnest.

“Nga Puna Wai will be an efficient way of doing things, it will let codes share facilities and it will give us the infrastructure we need to host national – and international – sports events.

“Now that we have the go-ahead, the next step is to get phase one of the development, which will include an athletics track, underway. Other facilities will be phased in gradually.”

The Council has committed $6.7 million towards the development of the athletics track and will work with sporting groups to determine their share of any financial contributions to the hub.

For more information go to www.ccc.govt.nz/EasternPool and www.ccc.govt.nz/NgaPunaWai

13th September 2014 - QEII PARK SITE A PREFERRED LOCATION FOR EASTERN CHRISTCHURCH’S NEW AQUATIC AND RECREATION CENTRE

4th March 2014 - CHRISTCHURCH ADVANCES PLANS FOR POST-EARTHQUAKE SPORTS HUB