| 93 T T Sue Russell The new Waitārere Beach Surf Life Saving Community Facility will have capacity for upward of 200 people. COMMUNITY Horowhenua District Council: Waitārere Surf Life Saving Facility Function, style and affordability —you can have it all. PlumbingWorld Levin 55 Main South Road, Horowhenua, Levin Ph. 06 366 0018 Branches Nationwide plumbingworld.co.nz Phone: 06 363 5135 Main Road South, Foxton Email: office@tenua.co.nz www.tenua.co.nz WORKMANSHIP THE BEST NO JOB TOO BIG OR SMALL www.facebook.com/TenuaEngineers - Call Kim on 027 229 1211 Structural Buildings | Farm Buildings | Agricultural Products | General Engineering Proud to Support Homestead Construction After striving for many years, the Levin-Waitārere Suf Life Saving Club, supported financially by Horowhenua District Council and Surf Life Saving New Zealand, has realised a long-term vision to provide the community with purpose-built modern clubrooms from which to operate. Programme Manager for the Council, Tony Parsons, says it was as far back as 2008 when the Surf Life Saving Club first advocated for new, closer to the beach, clubrooms with more capacity, be built. The existing clubrooms were, in fact, owned by Council and earthquake prone, who in parallel to the fundraising effort that would secure the build, made steps to redesignate more land to enable the new facility to be built, more practically, closer to the surf. Designation of the land took place in 2016 and its primary focus was for the building to be used for surf life saving and closely aligned activities. “Construction got underway in November last year and its due to be completed November this year. So far, the build has run according to schedule,” Tony says. A tendering process was enacted to secure the building’s contractors with local business Homestead Construction Ltd, securing the project. Tony says the tendering process went well and believes Homestead was the right choice, given the time-frames, scale and importance of the build. “They are a reputable local building company and, as a Council, we’re always keen to see local businesses involved in significant local projects that bring direct benefits to this community.” The new Waitārere Beach Surf Life Saving Community Facility will have capacity for upward of 200 people. Most importantly, it will provide plenty of space for rescue operations and training. Through grounding construction of the new facility in Council’s 2021-2041 Long Term Plan it enabled Council to set aside $3.2m to design and build the new clubrooms. Council stipulated that a $1million funding contribution be found from within the surf life saving community. “Fortunately the club was able to secure $1million through funding provided to NZ Surf Life Saving from Government, which secured the project and meant construction planning could get underway.” This meant that design and build, along with tendering stages could be fixed. Council has more recently submitted an application to the Department of Internal Affairs as part of the Three Waters Better Off Funding Package, to contribute an additional $400k towards upgrading public toilets and the wider public amenity surrounding the new Surf Life Saving Community Facility. When final costings for the project came through there was a shortfall of $400,000, on top of the funding applications to ECCT and Lotto and adjustments to increase Council funding within its Long Term Plan were agreed in July 2022. “There’s definitely been a lot of positives bringing this project to fruition. Iwi have been consulted and given their support for this work to go ahead.” On the Council website is further information about the project, along with a drawing of how the clubrooms will look when completed. With the existing surf life saving clubrooms some 80m from the high-tide line, being that much closer will make the world of difference for surf patrols and bring the life-saving facilities that much closer to those who need them. The new centre will offer the following facilities to enhance the surf life-saving club’s capacity: A patrol tower or watch room Training and beach education rooms for junior surf development and youth beach safety education which are open to school groups, the public and members of the club Kitchen and facilities to accommodate up to 200 people for community related events that closely align with surf life saving Changing rooms, toilets and showers First Aid room Storage facilities for the Surf Life Saving Club’s rescue and training equipment. Other features include a deck, patio, BBQ area, outside rinse showers and a washdown forecourt. “This project is a fine example of how Council can partner with organisations of direct benefit to the community. We are all very much looking forward to its completion later in the year.” Newer, bigger and closer clubrooms
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