| 97 Eastern Community Sports and Recreation COMMUNITY Ange Davidson Projects a boost for community The Eastern Canopy was built over the previously damaged Rāwhiti Domain tennis courts - the all-weather floodlit canopy covers four tennis and netball courts. The seaside community of Brighton in Christchurch was hit particularly hard by the Canterbury Earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. A lot of infrastructure and housing was damaged and the road to recovery has been slow. When the call came for Shovel Ready Projects to keep people in work and communities thriving during the Covid pandemic, there were plenty of projects that fitted the bill for the Eastern Community Sport and Recreation (ECSR) which operates out of the Eastern Hub in New Brighton. With the support of Christchurch East MP, Poto Williams, the New Brighton Collective was created and submitted for consideration for Shovel Ready funding. Manager, Kate Latimer says five projects connected with ECSR were identified and granted $3.215 million of government funding. First off the block was the Eastern Canopy built over the previously damaged Rāwhiti Domain tennis courts. The canopy is constructed from a tensioned membrane fixed to large aluminium beams and is the first of its kind in New Zealand. “The all-weather floodlit canopy covers four tennis and netball courts; it has in built netted cages for cricket, softball and baseball, and the rugby club can use the space for pre-season training. The canopy is 18m high and 70m long so it covers a big area,” says Kate. “The facility is available to organisations outside ECSR and we’re looking forward to as many different groups using the canopy as possible. People can book the facility on-line via Pay2Play.” The second project to get underway was the refurbishment of the ECSR hub’s 70 yearold club rooms. Originally the New Brighton Rugby Football clubrooms, the building had suffered earthquake damage. Now with a new roof and internal refurbishment, the rooms are well used for community meetings and events and is home to Rawhiti OSCAR after school programme. Part of the refurbishment was installing new lights at Thomson Park plus turning the old rugby training ground at the top end of the Rāwhiti Domain into a main playing field. The lights provide 270 metres of lit ground while the playing field is used for rugby and touch rugby in the summer. Board Chairman and Project manager for the Eastern Hub refurbishment, Wayne Turner says the projects were all visions the rugby club had harboured for a long time and the funding turned these dreams into a reality. “We’re really grateful to get this funding for a combined clubroom. It’s beneficial not just for rugby but for all sports and community groups,” says Wayne. The New Brighton Rugby Football Club is a foundation member of the rebranded ECSR which now has 11 sports clubs and community organisations under its umbrella. Across the year, the facilities are used by around 500 people a week. Futsal, pickle ball, and marching are some of the other groups making use of the canopy and clubrooms. Guardians of Rāwhiti have managed the third project as ECSR members and are creating a monarch butterfly and native bird sanctuary on Rāwhiti Domain. This will incorporate a 1.7 hectare natural woodland play space with education on the ecology of the domain and Canterbury’s coast. The fourth project is the upgrade and earthquake repairs to the South Brighton Tennis Club’s five courts and clubrooms. The recently finished fifth project is an international standard softball diamond built for PCU Softball Club. “The community are really proud of these assets,’ says Kate. “I’m very positive about Brighton and it’s so good to see new developments and housing underway. There are lots of new people moving into the area.” Other projects in New Brighton that received funding assistance were The Bridge Hub and the South Brighton Surf Club bringing the total to $7 million.
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