Section up for sale to benefit Papamoa Surf Club

Jim Pearson, Dwayne Roper and Andrew Hitchfield look over the plans for the new surf club build. Photo / George Novak

A section in Papamoa has been gifted to the Papamoa Surf Club to help fund its $4.5 million new building.

The developer of the Terrace Views residential subdivision, Zariba Properties Limited, gifted a section to the club valued between $280,000 and $300,000, which would go towards the new building cost.

The building of the new clubhouse, which was more than double the size of the current one, was expected to begin ready for the 2018 surf season.

Papamoa Surf Club chairman Andrew Hitchfield said there was an urgent need for a new building as the existing one was built 27 years ago and was in "a state of disrepair".

"It was designed for 100 members which they had in 1990 and it was expanded in 2001 to accommodate 150 to 200 members. We now have about 800 members and we are growing fast."

Hitchfield said the new building would be a fit-for-purpose surf lifesaving facility designed around functionality to be able to manage a rescue as fast as possible, particularly during night callouts.

Papamoa Rescue Base Trust chairman Jim Pearson said the final design was due to be completed this month and a building consent would be applied for in February, subject to the needed funds being raised in time.

A total of $2.5m has been raised for the $4.5m project so far, which included the estimated value of the residential section.

"The current facility was built on the material from the 1990s which is not suitable for today's needs," Pearson said.

The new building will stretch across the dunes and will be about two-and-a-half times the size of the current building at 1330sq m.

Pearson said the core aspect of the building was to help with surf lifesaving. However, a larger clubhouse would help provide space for community groups such as Lions, Papamoa Surf Casting, Girl Guides and Boy Scouts.

Terrace Views managing director Dwayne Roper said the section would be available about the middle of this month.

Roper said the Terrace Views development had completed three stages of the five-stage development and said gifting a section to the rebuild project was a great way to give back to the growing Papamoa community.

He said the surf club was chosen because the beach was an important drawcard for the Papamoa region and because of the great job volunteers did at safeguarding the beach.

"We see the club as the guardians of the beach. The reality is many families moving into Terrace Views will have young ones who join nippers or older children who join the surf programme," Roper said.

"Most families will be regular users of the beach which is only a five-minute drive away from the new residential community."