The future strategic direction for the play, active recreation and sport sector in Northland is now a lot clearer with the near completion of Kokiri ai te Waka Hourua, the new 2021-31 regional strategy for play, active recreation and sport in Tai Tokerau.
Undertaken as a collaborative project between the Northland Sport Coalition, Sport Northland, the four Northland Councils, Te Kahu o Taonui (the Iwi Chair's Collective) and Sport NZ, the completed strategy provides a high-level strategic framework to guide future decision-making for play, active recreation and sport in Tai Tokerau. The primary funders of the strategy were Northland Regional Council and Sport NZ, with Far North and Kaipara District Councils also contributing.
It is envisaged that the strategy and the insights it contains will help guide the sector's future approach and programme of work. By working in a collaborative manner, a view of the regional priorities for future play, active recreation and sport has been developed. It is intended this will help guide regional sports organisations, councils, active recreation organisations and relevant funding agencies across Te Tai Tokerau in their decision-making. It will also help the sector as a whole be better informed as to what the needs, rather than wants, are across the region.
The vision for the strategy is 'Keeping Te Tai Tokerau moving in partnership, using our tikanga (way of doing things) to guide how we act now and in the future.' This vision reflects a double meaning of keeping Northlanders moving as well as the sector moving forward in partnership, rather than in isolation.