Onerahi basketball court extended due to popularity

Contractors work on extending the half-sized basketball court at Onerahi. Photo / Supplied

A half sized community basketball court in a Whangārei community is being extended due to it's popularity.

Work on extending the court at Onerahi's Sherwood Park started a couple of weeks ago.

Onerahi Community Association vice-president and project co-ordinator Brian McLachlan said the association saw the existing court had become more popular.

"The half-court had only one hoop so the Onerahi Community Association decided to enable games to be played by extending the court and installing a second hoop."

He said the court was not quite full size due to space restrictions.

The finishing touches are yet to be added to the court, but the big jobs had been completed.

"All the concrete is all set and everything. We're just waiting for the back boards to go up and then we're all go."

The nearly completed basketball court at Onerahi. Photo / John Stone

McLachlan said Sherwood Park has become a great community asset with the renewal of the skateboard park, new toilets, playground equipment and a drinking fountain over a number of years.

Onerahi Community Association treasurer Rose Tantau said the basketball court project cost $22,000 with the money coming from association funds and a grant from the Oxford Trust.

Local contractors Robinson Asphalt had been tasked with the concrete work, while Black Dog Engineering had shifted the poles.

McLachlan said feedback so far had been overwhelmingly positive.

He said despite there being no hoops to shoot at, children had already been playing on the extended court.

The extension of the court follows the opening of a new court in Otangarei at the end of last year.

Sport Northland was involved with that project, which started with a series of hui where youth identified the renovation of the old basketball court as a priority.

The basketball court is part of a rejuvenation of Otangarei Reserve, which includes a playground, new footpaths, a koru-shaped wooden memorial and a mural.