Hākinakina Iwi Kāinga: Proposed changes to local sport funding could provide opportunities

The newly elected Rotorua Lakes Council is about to deliver its first Annual Plan budget. Photo / Ben Fraser

OPINION

Hākinakina community news is a weekly update on our own local community sports and athletes.

We voted in a council for change and, as the now-mayor’s campaign slogan went, to “stop the spend”.

The newly elected Rotorua Lakes Council is about to deliver its first Annual Plan budget and the draft suggests community sport will not be spared, with proposed cuts to funding, personnel, services and resources.

It would be easy to criticise the council on some of the key changes proposed for the sports and recreation portfolio, including reducing the level of service to clubs and codes, and for attracting and supporting sporting events.

The draft also suggested pausing capital works on sports field improvements at Westbrook, Smallbone and Ray Boord parks. This would include lighting replacements for the hockey turfs and Stadium No. 2 field, repositioning and improving field layouts and toilet/changing room upgrades at Ray Boord Park.

A pause is also proposed on improvements to walking and mountain biking tracks and facilities in the Whakarewarewa and Titokorangi forests.

But let’s be part of the solution.

While this is just a part of a much bigger picture, these few items do provide potential opportunity for our sporting community to focus on and contribute to ensure our codes don’t stagnate and lose momentum.

The risk to roll out these changes without a collective plan to address these gaps will have a major impact on our community that I suspect the council is keen to mitigate.

We already have a generation of kids that have had two or three seasons of community sport affected by Covid. As a community, we cannot be seen to create more barriers to play.

A trail in the Whakarewarewa Forest. Photo / Andrew Warner

So, how can we help?

Let’s be realistic, I believe cuts are coming. But can we have a say in directing what spend is available?

Are there other ways the sporting community can support the council to deliver its wellbeing goals, while keeping our sporting members attracted to and interested in playing.

There are some passionate and creative people within our sporting community.

I think we can explore and steer our volunteer capacity towards some of the usual council activities to ease its scope. Will there be opportunities to create partnerships with clubs and associations to assist with some of the operational and maintenance items?

Perhaps create a working group or sample club to initiate some service delivery.

Making available, at no cost, other council venues for unique training options, meetings, and events. There will be some standards, health and safety, communications, usage limitations and delivery monitoring to appease but it will also give users a sense of ownership and pride, which is a key council wellbeing goal.

We can argue our view that community sport resources and facilities have been neglected for years and I believe we would have a strong case.

The short-medium-term situation suggests to me even less support from our city guardians, but criticism is not going to help our kids and community in need of organised sport at attractive facilities.

Please have your say in the draft Annual Plan feedback period, which ends on May 12, and include your ideas on any solutions.

Council priorities include items such as smart investment, community confidence, vibrant reputation, targeted growth, safe and proud communities, trusted stewards of resources and authentic engagement.

Hakinakina Iwi Kainga — community sport — connects all these elements, and further enhances any feedback submissions on our local codes.

We are all in this together.

– For your community sports news and stories, please contact Crispian.stewart@eves.co.nz