Community sportsgrounds and facilities

Council has a role to provide sportsgrounds and facilities that benefit the community, but we cannot provide absolutely everything.

Council will provide a sportsgrounds and facilities network across the district, which:

• meets the needs of the community
• supports a wide range of activities for all ages
• supports sports at all levels – from social to competition.
• provides a variety of playing surfaces (e.g. water, grass, concrete, indoor, turf.)
• supports events.

Council will support coordinated investment and shared resources across the sector.

• To avoid duplication of services, Council will look to cooperate or partner with other organisations such as schools and clubs to make better use of facilities across the district.
• Work with Sport Waikato, the Lake Taupō Sports Advisory Council and Tūrangi Tongariro Sports Foundation to ensure investment is made based on sector trends and meet the present and expected needs of the community.

Community sportsgrounds and facilities will be inclusive, accessible, and affordable.

Access to community sportsgrounds and facilities will be fairly balanced between both local sport and events. For example, setting out:

• the minimum number of weeks of season that will be provided for local sports seasons (with allowance for wet weather impacts) 
• a cap on the number of events per year that will disrupt local competition.

Local communities and users will be given the opportunity to participate in identifying what needs to be improved to meet their changing needs.