Our Northland local authorities (‘Councils’) play a hugely important part in the provision of quality spaces and places for us residents to actively recreate and play sport in.

It is therefore very important that we have our say on how much of our ratepayer funding goes into this provision, and for what purposes this funding is used.

To this end, all four councils in Northland have now released their draft 2018-28 Long Term Plans (LTPs) for public consultation.

All Councils recently presented to the Northland Sports Coalition Forum (the 44 regional sports organisations (RSOs) that are mandated to run their individual sports codes in Northland) on their LTPs (specifically on the sport and recreation focused items in the plan), which were all well received by those at the forum.

Whangarei District Council’s LTP consultation period is open for another couple of weeks, closing on 8 April.

Some of the key sport and recreation projects detailed in the plan include:

• Sports field land purchases  – purchase of land to develop new facilities, including a ‘second Kensington Park’
• Community-led projects – funding for initiatives to improve the neighbourhoods that we live in
• Toll Stadium light tower renewals - funding  
• Pohe Island development – developing a recreation hub incorporating cycling facilities, play spaces, landscaping and car parking
• Walking and cycling infrastructure – continued funding to expand the network
• Tracks and walkways – continued funding to maintain the network
• Support for the home of football at Tikipunga - new funding to support the main soccer hub for our District
• Otaika Sports Park – funding to support the development of this park

Sport Northland and the Northland Sports Coalition will both be submitting in support of all the above projects, which will all contribute to increase the range of sport and recreation options that are available to the people of the Whangarei district.

Both organisations also urge Whangarei ratepayers to make their voices heard in support of these projects – as such, the following public meetings/presentations are still to be held:

There is also a Have Your Say Event on Thursday 5 April 2018 6:00pm – 9:30pm Cafler Suite, Forum North and you can also submit in written form by going to www.wdc.govt.nz

Make sure you have your say to keep sport and recreation spaces and places top of mind with our local Council.