The Kauri Coast Recreational Society (KCRS) is delighted to announce that the much-awaited Sportsville Dargaville multi-purpose sports facility at Memorial Park will open to the public on Saturday 29 September.

A huge opening day has been planned, with the Hon. Grant Robertson, Minister of Sport and Recreation set to open the facility to kick proceedings off. This will be followed by a celebrity game of netball and tennis, before Dargaville’s young people takeover to play a variety of sports under the opening day theme of ‘Play in the Park’.

Kauri Coast Recreational Society Chairman, Chris Biddles, says that the board was thrilled to have secured the Minister to open the facility and added that they wanted to ensure that the day was a celebration of sport and recreation through the involvement of as many locals as possible.

“This facility has been a long-time coming for Northern Wairoa so to see it completed is a major milestone for our hard-working board – we want to ensure it is opened in the appropriate way and believe this will be achieved by focusing on young people and show-casing the many activities that can be played at the new facility” said Mr Biddles.

The programme for the day will be as follows:

5.30am            Dawn blessing of the new facility

11.15am          Formal proceedings begin

11.30am          Hon. Grant Robertson to open the facility

12 noon           Celebrity games of netball and tennis underway

12.30pm          Sports games and activities underway

Those involved in the feature netball and tennis games include the Minister, former Silver Fern Bernice Mene, former Black Cap and local Dargaville boy Dion Nash, former All Black and local boy Ian Dunn, Northland MP Matt King, Mayor Jason Smith and a host of other prominent local people.

Silver Fern Farms has generously offered to put on a barbeque lunch for the public and tours of the facility will be available through the KCRS board members and Sport Northland staff.

The KCRS board was established in 2013 in response to a recommendation arising from the 2012 Dargaville Sports Infrastructure Plan that provided a blueprint for the development of sport and recreation facilities across the town. Much of the early work was centred around concept design and funding applications, but progress was surprisingly rapid in those first years.

Sport Northland has provided close support and guidance to the board over the five years and was instrumental in leading the funding plan and subsequent applications.

In the end the project has made possible through generous grants from Foundation North ($1.033m), NZ Lotteries ($650,000) and Pub Charity ($225,000). These grants were in turn only possible, however, after the initial seed funding provided by Kaipara District Council ($100,000) and local stakeholders ($200,000). Local fundraising and other minor grants have also contributed to the facility.

The local stakeholder contributions have come from Dargaville Tennis, Memorial Park Trust, NW Netball, NW Soccer, Dargaville Rugby and Sports Club, NW Rugby, NW Junior Rugby, Bulls Rugby League and Dargaville 60’s Up.

Mr Biddles says the facility is desperately needed in Dargaville, with more than 1500 people from 8 stakeholder organisations across seven sports poised to benefit from its completion.

He is particularly pleased with the way that these sporting organisations have collectively got in behind the project. “The significance of the project is massive - one in eight people in the Dargaville and surrounding areas will benefit directly by use of the facility, and indirectly the whole area will benefit” he explained. “To see the collaboration between the sporting organisations to get this facility completed has been inspiring”.

The project includes provision of six courts for shared tennis and netball use, plus the building of two new supporting facilities, incorporating four large changing rooms, public toilets, storage facilities for user groups, a canteen/coffee outlet, a multi-purpose room and a control room halfway down the side of the courts for netball and tennis. A covered muster area is also included to provide shelter for players and supporters from rain and sun.

The facility has been constructed on Memorial Park on Logan St, which is land administered by KDC, and the full cooperation of the Council has been given in support of using the land.

Mr. Biddles emphasised that the seed funding from Council had provided the initial impetus for the project, and for that the Society is very grateful. A further Council grant through the last Long Term Plan has also ensured increased costs have been covered off. “While we thank Council for their support, we also believe we are significantly helping them in their 10-year plan goal of provide multi-sport hubs within 45 minutes of the majority of Kaipara residents”.

Mr Biddles also notes that the good work of the board and the support from Sport Northland does not end with this opening.

“We now have a facility to operate and we are also working on funding for the installation of court floodlights and to complete the fit-out of the facility” he says.