My Account
A bold new plan to rent and reinvigorate a Warkworth hall as an ‘inclusion hub’ for disabled people, their families and the wider community is being proposed by two local charities.
Rodney Inclusive Communities Incorporated (RICI) and Adults in Motion (AIM) want to create a disability support centre and shared activity space at the Shoesmith Hall and grounds.
Secretary and founding member of RICI Ursula Christel told last month’s Rodney Local Board meeting that there was a serious lack of disabled support and facilities in the district. She said the Auckland Plan 2050 laid out the need for an inclusive Auckland with safe opportunities for all to meet, connect and enjoy community and civic life.
“We’ve yet to see this in Rodney,” she told Board members. “Our proposal for tenancy is based on a community need, not a want.”
She pointed out that unlike many Auckland towns and suburbs, Warkworth had no community centre, arts hub or central point for disability support and information. There was also no current data on the number of disabled people in Rodney, although one in four New Zealanders identified as having a disability.
“The most vulnerable people in our community remain invisible and isolated, with no clear way to connect. They are simply left out of any decision-making processes in our community,” Christel said.
“The Rodney Inclusion Hub would be a much-needed space for a multipurpose community facility, catering for diverse groups. We need these premises, especially since Covid – there are families that are so isolated, struggling to get through it. They don’t know who to turn to.”
Christel said that in an ideal world, RICI and AIM would have a new, purpose-built facility, but that was not feasible, so they had looked instead at leasing and converting the Council-owned Shoesmith Hall, a former women’s bowling club.
She said that they would pursue grants, funding and fundraising for conversions and improvements if the Board would allow them to become sole tenant and manage bookings and occupancy.
Members heard that there was already something similar in Takapuna, where an inclusive hub had been established in a former bowling club.
Warkworth member Beth Houlbrooke voiced concerns over the impact on current hall users – there were 14 groups using the hall regularly last year and 477 bookings.
RICI chair Sarah Allan said they were keen to share the space and welcome everyone, though priority would be given to disabled and associated groups, as they could not simply switch to another inevitably inaccessible or unsuitable venue.
Board members voted to thank Christel and Allan for their presentation and ask Council staff to explain the process to consider the proposal, including calling for expressions of interest, and any impacts leasing the community facility would have on other user groups.
Meanwhile, Shoesmith Hall is scheduled to be refurbished over the next two years, with an approved budget of $180,000 to be spent inside and out.
