Sign In / Register
A major fundraising campaign for a multisport facility at the Warkworth Showgrounds will be launched “in a couple of months”.
After years of planning, that’s the optimistic prediction of Mahurangi Sport and Recreation Collective chair Gerard van Tilborg.
The collective has secured Land Owners Approval and an Agreement to Lease from Auckland Council, and is working on a detailed design so it can apply for resource and building consent.
The organisation’s board is expected to decide the final location for the building, which will accommodate a gym-sport facility and indoor courts in phase one, at a meeting on Wednesday night (February 16). The favoured site is between Kowhai Arts and the Mahurangi Rugby Club.
“It has been a very challenging seven years getting to this stage,” van Tilborg says. “Now we need new people with new energy to get involved, particularly if they have a fundraising bent.
“That’s what it will take to get this facility built.”
Although there have been ongoing delays moving the project forward, van Tilborg says it was important to ensure the right decisions were made.
He says the gym-sport group is keen to see the development completed as soon as possible.
The indoor courts have been designed conceptually to cater for netball, basketball and futsal. The facility will also have the capacity to host other indoor sports and events, and discussions are ongoing with the regional sports bodies for the key participant sports and with Warkworth Showground users.
Council has approved a cornerstone grant of $2,250,000 for phase one.
The ballpark cost for this stage is in the vicinity of $6.5 million, leaving the collective to raise the remaining $4.25 million from grants, donations and fundraising.
“If we tried to do the second stage with a new clubhouse facility, we would be looking north of $12 million.”
Van Tilborg says the impact of Covid on funding sources has been significant so community fundraising will be crucial.
He says the project has been mooted for several years and the work to get to this stage has taken its toll with a fair amount of ‘volunteer fatigue’.
“We need individuals who have the talent and energy to keep pushing forward. This is a project designed to support the future growth of the community and we remain very committed to getting it across the line. It is a huge opportunity to invest in the community.”
Other board members on the collective are Mark Macky, Nicola Jones, Joanna Morrison, David Cash, Graham Buchs, Mark Illingworth (president), Paul MacKinnon, Paul Manton and Cameron Gray.
