Te Puke Recreation and Aquatic Centre Feasibility Study

• There is a planned one court indoor facility at Pongakawa School which will service the school and itsimmediate local area. To date only about half the costs have been raised towards this project. Thelack of existing, or planned, accessible indoor recreation space for Te Puke and its surrounding areasis an identified gap, which will need to be addressed.The proposed Te Puke aquatic and indoor recreation facility would help fill the shortfall of pool and indoorrecreation space. However, it will be important for the proposed facility to be considered as part of a networkof existing and future facilities (for both the Western Bay of Plenty and Tauranga Councils), so as to avoidduplication.The future growth area of Papamoa East with a potential population of up to 30,000 will have a significantimpact on the nature and scale of the proposed Te Puke aquatic and indoor recreation facility. Tauranga City’sfuture planning for this area should take into consideration Te Puke’s proposed aquatic and indoor recreationfacility as it is located only a short distance from the Papamoa East area.The potential exists for a partnership between the two Councils, particularly in regards to the provisions ofaquatic facilities, and it is recommended that the Tauranga City Council be included in the project team todevelop the next phase of the Te Puke High School facilities.The information outlined below provides further detail to the network of existing and planned aquatic andindoor recreation facilities in Te Puke and surrounding areas.7.1 Te Puke High School FacilitiesFacilityTypeOutdoorPoolIndoorGymnasiumFacilitySize33m x 8lane.Dive well.Learn toswim pool.1 IndoorbasketballcourtHeating Facility Age Meet schoolrequirements?Yes 49 Years The high schoolOpened in 1961 is utilising thecurrent pool atcapacity duringthe summermonths.Approximately35 – 40 yearsAs with thepool, the highschool isutilising thecurrentgymnasium atcapacity duringschool time.Community useThe pool is hired outby swim squads aswell as utilised by thecommunity forrecreational useduring the summermonths.The pool is utilisedfor swimmingcompetitions byschools and clubsfrom surroundingareas.Until recent yearsthey shared the useof the gymnasiumwith a variety ofcommunity groups.However, increaseduse by the school asa result of rollgrowth hasprevented thecontinuation of thisarrangement.CommentsThe pool is verycongested duringschool time, withmultiple classes (upto 5) operating at atime.This is causing somelimitations for theschool in terms of thequality of theswimmingprogramme they canoffer their students.The schoolgymnasium is verycongested duringschool time and afterhours by classes andsports teams training.The one court hasmultiple classesutilising the spaceeach period and iscausing somelimitations in terms ofthe quality of theprogrammes they canoffer their students.33