Media Release
15 October, 2001

Licensing Trusts Generosity Kick-Starts Waitakere Sports Complex

The North Island’s largest indoor sports complex is off to a good head start thanks to a $2.25 million donation from the Portage and Waitakere Licensing Trusts.

The Waitakere Sports Complex Development Board and Sport Waitakere today announced the Trusts' sponsorship, with Sports Waitakere Chairman Chris Timms describing it as “a significant contribution to sports in Waitakere City and a great investment in the sporting life of New Zealand."

With the Licensing Trusts' sponsorship, the Waitakere Sports Complex Development Board has now secured most of the necessary funding for the $13.8 million project.

“Thanks to the funding from the Licensing Trusts, what for many years has been a dream will now become a reality,” says Mr Timms.

The Waitakere Sports Complex Development Board is an executive committee of Sport Waitakere and is undertaking the project in partnership with Waitakere City Council, which is contributing some $5.8million.

Physical work will start on the site, in Central Park Dr, Henderson, within a few weeks and the complex will open in 2003.

Facilities will include a six-court stadium, with seating for 2,500 around a central court. Three of the courts will have an international standard wooden sprung floor.

The complex will contain a 350-seat function room, gymnasium, squash courts, café and bar, offices, coaching resource centre, conference rooms and a Waitakere sports Hall of Fame.

Two new sports fields will also be created beside the complex.

Chairperson of the Waitakere Licensing Trust, Warren Flaunty, says the complex will provide a focal point for sport throughout the Auckland region, and Waitakere City in particular.

"Until now, sport and active leisure throughout the region has suffered through having no home, no heart and no headquarters. At the moment, many of our top sportspeople have to leave the city to play or compete. This takes away our West Auckland sporting role models, and our ability to generate revenue for Waitakere City through sport.

"The Licensing Trusts see huge benefits for the West Auckland community in having a focal point for sports activities. This complex will lift the standard and quality of sports throughout the region and inject pride into our sporting codes," he says.

Waitakere Licensing Trust has donated $1.5 million toward the project and Portage Licensing Trust $750,000. These are the largest single donations ever made by the licensing trusts in their 30-year history.

Mr Flaunty also says this won’t affect the ongoing donations made to community groups in West Auckland by the two licensing trusts.

Chairman of the Portage Licensing Trust, Ross Clow, says: "We see this as an integral part of our role to support and enhance the West Auckland community. The Portage and Waitakere Licensing Trusts are proud to be associated with the Waitakere Sports Complex."

Sport Waitakere Chief Executive Mark Iversen says that up to 12 sporting codes will use the complex as their headquarters.

"The complex will provide a state of the art facility from which to promote sport and recreational activity. Volunteers will then be able to spend their time and energy developing their game, rather than being burdened with maintaining the bricks and mortar of a facility.

“The ability to make this the sporting hub of West Auckland will have enormous spin-offs, not only for the volunteers and participants of organised sport, but also in an economic and commercial sense," he says.

Mr Iversen says the development of community participation and multi-purpose sports facilities is a trend being followed in a number of countries.

"Particularly in the UK and Europe, multi-purpose centres are being developed to cater for participation trends among the public. People tend to be busy and they dabble in many different types of sports. A multi-purpose facility like the Waitakere Sports Complex can cater for and even benefit from these and other social trends."

Media inquiries:

Mark Iversen ------- Warren Flaunty
Sport Waitakere ------- Waitakere Licensing Trust
Tel. (09) 836 6635 ------- Tel. (09) 833 7239
Mob. 025 495 174

Ross Clow ------- Wally Thomas
Portage Licensing Trust ------- Waitakere City Council
Tel. (09) 826 0252 ------- Tel. (09) 836 8000 ext. 8872
Mob. 025 738 646 ------- Mob. 025 593 412

Chris Timms
Waitakere Sports Complex Development Board
Tel. (09) 838 6961
Mob. 025 937 983

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