Mount Maunganui playcentre has the chance to relocate to a more suitable home with a partial reclassification of Golf Road Reserve.

The playcentre has been a part of the Mount Maunganui community since 1974, supporting children’s learning and development and providing parenting programmes across multiple generations.

Tauranga City Council has been working with Mount Maunganui Playcentre for many years to find a more suitable home due to increasing pressure from sports users at Blake Park.

Council is proposing to reclassify up to 1000m2 of Golf Road Reserve to enable Mount Maunganui playcentre to relocate to the site and would like to get feedback from the public.

The reserve is currently classified as a recreation reserve. Council has approved in principal a proposal to reclassify a portion of the reserve to local purpose (community building) reserve. The rest of the site will remain as a recreation reserve.

Gareth Wallis, General Manager: Community Services said relocating the playcentre to Golf Road Reserve will mean it can remain in the heart of Mount Maunganui.

“Keeping the playcentre local will allow families that currently use the facilities to continue doing so while providing a more fit for purpose site," he said.

Moving the playcentre will allow increasing demands from sports users at Blake Park to be addressed as it develops into a more prominent sporting facility.

Discussions are also underway with sporting and recreational groups interested in the future use of the rest of Golf Road Reserve.

The Eastern Region Rescue Centre is currently under construction on the Golf Road end of the reserve and will accommodate Omanu Surf Lifesaving, Surf Lifesaving New Zealand and the Eastern Region, and the Mount Maunganui Bridge Club.

Submissions on the proposal are open from 3 December 2021 until 5pm, 14 January 2022.

Council will consider the feedback in the New Year and make a final decision on whether the proposal will proceed. The outcome of the proposal will be published on our website.

For more information about the project and to make a submission visit our website.

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