- Hon Shane Jones
A new multi-purpose recreation centre will provide a valuable wellbeing hub for residents and visitors to Ruakākā in Northland, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says.
The Ruakākā Recreation Centre, officially opened today, includes separate areas for a gymnasium, a community health space and meeting rooms made possible with support of a $2.5 million grant from Central Government's COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund (CRRF).
"The new centre is a particularly important piece of infrastructure for the growing Ruakākā community that will support wellbeing and facilitate connections," Mr Jones says.
"It is also a significant step towards realising the community's vision for a larger regional indoor sports centre capable of hosting visiting competitors for basketball and netball games - a vision that will provide significant benefits to the local economy."
The centre, also called Wahitakaro meaning 'the place where we play', is the last of three wellbeing infrastructure projects for the area that received funding from the CRRF in 2020. The other projects, the Pohe Island Bike Park and a major upgrade of Northland Rugby Union's facilities, have been completed.
"When I announced funding for these three infrastructure projects back in 2020, New Zealand was in the early days of our recovery from the economic fallout from the pandemic. For the construction of the centre, locals made up 90 per cent of the 120-strong workforce, and 75 per cent of materials were sourced from 31 local suppliers," Mr Jones says.
