Step forward for Rakaia rec centre
By local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Finishing touches are being made to the designs for the new Rakaia Recreation Centre before the project goes out for tender next month.
Rakaia rugby club's past president Mark Hanrahan says things are finally set to go from concept to concrete, to community centre.
“Next year will be a big year for our club and the Rakaia community,” Hanrahan said.
The club is preparing to tear down the out-of-date changing room facility in the Rakaia Domain and replace it with a fit-for-purpose building with clubrooms, changing sheds, and public toilets.
The club has been fundraising for 10 years towards the project and is close to reaching an initial target for a ballpark figure for the build, “but we won’t know the total cost of the project until we find out the final price”.
The construction timeline is also unknown, he said.
“In an ideal world, it would be ready for the next rugby season, but it’s a maybe, and it really won’t matter.”
The club already sold the clubrooms that were on the other side of town and has been utilising the neighbouring Rakaia Bowling Club as temporary clubrooms for the last two seasons, Hanrahan said. That arrangement can continue until the new facility is completed.
As part of the project, the Ashburton District Council is funding the replacement public toilets in the new facility, as the current public toilets are part of the existing facility that will be demolished.
It committed $351,000 towards the toilets in the 2022-23 annual plan, and will likely carry that forward to the 2023-24 budgets to cover its portion of the build.
Acting chief executive Jane Donaldson said the council has already procured the prefabricated toilet block which is to be incorporated into the facility.
The council committed to funding the toilets in June last year and at that point in time the rugby club had initially hoped to have the project completed by now.
Things didn’t quite pan out that way but the silver lining was another 12 months to fundraise, Hanrahan said.
With the project now set to go out for tender, the Rakaia Domain is set to finally have its new facility.
Back in 2015, the Rakaia Stadium Trust had pitched to the council the idea of backing a new sports complex at the Rakaia Domain, but as the EA Networks Centre was readying to open, the council balked at the $1.5m funding request towards the estimated $5m proposed facility.
The new Rakaia Recreation Centre is a rugby club-led project but will be a community facility, Hanrahan said.
*Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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62.2% Summer
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36.4% Winter
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1.5% Other - I'll share below
Worst Xmas ever?
There's a a lot of planning that goes into Christmas day and sometimes things just don't go to plan. But it can be a good thing - a family mishap or hilarious memory that you can laugh about in Christmases to come.
Whether you burnt the dinner or were stranded at an airport...
Share your Christmas mishaps below!
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