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GREYTOWN Tom Taylor

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A new gymnasium at Kuranui College is one step closer to becoming a reality as agreements were submitted for council approval yesterday.

The gym will serve as a recreational facility for the wider community, with community groups able to access the gym outside of school hours and in school holidays.

At a meeting yesterday, South Wairarapa District Council received a Funding and Agreements Report, including a draft memorandum of understandingand casual use agreement for the gym.

The council also viewed proposed concept designs of the facility by Designgroup Stapleton Elliott.

Council approval will trigger the release of $1 million of SWDC funding for the gym.

SWDC agreed to provide this funding as part of its 2020-21 Annual Plan deliberations after several different solutions were proposed to replace the earthquake-prone gym.

Kuranui College and the Ministry of Education will foot the rest of the approximately $5.5 million bill. MOE funding would not become available until the SWDC funding was signed off.

Council funding will be provided under the condition that the wider community could access and use the new facility.

Kuranui College principal Simon Fuller said the school already welcomed community groups to use the existing gym, but the upgraded gym would likely attract increased interest from the wider community.

“The use agreement is no different to what we have with the community now … it’s just that our existing gym is a hunk of junk. This one’s going to be really good.”

The new gym would be larger than the existing gym, allowing for a fullsize netball court of 30.5 metres. The gym’s surface could also double as a basketball court, with a shorter length of about 28m.

At present, the gym could only cater to miniball, a junior form of basketball with a shorter court.

Sports such as volleyball and badminton could also be played within the new gym, with a higher ceiling proposed in concepts. This would be a major improvement for the school’s volleyball teams, which increased from one to six this year.

“You can’t practise in our gym because as soon as you hit the volleyball, it hits the roof.”

The draft MOU included the provision to establish a facility management group, which would include SWDC and Greytown Sports and Leisure representatives.

Under the MOU, maintenance of the facility – including cleaning, repairs, and security – would remain the responsibility of Kuranui College and MOE.

Any community users of the gym would use swipe cards to access the facilities, reducing the need for security staff. Security cameras would also monitor the gym, although Fuller said there had never been any problems in the past.

Kuranui College would have sole use of the facility during school hours, with bookings for other users available from 5-10pm on weekdays, as well as in the weekends and holidays.

“The facility is going to be game-changing for the students,” Fuller said. “The council, in their decision last year, talked quite extensively about putting investment into young people, which they have done.

“It’s going to open up not just sporting opportunities but a whole lot of wellbeing opportunities and curriculum opportunities for the kids.”

Concept designs for the new Kuranui gymnasium. IMAGE/SUPPLIED

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SURF LIFE SAVING Tom Taylor

Riversdale Beach Surf Life Saving Club punched above its weight to win club of the year at the Capital Coast Awards of Excellence on Saturday night.

The small club on the Wairarapa coast competed with other Capital Coast clubs, including Levin/ Waitarere, Otaki, and Lyall Bay, to earn the accolade.

“It’s a great little honour for our club,” chairman David Rose said. “It’s acknowledgement of the hard work that the guards do on the beach and the support we get from our community.”

Rose said its presence on Riversdale Beach and its ability to respond to first aid situations in the community was vital.

He said RBSLSC was the only club in New Zealand that did not have wages fully funded by its local council.

The club had asked for $20,000 in funding from Masterton District Council to take pressure off its costs.

After 87 submissions about the club, the recommended funding had been set at $15,000 a year for three years, according to the agenda for MDC’s Long Term Plan deliberations, which continued yesterday.

“We’ve got our fingers crossed that we will receive funding, but we have to wait and see,” Rose said. “We know that we have the full support of the community.”

Riversdale lifeguards were often called upon to act as first responders until ambulances could arrive at medical incidents on the coast.

“If you’ve got a club in one of the cities like Wellington, in most cases, an ambulance is only 10 or 15 minutes away, whereas we’re 45 minutes away.”

One such incident happened on New Year’s Eve last year when a quad bike travelling at speed flipped, seriously injuring the young driver.

“If we hadn’t been there … there could have been a loss of life,” Rose said. “I’m pleased that our team responded and were able to keep these kids okay until rescue services arrived.”

At Saturday’s ceremony, RBSLSC won a recognition award for its handling of another quad bike incident that happened in 2020.

Individual Riversdale Beach Surf Life Saving Club members were also recognised for their contributions at the awards.

Jane Tiley, one of two first responders for the Riversdale emergency call-out squad, was recognised as volunteer of the year for her constant

Club captain Mike Taylor with the Top Instructor for the region award. Committee member Jane Tiley, who won Volunteer of the Year. PHOTOS/SUPPLIED

presence at the club for about 14 years.

Tiley attributed the award to the hard work of all the club’s volunteers.

“I just do what I need to do – my piece in the puzzle – to keep the club rolling along as efficiently and effectively as possible.”

In the past year, Tiley helped redevelop the club’s nippers programme to cater to steadily increasing demand. The programme trained juniors from five- to 14-years-old daily during summer.

“We never want to close off our programmes to anyone, so it was looking at how we could deal with that effectively and safely.”

Fellow first responder Mike Taylor was named top instructor for the region.

“It’s very nice to get recognised, but you do it for the kids, not yourself,” Taylor said. “To see them become legends from the time you first start off with them is what I do it for.”

Taylor had more than 25 years of experience in surf lifesaving.

He instructed future lifeguards through an initial course at Masterton pool, including theory and swimming lessons. He then took students out to the beach to experience a variety of conditions.

“Those that enjoy it go on to be really good people.”

Riversdale now competes at the National Awards of Excellence later this year.

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