Tauranga City Council proposes Golf Rd Reserve as new home for playcentre

Golf Road Reserve indicated in yellow, proposed area for partial reclassification identified in blue. Supplied image

Residents are being asked for feedback on a plan to let Mount Maunganui Playcentre move from Blake Park to Golf Rd Reserve.

Tauranga City Council has proposed reclassifying part of the Golf Rd Reserve to give the playcentre a "more suitable" home.

The council said in a statement it had been working to help the playcentre find a new home for many years due to increasing pressure for space from sports users at Blake Park.

The council has approved in principle a proposal to reclassify up to 1000m2 of Golf Rd Reserve from a recreation reserve to local purpose (community building) reserve.

The rest of the site will remain as a recreation reserve.

The playcentre has been a part of the Mount Maunganui community since 1974.

Gareth Wallis, the council's general manager of community services, said relocating the centre to the reserve meant it could 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.

Wallis said moving it to the reserve would allow increasing demands from sports users at Blake Park to be addressed as it develops into a more prominent sporting facility.

The council was also talking to sporting and recreational groups interested in the future use of the rest of Golf Rd Reserve, he said.

The Eastern Region Rescue Centre is being built on the Golf Rd 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 will close at 5pm on January 14.

Willis said the council will consider feedback next year and make a final decision on whether the proposal will proceed.