'Sportsville' cash boost

The proposed Dargaville 'Sportsville' facility will cater to football, hockey, netball, petanque, rugby, rugby league and tennis. Photo / Supplied

The realisation of a proposed sports precinct in Dargaville is on track thanks to a timely funding boost.

Receiving a donation of $1,033,000 from Foundation North towards the development of the planned Sportsville facility at Memorial Park in Dargaville, Kauri Coast Recreational Society chairman Chris Biddles said the dream of the project is fast becoming a reality.

"The significance of the project is massive - one in eight people in the Dargaville and surrounding areas will benefit directly by use of the facility, and indirectly the whole area will benefit."

With "well over 60 per cent of the funds required to complete stage one" confirmed, Biddles added "it will be another eight to nine months before we know the results of the next funding applications," however he was confident in attaining the remainder of the estimated $2.2 million needed to complete stage one.

Stage one of the project will see the provision of six asphalt surfaced courts for shared tennis and netball use, plus the construction of a 500 square metre facility, incorporating four large changing rooms, public toilets, storage facilities for user groups, a canteen/coffee outlet and a tournament control office.

With more than 1600 people from 11 organisations across seven sports poised to benefit from its completion, Biddles said the facility at the height of completion will "provide benefit to all sporting codes currently and potentially using Memorial Park ".

Two sports which will benefit most from the initial stage being completed are netball and tennis.

Seeing the new facility as a way to bring the Dargaville Tennis Club back to life, past chairperson Lynley Clements said the club is "extremely grateful" to be able to put tennis back on the map after experiencing a dip in growth.

"It'll be wonderful for us, it has been a long time coming really," she said.

"We knew that we had to look for new courts... so we could see that it was much better to align ourselves with the facility."

Stage one of the project has an estimated cost of $2.2 million, and to get closer to this figure the Society intends lodging a funding application with the NZ Lotteries Grant Board early in 2016.

However, Biddles said a combined community effort will be needed to get the facility across the line.

"We will definitely need the support of the community to make this facility a reality, and look forward to the community getting in behind planned fundraising initiatives over the next 12 months."