New surf life-saving rescue centre opened by Jacinda Ardern

Monday, 7 November 2022

The new surf life saving centre in Mt Maunganui will be the head office for all Eastern region clubs. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is pictured at the opening.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was in the Bay of Plenty on November 3 where she officially opened a new multimillion dollar centre for surf life saving.

She was also in central Tauranga to witness the council and mana whenua agree to jointly own the land that’ll soon be redeveloped, with the signing of a deed.

The surf life saving centre, on Golf Road, Mount Maunganui, secured $2.9m of Government funding from the Covid-19 Response and Recovery fund. Additional funding came from TECT and the Port of Tauranga.

The building will be the head office for all the clubs in the Eastern region, the home of Omanu Club, the largest surf lifesaving club in the Bay of Plenty, and also is home to the Mount Maunganui Bridge Club.

Funds are crucial for clubs, Surf Lifesaving New Zealand president Marilyn Moffat said.

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A $304m civic precinct project is planned for central Tauranga, and the council and mana whenua have agreed they will jointly own the land under it (file photo).

Donal Boyle, head of Omanu surf lifesaving club, said the centre enhances existing rescue services and that the individual local clubs would remain the initial first responders.

Marilyn Moffat, president of Surf Lifesaving New Zealand, said that funding is the lifesaver for clubs in New Zealand. She said 726 people were rescued by lifeguards across the country last summer, yet some clubs were still operating from containers on the beach.

Ardern was presented with towels, t shirts and wine from the club.

Earlier that day Ardern had been in central Tauranga to witness the signing of a deed returning land to mana whenua.

The signing of the Te Manawataki o Te Papa Trust deed cemented an agreement between Tauranga City Council and the Otamataha Trust to jointly own the land which will become a new civic precinct, housing a museum, library, exhibition centre, as well as a debating whare.

The site will be developed by council over six years to create the $304m civic precinct - Te Manawataki o Te Papa, (the heartbeat of Te Papa).

Ardern, joined by Labour MPs Tāmati Coffey, Stuart Nash and Angie Warren-Clark, said it was an incredible occasion for tangata whenua in Tauranga.

Commissioner Anne Tolley said the site would become the heart of the city of Tauranga, both respectful of the past, and mindful of the future.

”It is a place where people have come from, and where they are going.”