Community Facilities Network Plan

We want to support the network of community centres and halls across Christchurch city and Banks Peninsula so these spaces are well used, and people come together there for lots of different activities.

Consultation has now closed

The Community Facilities Network Plan was adopted by the Sustainability and Community Resilience Committee on Thursday 17 December 2020. For full details, you can read the meeting minutes.(external link)

Full feedback [PDF, 3.9 MB] 

Summary of response [PDF, 35 KB] 

List of groups that gave feedback  [PDF, 401 KB]

The Plan for adoption [PDF, 3.9 MB]

 Asset Management Plan Draft LTP 2021-2031(external link)

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Community spaces are where people come together, building resilience and creating an active sense of community through engaging with each other and sharing experiences.

So we’ve come up with a Plan 

The Community Facilities Network Plan maps out Council-owned and community-owned facilities across the city. View the maps(external link)

It will give us a snapshot of what we have across the city, looking at the network as a whole. It shows there is a comprehensive network of community facilities across the city, with no significant gaps.

By understanding where these spaces are and what each can offer, we can work with the community to make the most of each facility in the network, and identify and support opportunities for the community to activate, operate or own facilities.

Information within the Plan [PDF, 1.9 MB] also helps support decisions about any proposed changes or developments to Council facilities within the network. 

Any recommendations and decisions on individual Council facilities (such as building a new facility, changing usage or potential sale) will be made through robust and transparent Community Board,  Annual Plan and Long Term Plan processes, with appropriate engagement and consultation sitting alongside. 

The development of a Community Facilities Network Plan is part of Council’s wider Strengthening Communities Strategy, which is currently being refreshed.

Your feedback 

To get the Plan to this point, we have surveyed representatives of groups operating Council facilities and generated discussion with community representatives to gather their thoughts and experiences about running and using community facilities across the city.

The Community Facilities Network Plan [PDF, 1.9 MB]

Bringing together this feedback, and other data and information including the findings of a Global Leisure Group Report [PDF, 2.6 MB], four main conclusions have emerged. We’re now asking for any further feedback that could help us shape the plan before it is approved by the Council. 

The four main emerging conclusions

The scope of the network

There is a comprehensive existing network of Council and community-owned facilities across Christchurch and Banks Peninsula, with no significant geographic gaps in the network.  

Future opportunities are likely to arise from changing needs, trends and demographics. It’s important to note that the Plan will be continually updated to reflect these changes.  Changes to level of service (such as new facilities) will continue to go through Annual Plan and Long Term Plan processes.

Preference for community groups to activate, operate, and where appropriate, own facilities

The Council will deliver greater value to the community facilities network by continuing to support community operation and activation of its existing facilities. Supporting communities to make the most of what we have is preferable to developing new under used facilities. By having greater community involvement at all levels, facilities can be better used. Community Boards have the delegation to steer and approve community partnerships.

Prioritising resources to maintain facilities

There is limited budget available, so maintenance of existing community facilities is a priority, even over the development of new facilities. This means non-essential areas such as planning, partner relationships, activation and development can only be carried out with remaining funds. Any changes to the community facilities provided by Council will be decided through the Annual Plan or Long Term Plan.

Approve a process to inform any changes to the network

To meet our objective of a well-used network of community facilities across our city, we need a clear, standardised decision-making process for any changes to the network, such as adding, removing or repurposing facilities.

• To realise an opportunity for a new facility
  The opportunity should be community informed, led and developed, with a willing and able partner organisation. There needs to be a defined and demonstrated need, with a sustainable long-term future, and all partners confirm the resources needed. Feasibility needs to be established, followed by a business case that details how the facility will be sustainably operated. The Council’s long-term role should be clarified upfront.
• Before a facility is identified as no longer required
  A lack of, or changing need must be established, with any relevant issues about the condition of the facility identified.  There must be a lack of suitable partner organisations willing and able to sustainably retain the facility, and consideration of how, or if, services can be provided by other facilities in the area.  A future use or other courses of action for the building needs to be identified at this time.

Your feedback

We’d like to hear your thoughts about how we can make sure this plan will meet its key objective to support the network of community facilities so these spaces are well used and people come together there for lots of activities.

Here is some information  and questions for you to consider in response to the Network Plan. To answer the questions, please go to the form below.

Question 1 Scope: 

Looking at the maps(external link)- do you know of any community- owned facilities we've missed?

Question 2 Process:

Is there anything else the council and its community partners should take into consideration when establishing or disestablishing a facility?  

Establishing a facility	Disestablishing a facility
Community-led	Lack of/changing need
Identified Community partner	Relevant asset condition issues
Clearly demonstrated need	Services provided elsewhere
Feasibility study	Lack of suitable partner organisations
Business case	Identify future use or course of action
Council's role established

Question 3 Activation:

Do you have any ideas on how we can work with the community to make community facilities busier and increase the range of activities they host?