National leisure management company CLM has been appointed to take over the running of the Wairoa Community Centre from July 1.

Last year, Sport Hawke’s Bay advised that after 13 years, it would not be renewing its contract.

As a result, Wairoa District Council, which owns the facility, called for expressions of interest from partners who could effectively operate and maintain the facility, improve service delivery, enhance community engagement, and ensure long-term sustainability.

The contract has now been awarded to Community Leisure Management (CLM), a New Zealand company that has nearly 30 years of facility management experience with a proven track record in the recreation and swimming pool industry across numerous sites around the country.

From a future staffing perspective, CLM has stated it always aims to recruit locally, and would offer any existing community centre staff the opportunity to apply for roles in the first instance.

CLM’s mission statement is, ‘We put leisure in your life, and life in your leisure.’

In its company profile, CLM states, Our approach has always been to operate facilities to an outstanding level of compliance with standards, statutes and regulations. At the same time, we aim to be creative and innovative in finding new ways for local people to participate in activities at local facilities significantly enhancing the return on each local community’s investment in their venues and facilities.

CLM has a large team of experienced support personnel who will be involved in delivering efficient and successful facility management operations of the Wairoa Community Centre. All support staff are specialists in their areas, such as finance, fitness, swim school, aquatics, community programmes, marketing and have a passion for helping deliver all services to a high standard by empowering local teams, providing strong leadership and with support from the highly experienced CLM Support Office.

Core services CLM will be working to introduce SwimMagic Swim School, Fitness by CLM, and Chill Out childcare programme, along with Splash Time Tots and Toddler water programme, Legends programmes for those 50+, Aqua Aerobics and Wave Raves for 8-14-year-olds.

Wairoa Mayor Craig Little said it is reassuring to have a company with CLM's expertise, experience, scope and ability. “This national company can draw on its network, which currently includes looking after more than 30 facilities ranging from large regional indoor aquatic centres to smaller rural community pools and recreation and fitness centres.

“In appointing CLM, we expect its national experience will bring broader outcomes for our community, including improvements, such as the gym being open 24/7 for member access.

“A key focus is maintaining the current service levels and looking at growth opportunities that could allow the community centre to grow as an essential community hub. This is an exciting time to work with new partners, build relationships and maximise opportunities.”

The community centre currently includes a swimming pool, gym, sports courts, and a high ropes course. Mr Little said there are opportunities to expand and grow this range, but to do that, community support is needed, and he encourages people to use the facility as it enters its next phase.

Sport Hawke’s Bay CEO, Ryan Hambleton says, “We look forward to continuing to work alongside the Community Centre to support our communities to be more active, more often. We believe it is a great outcome for the community to have CLM being awarded the contract to manage the Centre, and we look forward to partnering with them to ensure community centre members and users have a seamless transition.

Mr Hambleton says, “I want to thank the Council staff who have worked on this transition project, we value our relationship with Council and look forward to also being able to support Council and the community in a different way moving forward.”

29 April 2025

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