Sports and clubs using Centennial Park and the Waitaki Community Recreation Centre will get the chance to set up a sports partnership to benefit all codes.
The opportunity has come with a grant of $90,000 over three years from Sport New Zealand to the Waitaki District Council and Sport Waitaki to set up a sports partnership based on the two facilities in Oamaru.
The aim is to look at how codes can share resources, assets and facilities to provide a better service to members and participants and reduce costs.
The council's recreation manager, Erik van der Spek, said the sports partnership model had been used successfully in many other locations throughout New Zealand including Waimate, Pleasant Point and Upper Moutere.
"The intent is to support clubs and codes to be sustainable and to facilitate co-operation, shared services and assets," he said.
While the council and Sport Waitaki will be co-ordinating the establishment of the partnership, once it is set up it will be its own entity working for the clubs and codes.
Representatives from clubs and codes associated with Centennial Park and the Recreation Centre will attend a workshop on the partnership concept in Dunedin on June 21, run by the Otago Community Trust.
That will be followed by meetings with clubs to discuss how a sport partnership might be established in Waitaki.
Sports partnerships have been on the go in New Zealand for decades, but are becoming increasingly popular as a way to reduce costs and make better use of assets and facilities.
While they have involved some mergers, in many cases the clubs or organisations retain their own independence but identify what can be shared.
