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Pārekareka - Play, Active Recreation and Sport Strategy

Our purpose

Te toioranga o te taiao, o te tangata, me te hapori. Koiana te iho o te mahi nei.

The health and wellbeing of our people and our taiao is the essence of what we do.

Key objectives

  • Guiding the approach and work programme for facility provision.
  • Setting future priorities for play and active recreation.
  • Informing investment decisions through the Long-term Plan (LTP) process.
  • Helping key organisations understand the community’s priorities and desires.

Timeline

Stage Description Timeframe
Stage 1Community engagement to create Strategy 2022 - 2023
Stage 2Elected members adopt strategy Nov 24
Stage 3Advisory Groups sense check, prioritise and phase implementation and investment actions Jun 25 - Mar 26
Stage 4Development of implementation and investment plan Apr - Jun 26
Stage 5Feedback from community of the implementation and investment plan Jul - Aug 26
Stage 6Ready for LTP consideration Sep - Nov 26

What is Pārekareka

A strategy for all of us

It reflects the dreams, aspirations, and wellbeing of our people. It provides long-term direction for our places and spaces, intended to help guide the approach, programme of work and future priorities for play, active recreation and sport opportunities in Rotorua.

Play, active recreation and sport are essential to the physical, mental, social and cultural wellbeing of our community, and the best outcomes will be achieved through partnership and collaboration with our community, iwi and key stakeholders.

Pārekareka aims to be inclusive, future focused and accessible, reflecting our diverse community and its changing needs.

From tamariki in playgrounds to rangatahi in sport, to kaumātua staying active, whether indoors, outdoors or on the water, Pārekareka is for everyone.

Pārekareka - Play, Active Recreation and Sport Strategy - (PDF, 11.7MB)

Background

In November 2024, Council adopted Pārekareka | A Play, Active Recreation and Sport Strategy, which aims to shape the future of play, active recreation, and sport facilities across Rotorua.

Iwi, stakeholder and community engagement played a key role in the development of Pārekareka, with over 100 different forms of engagement taking place between 2022 and 2024.

Our community told us their aspirations for play, active recreation and sport in Rotorua, and from these aspirations, we were able to focus on four key approaches.

The four key approaches include a number of recommendations. From these recommendations, three advisory groups have been established - made up of key stakeholders from our community to assess which recommendations are a priority, so an implementation and investment plan for Pārekareka can be created and presented to Council to consider in the next Long-Term Plan.

The three advisory groups are:

  1. a sports group
  2. a play group
  3. a recreation and environment group.

Our approach

Four key approaches are focussed on within Pārekareka, that align with the aspirations of our community. These key approaches and their objectives are:

Key Approach Objectives Community Aspiration
Experiences and Connections • Strengthen connection to place and past to increase participation and improve wellbeing.
• Increase inclusivity, diversity and equity of opportunity through play, active recreation and sport experiences that reflect our diverse community and its changing needs.
• Activate our open spaces and maximise the broad range of activities available to our communities. 		• Kaitiakitanga.
• Diverse experiences.
• Diverse play spaces.
Collaboration and Partnerships • Achieve better participation outcomes for our Rotorua community through effective engagement, partnerships and collaboration. • More partnerships.
• Affordable opportunities.
• Improved connectivity.
Spaces and Places • Ensure there are a range of integrated, sustainable and fit for purpose spaces and places available to support our people to be active in the ways that they choose. • Improved access to spaces and places.
• Multi-function hubs.
• Well maintained spaces.
Policy and Planning • An integrated approach to future policy and planning to ensure that play, active recreation and sport are embedded in the work that we do. • Accessibility and inclusivity.

News and updates

Celebrating Parks We​ek 2026 - (facebook.com)
Play Week 2026 - news item

Pārekareka (PARSS) update to elected members

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