Mountain bike skills and dog park for Te Aroha
In 2020, we asked for people to submit their ideas for our community, asked for people to vote for their favourite ideas – we committed to doing business cases for the three most popular ideas. The idea that received the most votes was the Te Aroha Mountain Bike Club’s proposal to redevelop Tui Park into a bike skills park/native reserve area that will cater for beginners to advanced riders.
We also completed investigations into the best location for a dog park in Te Aroha, and identified Tui Park as a suitable location. Dog parks were also a strong theme when we asked the community “what’s your vision for the places that you play?” in 2020.
This was your 'top pick' when we asked the community for ideas in 2020.
Click here for more info on the top 3 and feedback on the other ideas.
What's in the draft budget - develop mountain bike skills and dog park for Te Aroha
We have prepared an initial business case for a mountain bike skills park in the lower part of Tui Park, and while there are still a lot of unknowns at this stage, we think it could be feasible to develop both a mountain bike skills park, and an adjoining dog park in the land available at Tui Park.
Before this project could proceed, we would need to do a lot more consultation with the community, other park users, Iwi and adjacent land owners.
What will it cost?
This will cost Council $211,000. The community group driving the bike skills park are planning on raising the funds and completing most of the work themselves. Council will need to fund costs associated with the dog exercise area – such as fencing, parking and signage.
We have allocated $211,000 in 2023/24 in the draft Long Term Plan budgets for developing Tui Park.
If the project costs exceed this once we have detailed plans, then the Te Aroha Mountain Bike Club (or other community groups) would need to fundraise for the balance for the project to proceed.
| Rates impact Average per year | 2023/24 - 2030/31 |
| $550,000 urban property | $1.39 |
| $8 million rural property | $20.28 |
| Debt impact - Increase of $211,000 by 2023/24 including inflation | |
Another option - don't do it
Both the mountain bike skills park and the dog park would be great additions to the Te Aroha community, for both visitors and locals. But neither of them are essential. If you would prefer Council to focus on keeping rates low, we could opt not to proceed with this project.
What would this option cost?
If we didn’t proceed, this would avoid the costs, rates and debt impact that have been included in the draft budget.
