What next for the Hataitai Bowling Club?

Fewer people play bowls these days it seems, and rather than see the Bowling Club sold, Hataitai residents worked together to see the assets of the club transferred into a trust-the Hataitai Community Recreation Trust-which will manage the assets on behalf of the community.

Equal shares in the Trust have been allocated to the three organisations that developed the trust concept: The Bowling Club, Hataitai Residents Association, and the Community House.

The occasion of the formal transfer was celebrated with an amazing afternoon tea.  I have to say, there’s some great bakers in Hataitai!. Local MP, Annette King, cut the cake as shown in the photo below, with the assistance of Jenny Ellis (Community House) and  Roy Glass (Bowling Club).

This was followed by discussion around future funding and uses for the both the Bowling Cub and Community House facilities. Some ideas were: the rooms could be used as a venue for  concerts or parties, or for commercial cooking uses, or a venue for conferences or meetings, and the grounds could be partially used for a community garden. An further interesting aspect is the need for a new kindergarten site if the new tunnel goes ahead. A suggestion was that the kindergarten could  be  sited at the Community House, meaning the activities currently there might shift to the Bowling Club.

Obviously there will need to be more thinking around the feasibility of all the options and more community consultation to come.