Waimakariri District Councillors and the Woodend-Sefton Community Board have endorsed the proposal for a new multi-purpose Community Centre on Pegasus Main Street.
The proposal allows for the purchase of land and construction of a 400m2 facility by mid-2026 and includes provisions for a car park, a future building extension, as well as a potential passive youth space.
In 2020/21 Council looked at the current and future needs of community facilities in the Pegasus/North Woodend area, ultimately allocating funding of $4.7 million in the 2021/31 Long Term Plan for the Pegasus area.
General Manager, Community and Recreation Chris Brown says staff undertook engagement with the Pegasus community earlier this year to find out their preferred location for the new facility.
“Council staff undertook an exercise to look at what land in Pegasus would be suitable for the community centre - this resulted in two sites being considered. They were Waitaki Reserve owned by Council and land accessed from Pegasus Main Street owned by Templeton Group.
“We engaged with locals on the two potential locations and over three quarters of respondents preferred the lakeside location.”
Templeton Group, who own the Pegasus Main Street site, had originally proposed to independently build the community centre on behalf of Council, however they are now actively partnering with Council to develop the community centre, with Council purchasing the land outright and building the centre.
“We still have some work to do around the purchase of the land and will need to sign off the final purchase before work can begin on design,” says Chris.
“We will also be touching base with the community in the coming months on possible youth space concepts to make sure whatever we build is fit for purpose, appropriate for the space, and endorsed by local young people.”
Council leases the current Pegasus Community Centre on Tahuna Street, and the Pegasus Residents Association has been successfully managing and operating this centre since 2017. The lease for this property is due to expire in June 2025.
The Centre is widely used by a variety of groups and people from the community, and it’s expected that a new facility would bring a greater variety of users.
The Woodend/ Pegasus area is expected to grow to a community of over 12,000 residents by 2048.
