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The main purpose of Council's Community Services Division is to ensure that the community's well-being is cared for. The well-being of a community includes a number of features: cultural, economic, environmental and social. The Community Services Division looks after a number of aspects of life in the District, including cemetries, library services, parks, reserves and sportsgrounds, pensioner housing, public and community halls, among others. The team are motivated and dedicted to serving the community. They love what they do. This is evident in everything they do.
List of Services:
Cemeteries
This service ensures that appropriate burial facilities are readily accessible for all people in the District. The Council maintains cemetries in Tokoroa, Putaruru and Tirau. The service encompasses three aspects:
- burial and placement service.
- cemetery maintenance.
- interment and placement record management.
Community advocacy, liaison, grants and supports
Facilitation and advocacy are key leadership roles for Council. They are provided in conjunction with the democratic process. The key issues are:
- local leadership
- stabilising the population
- retaining local services
- boosting local employment
- providing support for community organisations
Library Services
Council provides a wide range of professional library services to meet the recreational, educational, reading and information needs of the community. A range of other services are also available, including large-print collections, Maori, Pacific Island and other ethnic collections, an audi-visual collection, internet, inter-library loan services and a toy library.
Parks, reserves, sportsgrounds and playgrounds
Council owns and/or manages around 240 hectares of parks, sportsgrounds, esplanades and gardens. The service includes enhancing the appeareance of urban areas with street trees, flowers beds and other soft landscaping. The principal objective is to enhance and promote the physical and mental wellbeing of the District's residents and visitors alike, through the provision of open spaces and facilities for active and passive recreation. The Memorial Sportsground/David Foote Park in Tokoroa is managed under contract by the South Waikato Sports and Leisure Board.
Pensioner Housing
The Council is involved in the provision of housing for the elderly because the market has not met the demand. Pensioner flats are located in Putaruru, Tokoroa and Tirau. They are maintained at a good standard, with rentals set to recover the cost of operation.
The Plaza
Council owns the The Plaza in Putaruru. There is a no other facility like this in the South Waikato. This theatre is now managed and operated by the South Waikato Arts Trust and is primarily a District performing arts and cultural centre, with a secondary use as a gathering place for the local community.
Public and community halls
It is important that Council provide the public with places to gather and meet for community and private events throughout the District. The South Waikato community halls are located at Arapuni, Okoroire, Puketurua, Tapapa, Tirau, Upper Atiamuri and Waotu. The Lichfield Hall was destroyed by fire on 16 June 2000, and has been re-established in association with the Lichfield School Hall. Council receives a grant from Rotorua District Councils towards the upkeep of Atiamuri Hall, and pays a contribution towards the upkeep of the Pairere Hall in the Matamata-Piako District. The Arapuni Hall is owned by the Crown (previously ECNZ) and leased to Council at a peppercorn rental.
Recreation
Council provides for the co-ordination and facilitation of sporting and recreational opportunities within schools and the community at large. This is an important aspect in the promotion of recreation as part of healthy lifestyle. Council supports Sport Waikato on an annual basis.
Swimming Pools
The Council owns and operates the District's indoor heated pool complex (South Waikato Inddor Pools) in Tokoroa and, during summer months, outdoor pools in Putaruru and Tirau. These facilities provide a range of aquatic recreational opportunties, particularly for youth, and received a high level of support in independent resident satisfaction surveys.
Key Community Visions and Long Term Strategies
Celebrate a growing, diverse and vibrant community by:
- encouraging groups and organisations, including local and central government agencies, to work together where there is mutual benefit
- building on pride in our cultural diversity, identity and sense of community spirit
- providing facilitation and leadership to further develop our communtiies
- lifting the profile of arts and cultural activities
- encouraging people to participate in community activities
- continuing to support the Talking Poles (Tokoroa) and Pavement Art (Putaruru) projects and for the development of the Putaruru Timber Museum
- encouraging access and use of quality facilities, services and programmes that reflect community needs.
Empower individuals to develop to full potential by:
- helping support and co-ordinate community group activities to improve resource sharing, avoid duplication and gaps in service provision
- encouraging and facilitating the use of Council's leisure facilities
- implementing the Leisure Strategy for the District
Promote a healthly, safe community by:
- encouraging people from all walks of life to lead healthy, active lifestyles.
Protect and enhance our clean, green, physical environment:
- undertaking development at Lake Moana-nui and the Tokoroa Memorial Sportsground
- completing the development of the Aniwaniwa Reserve on the Waikato River.
Short term goals
- Ensure Council's leisure facilities are well managed and maintained.
- Progress the rationalisation of sportsgrounds.
- Complete long-term development and management plans for all Council reserves.
- Develop library services and market strongly to customer base.
- Ensure civic buildings, public places and Council events reflect the diversity of the District.
- Review Council support for community groups to ensure it is consistent and appropriate.
- Provide more information about Council activities using language that is easy to understand.
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