The Paekākāriki Surf Lifeguards patrol Paekākāriki Beach from November through March. We have a large active membership of junior surf (7-13 years) and senior members (14 years+) & offer competitive training squads for surf sports. Visit our website for more info.

Paekākāriki Surf Lifeguards New Building Project

Support our new surf clubhouse project

We are currently working with Greater Wellington Regional Council (GRWC) to obtain a lease in QE Park so we can build a new clubhouse.

This is a vital project that has become urgent due to the deteriorating state of the current building.An important part of the process is community consultation (which GWRC are currently running).

If you support the building please take some time to put in a submission via the website below.Survey and more information at the link!

https://haveyoursay.gw.govt.nz/surf-club

Paekakariki Surf Lifeguards celebrated its centenary in 2013, making this iconic club one of the oldest in the country. The club has had a very good period of growth in the past 20 years and now has over 250 members. In this time it is estimated that the efforts of the club have rescued well over 1000 people from life threatening situations in the past 100 years.

Patrol Statistics for the 2018-19 season

242 members – over 50% female
Six patrol teams and 85 lifeguards completed 3,408 Patrol hours
3 Rescues of people in danger, 58 people assisted from dangerous situations
2 Major First Aids and 16 minor first aids were performed
6,266 preventative actions keeping people safer while at the beach

Over the past 50 years the club house has been battered by the environment and is now in a poor state of repair. The primary driver for the development of the Pavilion is the need to address major structural degradation, mitigate against coastal erosion and to reconfigure patrol, meeting and storage spaces to improve their performance and reflect the growing size of the club. A Seismic Assessment was completed by Chris Pine of Sawrey Consulting Engineers in 2011 and updated in 2018 which included a number of recommendations. The main suggestion was that the club move out within 5 years.

In summary, the Pavilion is currently requiring redevelopment because of:

increased club use, particularly by juniors and their families
requirements for multiple concurrent use, driving a more effective layout
increased demand and expectations by other users
the current facility is no longer fit for purpose
the building is structurally unable to withstand a seismic event or tsunami
the location of the facility is within the forecast erosion zone
club membership and use has outgrown the current space available
Civil Defence may want to locate their Paekakariki centre to this site
other community groups and users are keen to use the facility

Check out our Clubhouse Project here

This is a draft concept to give an idea of what we can do, it is not the final design.
The location lease has not been signed off by Greater Wellington regional council yet.
We are looking for feedback from the community about the position of the building and any considerations we need to make when we go to the detailed design stage of building planning.
We are looking for support from the community for the project and letters of support from community groups.
If there are any community groups that would be interested in using the space.
We will be looking for support for the club through expertise, materials and financial.
We are urgently looking for someone to manage the project through the planning stage leading up to the build that can help the club and a largely volunteer basis.

The site proposed for the new building is directly behind the current one (marked #4 on the map).

This will be built behind the dune with beach access over the existing access track. Vehicle access will be from Wellington Road the back of the club using the current caretakers access road.

Allowing for the forecast beach erosion, management of the fragile fore-dunes and continued surveillance of the beach, a site has been identified by the Paekakariki Surf Lifeguards and the Greater Wellington Regional council and fits with the GWRC coastal erosion plans. A concept drawing has been developed to give an idea of the area that a new building can be built in and how this will fit into the current landscape. The grey block (right) represents a new club house and the old club house is inside the orange block to be restored to fore dune.

The building process is in the planning and consultation stage and to date we have not confirmed the final site or building design. The cost for the projects is estimated to be around $2.5-$3m and a major fundraising and partnership programme has been initiated to raise the funds for the build.

Concept drawings have been completed with feedback from Club members, Greater Wellington Regional Council Staff and local community members. The design has been developed to add value to the area without being intrusive visually or spatially. The design has been developed to fit in with the landscape and we will look at using natural materials that are low maintenance and suit the harsh environment.

Contact

For further information contact:

Laura Taylor Email
Paekakariki Surf Lifeguards
027 4757323