Taupō Blue Light Ventures has made an ambitious pitch to the Taupō District Council for a youth hub.
In a detailed submission on the council’s draft Long Term Plan 2021/31, the registered charity and community policing youth programme suggested a facility on land close to the Taupō Skate Park or as part of adjacent Hickling Park.
Previously a youth hub was mooted within redevelopment plans for community services at Waiora House in Spa Rd, but it has not featured in plans since at least October 2020, with council’s agenda items on the Waiora House rebuild stating “officers originally sought to include the Taupo Youth Hub here, but this has now been removed and will be located elsewhere”.
Waiora House plans were trimmed during Covid-19 austerity measures from a $9 million total project cost to around $6m to be spent between 2021 and 2023.
Taupō Blue Light chairman Ross Humphrey said he was not sure why the youth hub concept was no longer a part of the council’s community service hub plans, but he was sure there was a need.
“This isn’t just pie in the sky and an idea that would be nice,” Humphrey said.
While the organisation’s submission said the number of youth offenders and victimisations had steadily decreased over the past six years (81 youth offenders in 2020, compared to 140 in 2015) with fewer young people appearing in court since 2011 (36) to 2020 (15), it noted that in November 2020 data company Dot Loves Data reported that Taupō had among the highest crime level per capita.
The town came in fifth using the measure of crimes per 10,000 people per month (50.36) behind Rotorua (61.21), Napier (59.68), Palmerston North (54.44) and Hamilton (53.54) despite Taupō suffering significantly less deprivation than the other centres.
Taupō Blue Light – part of the national Blue Light organisation – is a volunteer organisation whose many community volunteers work alongside the police to run a number of youth activities in the district, including the secondary school-based eight-week Cactus (Combined Adolescent Challenge Training Unit).
Different options presented in the Taupō organisation’s 50-page feasibility study and business case, showed a youth development centre with a 700 square metre floor area could cost in the vicinity of $2,100,000 (new, on leased council land) or, at the cheapest $140,000 (for the facelift of a current building), though additional potential fit out costs could add up to an extra $325,000.
Blue Light identified its preference was for a purpose-built facility on council-owned land.
Speaking at the LTP hearings, Humphrey said the organisation believed that there was “not only a desire, but a need for Taupō to have a dedicated youth development centre”.
Though he acknowledged there was still much work to come developing the concept and models of practice.
The Blue Light study provided funding examples from the Papanui Youth Centre, of a similar size to that suggested for Taupō, which had a capital project cost of $1,325,741 with a Christchurch City Council contribution of $386,500 (29.2 per cent) and the larger Napier ‘Atomic’ Youth Centre, costing $2,431,275 with a Napier City Council contribution of $431,275 (17.7 per cent).
Humphrey said the submission was really to spur interest, get a hub back on the radar and have architects and engineers develop a plan. He imagined, given council processes, any building would be three to five years away – with its day to day running not necessarily overseen by his organisation, though it would be instrumental in finding funds.
“If it needs a youth trust to be established then so be it, it’s what’s best for the young people. The biggest barrier to youth development is adults, and agendas and egos,” he said.
“If we can do away with that then ask what’s best for the community?”
Different rooms at the proposed hub could include a drop-in centre, youth centric cafe, studios for art, photography or music and stage and outdoor amphitheatre as well as space for youth workers or training providers.
As there were other submissions relating to the area, such as a request for a second hockey turf from the Great Lake Taupō Hockey Club, Humphrey felt that the council should potentially be looking to consider a longer term plan for the whole of Hickling Park.
Chareese Henare and professional BMX rider Jed Mildon also submitted during the LTP hearings that the skate park did not need moving or major refurbishment, other than maintenance or some potential extension.
In February 2018, a national office Blue Light plan to open up a partnership school at Wairākei Village, 9km north of Taupō, was scrapped after the new Labour-led Government announced it would put a halt to more partnership schools.
The boys-only Blue Light Senior High School was to build from 30 to a maximum roll of 90 Year 11 to 13 students and provide maths, science, technology and English, plus community service and work experience with a kaupapa Māori focus.
It was opposed by some in the Wairākei community who felt the Blue Light Lodge, which was to be converted to a school facility, was too small for 90 teenage boys.
The Wairākei lodge is still used for life skills education and training camps, run by Blue Light, Police and the Defence Force.
Credit: Stuff.co.nz
