The new Millers Flat recreation hub has a brand new sports surface under construction for tennis, netball and pickleball, on top of the old bowling green site.

The community has managed to raise the $650,000 themselves without any council or ratepayer money, and a grand opening will be held on Saturday March 28.

Millers Flat holds an annual sports day for primary rugby and netball players from all over Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes, and the reserve has become quite a community hub.

The steering group, made up of Teviot Valley Community Board chair Mark Jessop, funded the project through grants and also donations.

The next plan is to develop a bike pump track on the old courts, and relocate the playground at the rear of the war memorial.

Mark told the board this week the programme was running on time, and equipment for the new adventure playground was also on its way, “it’s on the boat coming from Europe,” he said.

He said that pickleball will be the most popular use of the surface. A new pickleball club was also recently started in Alexandra, and Cromwell began the first one in Central Otago several years ago.

Read more here.

The Millers Flat Recreation steering committee has expressed an interest to potentially utilise the council-owned clubrooms as a pavilion and storage facility. 

But Mark said the building was outside the scope of the project. He confirmed the new outdoor sports facility will be donated to council in March/April after the opening.

“It’s going to be a great asset for our community.”

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