The Trust is excited to report that construction has finally started on the Watersports Facility. 
Breens contractors are putting up fencing and preparing the site, working in conjunction with Works Arborist Ben McFarlane, of Wanaka Tree Care. Ben's role is to supervise works around the existing trees, in accordance with the Tree Protection Management Plan.

The Lion Foundation has granted $40,000 towards construction costs. The Trust thanks the Lion Foundation for this support.

A pledge of $25,000 has been received from an member of the public. The willingness of a number of individuals to make a personal contribution is very heartening for the WWFT.

The WWFT will apply to the Southern Trust and the Graham and Olive West Trust for grants towards fittings.

As part of their $1.2 million funding round in June, the Central Lakes Trust approved a grant of $650,000 towards construction of the Watersports Facility. In their media release, the CLT noted that the facility will provide externally accessed public toilets in an area where currently none are provided, and will improve safety for rowers " ....  currently crossing the busy Wanaka/Mount Aspiring Road at times of low light. The new facility ensures enough storage to eliminate this hazard for the members." The WWFT greatly appreciates this boost to funding of the facility.

In July, the Trust received a grant of $40,000 from the Alexander McMillan Trust. The WWFT is grateful for this support.

This brings to total funding for construction to $1.14 million. The Trust has further applications for construction costs lodged with Lotteries and the Lion Foundation, and expects to hear from these groups in November.

A number of personal donations, totalling $60,000, have also been made towards ongoing planning and consultant costs prior to construction. ​The Trust thanks these donors for their backing of the project.

On 26th March 2018 we received news that the Sargood Bequest had approved a grant of $50,000 towards construction of the facility. 

Then, on 1st June 2018, the Otago Community Trust approved a grant of $400,000 towards construction costs. In one of the largest funding rounds of recent times, the OCT approved a total of just over $3.4 million dollars to support a wide and varied number of initiatives across Otago.

The Trust is very appreciative of this show of support from the Sargood Bequest and Otago Community Trust.

Hello to Wanaka Watersport Facility Supporter.
 
We have not been in contact with you since the positive Environment Court judgement and this note is to update you on the work that has been going on behind the scenes, our hopeful timetable for the build and a very exciting announcement of support.
 
As you are aware the decision to our Resource Consent application, approved on 25th July 2016, was appealed, and the case went before the Environment Court. A little under a year later, (and an additional $90,000), the appeal was disallowed, and we were at last able to move on with the project. We have been busy working with our engineers, architect and 2 quantity surveyors to ensure we can present a high quality building at a realistic cost to the community. This has taken time and some arm wrestling but we are now expecting our final QS quotes on 11 April which if acceptable, will enable us to put our funding applications into the relevant institutions. During this period we have also kept these institutions abreast of our progress and I am pleased to advise that they have all continued to be very supportive.
 
The funding bodies such as the Central Lakes Trust (CLT), Otago Community Trust (OCT) and Lotteries Commission require a detailed building budget before they can approve a grant, so our architect, Alistair Madill and engineers BMC have worked to advance the plans to a state where a realistic and accurate costing can be determined. The major unknown in pricing the construction has been the ground conditions, so coordination with our engineer and geotech experts has been ongoing.
 
Due to the complexities of the site, the Trust decided to work with a preferred contractor rather than go for competitive tendering. Because of its size and experience with large commercial projects, Breen Construction Ltd was appointed, and  quantity surveyor Maltbys was engaged to ensure that there was independent pricing. Both QS pricings were received by mid-November 2017.
 
In November, the Trustees met with our experts to discuss possible areas for cost savings and we were pleased with the exercise and optimistic that on the 11 April we will be in a position to proceed with funding applications.
 
The Trust has meanwhile gathered letters of support from the Mayor Jim Boult representing QLDC, Mount Aspiring College, Rachel Cassaidy (Youth Councillor), Challenge Wanaka, the Halberg Disability Sport Foundation, the Wanaka Rowing and Lake Swimming clubs, and various others. The Wanaka Rowing Club has provided a letter acknowledging its position as anchor tenant  and  we have drawn up a business plan for the Trust's operation of the facility.
 
Now that we have a tail wind we are confident the Trust will be ready to apply for building consent towards end of June which would generally be granted within a month if there are no concerns noted.  By that time we will have a good indication whether or not our funding application round has been successful. If all this falls into place we would expect that construction could begin as early as October 2018.
 
The most exciting news is that our first funding application to the Sargood Trust has been successful and we are $50,000 in credit for the building. We are extremely appreciative that the Sargood Trustees have our confidence in this long term Wanaka asset project.
 
Regards,
 
Michael Sidey