The Influencers: Peter Townsend

Manufacturing new talent

It’s no coincidence that the Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre (Metro Sports Facility) and Te Papa Hauora (Health Precinct) are co-located and positioned close to the hospital.

The Blueprint developed after the 2010/2011 Earthquakes saw merit in having a health precinct and a wellness/sports facility next to each other and the hospital, to ensure that the relationships between illness, health and wellness could be worked on in the best interests of our wider community. It is exciting
to see that vision coming to fruition.

Te Papa Hauora and its stakeholders are now actively engaging with the key participants in Parakiore to ensure that when the sports facility is completed in 2023, benefits can immediately begin to be realised.

Many in Christchurch still have little comprehension of the incredible offerings that will be on site at Parakiore. The largest indoor sports facility in New Zealand, it will deliver a wide range of sporting activities operating alongside the unique offerings of Te Papa Hauora, with significant health and wellness benefits to our community.

Encouraging all to stay active, providing unique and rewarding sporting experiences, working right across the wider sports spectrum, researching the impact of sporting activity, rehabilitation after injury or illness, as well as just having a good time, are all on the table.

The intent is to have numerous offerings available to all our community, not just for our sporting elite, although they, along with all the rest of us, will also be much better catered for than anywhere else in New Zealand.