The Queenstown Lakes District Sports Field Plan was developed to provide a district-wide, coordinated approach to the provision of sports fields and assist decision makers in identifying future investment priorities.  

Sport and recreation play an important role in the social fabric of the Chatham Islands (also known as Rekohu or Wharekauri). The remoteness of the Islands calls for the community to band together and sport and recreation offer a positive medium for this to occur.  The purpose of this Plan is to outline the future focus areas for facilities that will help to ensure those living on the Chatham Islands can participate in and enjoy sport and recreation activities.  

Since the 2016 National Facility Strategy, Hockey New Zealand (HNZ) has transformed significantly. In 2022, HNZ launched the ‘Taking Our Game Forward’ National Strategic Direction, focusing on opening and growing the game and guiding the community towards this new vision. The approach to the 2024 National Hockey Spaces and Places Strategy is a departure from previous strategies. There is a desire to have a more holistic view of hockey participation and to make the sport accessible to all, which means hockey in New Zealand needs to take a different approach. 

This Plan was developed to guide the future provision of aquatic facilities in the Whanganui District. The Plan considers Whanganui District Council (WDC) facilities along with other facilities that could be available for community use.  The investment required to develop, operate and maintain aquatic facilities is significant. Therefore, WDC needed to consider the best value for money option or options for aquatic provision moving forward. 

The Taranaki Aquatic Facility Network Plan aims to understand the current and future demand and supply of aquatic facilities in the region and make recommendations to ensure the network of facilities is fit for purpose.  The Network Plan considered the provision of all aquatic facilities across the three Taranaki Council areas, including, but not limited to, learn to swim (all ages), competitive swimming and aquatic recreation and sport needs across the region.  

This report was commissioned to research the need for multi-use indoor and covered outdoor courts in the city. The purpose was to identify potential multi-use indoor courts and covered outdoor court development opportunities in Palmerston North to meet current and future sport and recreation activity needs.

RSL led the delivery of the project, with direction and guidance provided by a regional Project Steering Group.

The Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board Sport and Active Recreation Plan aimed to provide a targeted and aligned approach to facility planning and investment.  

Whangārei District Council (WDC) identified the need to develop a strategy for the future provision of indoor and outdoor sports courts. RSL Consultancy worked with a project steering group consisting of representatives from both WDC and Sport Northland.

The purpose of this Strategy was to identify the current and future aquatic facility needs for Te Tai Tokerau. The development of this Strategy was a key recommendation from Kōkiri ai Te Waka Hourua; the regional play, active recreation and sport strategy which was developed in 2021. The Strategy included aquatic facilities that have community access or school pools.  

He rā ki tua, the refreshed Horizons Region Spaces and Places Plan for Sport and Recreation, represents a significant step forward in how partners lead, collaborate on, and advocate for the quality planning and provision of spaces and places across the Horizons region. 

Waimakariri District Council commissioned RSL to develop a Community Facility Network Plan that would provide a framework to guide community facility decision-making over the following 20 years.  

This strategy for golf facilities in the Rotorua District identifies an optimal network of golf facilities that will ensure that golf in the district is fit for purpose and ready to meet the golfing challenges and opportunities ahead.

We worked collaboratively with local, regional and national organisations to review the previous spaces and places strategy.

In 2021 Tauranga City Council commissioned RSL to provide high level options for the future state of Blake Park, a significant sporting hub site for Tauranga City which is under significant demand pressures. 

In the development of this Regional Strategy, an expanded version of a standard strategic planning approach was used. This methodology provided a robust planning approach, in line with industry good practice. It also ensured alignment across the multiple plans being developed. This resulted in reliable, highly usable documents.  

In a previous consultancy, we lead the development of a Community Facilities Strategy for the Kāpiti Coast that factored in a wide range of asset classes, ranging from libraries to pools, and from meeting spaces to sports fields.

The provision of competition and practise facilities is a critical factor to help football remain a strong, vibrant sport. RSL Consultancy was engaged to develop a forward-thinking facilities plan outlining the future requirements of the sport.

RSL was engaged by the Nelson City Council to lead the development of an Aquatic Facilities Strategy. This was the first time such a strategy had been undertaken by the Council.

Even with some of the biggest facilities, it is the small things that count. With this project in mind, this was reflected in how older members of the community were keen to see the traditional rose gardens returned to Lancaster Park.