
Spaces and Places Planning and Master Plans
From local fields to national networks, we help you see the big picture.
We prepare Local, Regional, and National Facility Plans to understand the current and future needs of communities for sport and active recreation.
These plans might be code-specific or cover broader needs, and they often include aquatic centres, indoor courts, or outdoor sports fields—all with a networked approach in mind.
Historically, facilities were often developed in isolation. We help shift that thinking. Our planning process considers how each facility fits into a wider ecosystem, helping you make better decisions that serve the whole community.
We also develop Master Plans that help shape the long-term future of your spaces and places—ensuring they stay relevant, useful, and well-loved.
Projects Undertaken By RSL
We’ve partnered with a wide range of organisations to bring their facility, planning, and activation goals to life. To help you explore our experience, we’ve grouped our project summaries by sector—so you can see the kind of work we’ve done with others like you.
Project Summaries
Check out some of our planning work across different scales and settings. Each summary gives a snapshot of the project scope, who we worked with, and the outcomes achieved. From concept testing to full feasibility and business case development, these projects highlight the depth and variety of our work—and how we tailor our approach to each client’s unique needs and context.
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.
The plan identified the key strategic priorities for sports facilities to then be used as placeholders in the relevant long-term plans. The plan will help in ongoing cross boundary discussions and includes key principles, criteria and prioritisation across the majority of sporting codes.
Explore Our Other Services
Looking for more ways RSL can support your project? Check out our full range of planning, strategy and activation services.
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"Richard Lindsay's experience and insight delivers significant value to recreation and sport projects. He can contribute to international sporting facility planning or a local community pool and walkway development. His approach is particularly refreshing and engaging connecting to the range of stakeholders that contribute to this work. Whether your need is a detailed objective report or a philosophical discussion over a cup of tea I fully endorse Richard's capabilities."
David Bailey – Recreation Services Manager – Christchurch City Council
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"When it comes to consulting within the sport and recreations sector, it’s hard to go past Richard Lindsay. With over 20 years professional experience working in local and central government, combined with his working knowledge and understanding of both the sport and recreation systems, he’s an asset to any consultancy project. From facility development, to the formulation of strategy, or policy review, he’s done it all. His cost effective and pragmatic approach, combined with a customer focused, relatable manner makes him an asset to our sector."
Julyan Falloon – Chief Executive, Sport Canterbury
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"Richard is a passionate, committed, articulate and knowledgeable professional who will add value to any project. I thoroughly enjoy working with him and would not hesitate to work with him again if the opportunity arose."
Alison Law, Parks And Recreation Manager, Kāpiti Coast District Council
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“I must say it is a pleasure to work with a consultancy that is knowledgeable and able to deliver appropriate solutions in a timely manner.”
Bill Steans, Parks and Recreation Manager, Timaru District Council