Recreation contract changes hands

Blenheim not-for-profit company Go Marlborough has secured the $50,000 Recreation Services Contract with Marlborough District Council.

The contract means the company, directed by Blenheim men Duncan Mackenzie and Pete Halligan, will organise and run programmes and events for the community with funding from the council.

The contract was held by Sport Marlborough for 15 years, the last three as a branch office of the Tasman Regional Sports Trust (Sport Tasman).

Mr Mackenzie said the company was invited, along with other organisations, to apply for the contract by the council when the three-year contract came up for review this year.

Organisations wanting to apply for the contract had to indicate how they would run the standard programmes and events run by the contractor and come up with ideas for other programmes, he said.

"We put some things forward that rang the right bells with the team at council," he said.

These included a series of small 5km runs and walking groups designed to help people train for the Marlborough Marathon, which is run by a different organisation, he said.

Go Marlborough officially took over on July 1 this year, but its first event will be the Marlborough Women's Triathlon in November.

The Walk in the Park in the Dark and the Marlborough Regional Physical Activity Plan is also run by the recreation services contractor.

Tasman Regional Sports Trust chief executive Nigel Muir said he was disappointed with the loss of the contract, but Sport Marlborough was committed to helping Marlburians get more active, more often.

"It makes life challenging, we've always had a good partnership with the Marlborough District Council and it makes it different, but we still value that relationship ... we look forward to developing new partnerships with the council."

He did not know why Sport Marlborough missed out on the contract this year and no staff cuts were planned because of the lost contract, he said.

Marlborough Mayor Alistair Sowman said he understood Sport Marlborough's disappointment, but said the contract went to the best tender.

"The brief was to look for new ideas and new events and when the tenders were evaluated Go Marlborough won."

It was not the end of Sport Marlborough and he met with Mr Muir yesterday to discuss possible partnerships, he said.

"This is only one aspect of their operation and they still have a huge presence in Marlborough."

- The Marlborough Express