Finalised earlier this year, the strategy has already been formally endorsed by five councils (Hutt City, Wellington City, Porirua City, Kapiti Coast District Council and Upper Hutt City Council) and 11 Regional Sport Organisations (Swimming Wellington, Wellington Parafed, Capital Football, Wellington Hockey, Netball Central, Wairarapa Cricket, Capital Basketball, Wellington Rugby, Volleyball Wellington, Tennis Central and Gymnastics NZ – Central Region).

Sport Wellington CEO Phil Gibbons says: “At a time when the resources for sport and active recreation are stretched and population and other changes are placing pressure on providers, it makes sense for all of us to work closer together to enable our communities to lead healthy, active lives as a result of their participation in some form of physical activity.”

Living Well is based on Sport NZ’s locally-led delivery approach, together with information about the region from sources such as Sport NZ research, participation trends, the annual and long-term plans of individual councils, and the strategies of regional sport and active recreation organisations.

Sport NZ’s General Manager of Community Sport, Geoff Barry, says the adoption of the Living Well planning framework is a key step in achieving regional coordination across the greater Wellington region, and having Sport Wellington operating as the backbone organisation will help to keep the strategy and projects moving forward so they can achieve the best possible results.

“This innovative approach is a great example of locally-led delivery, with local stakeholders working together to respond to local challenges and better address the specific needs of their communities,” Geoff says.

“Locally-led delivery is a new concept for the sport and recreation sector but we are now getting good traction among RSTs and other partners, and Living Well is an extremely promising initiative that other RSTs can learn from or look to adopt.”