{"id":207161,"date":"2025-12-29T19:31:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T19:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/207161\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T19:31:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T19:31:07","slug":"mayor-makes-it-her-mission-for-rotorua-to-have-a-hydroslide-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/207161\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayor makes it her mission for Rotorua to have a hydroslide again"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI really want a hydroslide!\u201d she exclaimed at the end of a mayoral candidate forum in August.<\/p>\n

Tapsell went on to be re-elected in a landslide to her second term and has made a hydroslide her passion project. <\/p>\n

\u201cHaving grown up with Leisure World here in Rotorua, it was such an iconic part of our childhood,\u201d Tapsell said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something I want to be able to give to kids and little wh\u0101nau these days as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tauranga has a hydroslide (plans for three more are stuck in the pipe),<\/a> as does Whakat\u0101ne. Taup\u014d has five, including one shaped like a giant dragon. Even an Omanawa lifestyle block<\/a> has its own 36m, glow-in-the-dark private chute.<\/p>\n

Not long ago, it appeared Rotorua\u2019s miscarriage of aquatic injustice was ending.<\/p>\n

In 2019, plans for a revitalised Rotorua Aquatic Centre, including hydroslides, a manu pool and other recreational features, were unveiled by Rotorua Lakes Council.<\/p>\n

\"PlansPlans for stage three of a revamp for Rotorua Aquatic Centre have been paused. Photo \/ File<\/p>\n

Hydroslides, however, became one of the lower priorities of this redevelopment. A rejigged long-term plan made it clear such a feature would be dependent on funding.<\/p>\n

The dream appeared even further away when, last October, the council shifted $2 million in Government funding<\/a> from the aquatic upgrade to cover the costs of the Tarawera Sewerage Scheme.<\/p>\n

Stages one and two of the aquatic centre revamp are done, but stage three, which potentially includes the hydroslide, is on indefinite pause.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was quite heartbreaking to me at the time,\u201d Tapsell said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough it was the right decision and we needed to focus on core services, I knew that there\u2019s not often much that we invest for young people or families.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tapsell said the council considered a number of approaches before making that call. <\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of the cost pressures and our intention to stop the spend, we looked at a number of different options.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing all out with hydroslide, spa pools and also a learn-to-swim pool \u2013 and then there were different options, and we landed as a council on spa pools.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AnAn artist’s impression of stage two of the Rotorua Aquatic Centre upgrade. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

As far as Tapsell is concerned, the hydroslide dream is not dead \u2013 just delayed.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we are getting spending under control and reprioritising, this is something I will be pursuing with a renewed sense of passion,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Tapsell was adamant, however, the financial burden of a hydroslide would not lie solely at the ratepayers\u2019 door.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do believe it needs to be a public-private partnership,\u201d said Tapsell. <\/p>\n

She said she believed there was a \u201cstrong business case on income that can be made from ticket sales\u201d, which might attract third parties. <\/p>\n

Tapsell said it \u201cmakes sense\u201d for a tourist destination like Rotorua to have such an attraction and to support young people to be physically active in the community. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d rather have them running upstairs and going down hydroslides all day than playing PlayStation or watching Netflix,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe hydroslide at Hamilton’s Waterworld. File photo \/ Amos Chapple <\/p>\n

In July, the Government amended the Local Government Act to remove the four wellbeings from local council remits, in a bid to narrow focus to core services. <\/p>\n

Recreational facilities are included as a core service in the bill, meaning a hydroslide could fit. <\/p>\n

Tapsell supported those changes<\/a> and she hoped reliving the nostalgia of lost days at Leisure World would not evade her.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs well as getting on with business really well, I am a big believer that sometimes we just need to have fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Community Leisure Management has been contracted to run the Aquatic Centre since 2018.<\/p>\n

Director of operations Kirsty Knowles said it would be \u201chappy to partner\u201d with the council on anything that \u201cbenefits the community and encourages physical activity\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mathew Nash is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. He has previously written for SunLive, been a regular contributor to RNZ and was a football reporter in the UK for eight years.<\/p>\n

\u2013 LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI really want a hydroslide!\u201d she exclaimed at the end of a mayoral candidate forum in August. Tapsell…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207162,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[68460,6030,5988,126472,2082,8619,305,1364,11551,126471,702,5338,10934,7239,111,43,139,69,6744,1327,61],"class_list":["post-207161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-1990s","tag-again","tag-families","tag-flocked","tag-for","tag-fun","tag-have","tag-her","tag-hours","tag-hydroslide","tag-it","tag-makes","tag-mayor","tag-mission","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-place","tag-rotorua","tag-to"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}