Pongakawa School and the Te Puke community are thrilled to get the go-ahead for a new $1.5m action centre.

School principal Craig Haggo says the centre will meet the needs of the school now and into the future, as well as being of great benefit to the wider community.

Pongakawa School students and teachers are thrilled their action centre will go ahead.

'We're a very sporty school and we decided we needed somewhere indoors where we could play under cover,” says Craig.

'At the moment we do all sports activities outdoors or in a small adjacent community hall.

'The new centre comes complete with a squash court which we imagine will be used as an overflow from Te Puke Squash Club, local squash gatherings and casual games.

'Originally the plan was to build a cover over the tennis courts but at a cost of between $600,00-700,000 was just uneconomical.”

Planning for the project has taken approximately two-and-a-half-years with the majority of funding provided by a government special projects grant.

The grant can be used for almost anything excluding classrooms.

'It's an amazing achievement for a little school. It just shows what a school and a community can achieve when working in unity. We're a little rural school that really punches above our weight.

'As principal you are often credited with the success of a project because you're the person people see most. But this really was a team effort. The Board of Trustees, Sport Bay of Plenty and if I could single out one person, Dame Susan Devoy, were hugely supportive. Susan made a real connection with us after speaking at one of our assemblies. I think Susan is the type of person who likes people who get off their bum.”

A total of $60,000 of the $1.5 million budget has been raised by the school through an annual charity auction, quiz nights, agricultural days and numerous other smaller activities.

Vicki Semple, Sports Bay of Plenty's primary school sports coordinator, can't praise the staff and principal of Pongakawa School highly enough.

'The staff and principal have really gone the extra mile. They are very proactive. It is such a great school. They really give the kids every opportunity to participate in sports,” says Vicki.

'It is absolutely fantastic for the people of Te Puke too.

'It means we will have a central meeting point for events where people travel from Kawerau and Rotorua and surrounding districts. It is fantastic for the Te Puke community. It means we will be able to host events and have more on offer for people to take part in or attend.”

Pongakawa School has a proud history of sporting achievement. Former students include Denny Hulme, 1967 Formula One World Champion, rugby star Andy Miller and paralympian Jim Savage among many others.

The Action Centre will have a full-sized basketball court, a volleyball court, four kiwi volleyball courts and a squash court. All local schools will be invited to make use of the facility, which is the only one of its kind in the Te Puke area.

Many of the regional sporting bodies also see The Action Centre as an integral part of their training programmes for their regional sporting teams. Regional teams with players from Whakatane, Rotorua and Tauranga will be able to meet at the TECT Pongakawa for training at a superior venue in a central location.

Most of the funding for the project has been provided by the Ministry of Education and from grants, including $375,000 from TECT and $363,000 from the Lotteries Commission. The funding already secured means the facility can be built without debt and a future burden on the Pongakawa community. However, to enable the mezzanine viewing area is completed, the school will soon launch a community funding programme where families and individuals will have the opportunity to become financially involved in the project.