Above: An aerial shot of Lake Hood. Below: An artists impression of the apartments, which are to be constructed in the near future.

Ashburton’s Lake Hood is a spectacular development.  An 80 hectare man-made lake with an international standard water ski course, an international standard eight lane rowing course, together with several kilometres of canals and a residential sub-division complete with private jetties.  It is spectacular!

But what is more spectacular is that this development has been built by volunteers.

In 1987 Ken Kingsbury dreamed of building a recreational water resource for Ashburton, as the nearest lakes were an hour and a half away.  A group of people from the Ashburton Aquatic Park Society formed a committee to progress this idea.

After lengthy investigations, the committee chose a site for a lake – a piece of farm land within six kilometres of the main road and adjacent to the banks of the Ashburton River.

In 1998 the committee formed the Ashburton Aquatic Park Charitable Trust and the major fundraising drive began.  The committee needed $5 million to make the dream of a lake a reality.

The majority of the money raised came from the country’s major funding bodies.  The Lotteries Commission gave the Trust $1.2 million - the largest grant up until that time ever given to a single project.  The Trust also received support from the Mid-South Canterbury Trust, the Ashburton Licensing Trust and the Ashburton District Council.

Trust chairman David West says the Ashburton community also were major contributors to the project.

“We set up a taskforce and they went door-knocking.  We raised $750,000 out of the Ashburton community by simply asking for it.  Some people up to $50,000, others $30,000, $15,000, $10,000, right down to the kids that gave a couple of dollars from their piggy-bank,” says David.

The final $1 million needed was given by a property developer, who invested in a partnership with the Trust for a shared return from the sub-division that was created around the lake.  In 2002 Lake Hood and the 173 hectare recreational park was officially opened.  The mission statement for the park was to produce a “free to the public” water recreation source close to Ashburton.

In 2003 the Ashburton Aquatic Park Charitable Trust won the Supreme Award at the TrustPower Ashburton Community Awards, and from there went to compete at the National Awards, held in March 2004.

“Our win in the TrustPower Community Awards gave us exposure.  For so long so many people had worked on the project on a voluntary basis and it was nice to get some recognition for those volunteers.  It was also great to be able to show the community what we had achieved.

“Being part of the TrustPower Community Awards was definitely worthwhile,” says David.

It is impossible to estimate the number of voluntary hours that have gone into the Lake Hood project. 

“The entire project has been run by volunteers.  Some people think that because of the sub-division development the volunteers have got something out of it, but that’s just not the case.  In fact it’s probably the opposite – the volunteers have all invested money to get this project off the ground!” says David, who has been involved in the Lake Hood project since 1989.

Today, Lake Hood is a hive of activity.  Many water sports groups have been formed and the Lake hosts many events, such as rowing regattas, sailing club events and water-skiing and wake-boarding competitions.  As well as planned events, the Lake also caters to the hundreds of recreational users who flock to the Lake for walking, swimming, jogging and picnicking.

The sub-division development has also been a success.  Stages one, two and three are completely sold out.  There is one section left in stage four and about 24 left in stage five.  A café/bar and function centre, which is going to be owned and operated by the Trust, is three-quarters built and construction is due to start soon on lakeside apartments.

The Trust has recently appointed its first ever paid position, other than ground maintenance staff.  The new CEO is charged with taking the development to the next stage.

“We have just announced plans to double the size of the Lake.  This will be a commercial venture between the Trust, the Lake’s upstream neighbour and an Ashburton contracting firm.  This will create more sub-division opportunities, which will create the income to pay for the development of the Lake,” says David.

David says they are currently going through the resource consent process for the development, which they hope will start to be built within three to four years.  When talking about these future plans, David’s passion for the Lake Hood development is obvious.

“Ashburton has a lot of job opportunities but it had to have the recreation to support that.  That is what we have created now.

“We split the community in half when we first mooted the Lake concept, with some community members worried that the Lake would be a drain on rates.  We assured people that that wouldn’t happen, and it hasn’t – in fact the Lake’s properties have added to the town’s rates intake,” says David.

David says the community is now right behind the continuing development at the Lake.

“We were the first people to build an 80 hectare man-made lake and we were all volunteering our time to do it.  The concept was unproven and people didn’t know if it would work.  But we have proven ourselves now and people can see the success – and they realise the benefits.”

The Lake Hood development is currently worth in excess of forty million dollars.  To have built from scratch such a valuable asset, all through voluntary effort, is staggering.

“It is a testament to the Ashburton people and the district logo: “Ashburton – whatever it takes!”

“We have heaps of plans for the future.  We just have to make this the best place to live and to be,” says David.

For more information about the Ashburton Aquatic Park Charitable Trust or Lake Hood to go www.lakehood.co.nz or contact David West on 03 302 3866 or via email on westbro@xtra.co.nz.