Hutt City Council: Te Ngaengae Pool
In 2021 Ākina was engaged by Hutt City Council to co-design the potential impact of their redevelopment for the community, local economy and social-enterprise.
The replacement of Naenae Pool was not just about giving locals somewhere to swim – it was also an opportunity to achieve social, environmental and economic outcomes for the community.
What was the challenge?
Naenae Pool was closed in 2019 due to earthquake concerns. As the pool was an important community facility, the Hutt City Council wanted to better understand and articulate the benefits of rebuilding the pool. To help do this, Hutt City Council wanted to engage with the local community to understand the vision they had for their pool.
What did we do together?
We engaged with Naenae residents to find out how the pool fitted into their community and to identify opportunities to increase the positive impact of the pool in future.
Ākina developed a theory of change that identified four areas of impact;
improved health and wellbeing
increased connection
local economic and employment benefits
and reduced resource usage and waste.
Ākina identified Indicators for Hutt City Council to measure the changes the new facility would create, and developed recommendations to increase the positive impact of the facility.
“Working with The Ākina Foundation, we developed an outcomes framework that meant that alongside delivering NZ’s 1st Greenstar 5 pool, we were determined to design with our community for wider social outcomes like employment and training.”
What changed for the better?
This mahi helped Hutt City Council prove that social, environmental and economic outcomes can be created through the development of infrastructure projects.
For the Council, this work has helped demonstrate the value of community facilities like Te Ngaengae Pool and the important role they play within communities.
Fast forward to today
Te Ngaengae Pool opened on December, 4 2024 and has already had great feedback from the community. When the new centre was designed, a deliberate decision was made to not include a destination café as it may have taken customers away from local businesses.
Directly across the road from the pool are several businesses offering coffee and kai, including Trade School Kitchen Café, a social enterprise providing employment opportunities for those who face barriers to getting good work.
Get in touch
If you’re struggling to measure and manage the positive impact your organisation creates, want create more positive impact or want to start your Social Return on Investment journey, get in touch with Ākina by emailing info@akina.org.nz