Coastguard Maraetai has been granted a new lease over its site.
The Maraetai Library Reserve site is the base for the group to provide search and rescue services on the Hauraki Gulf.
The term of the $1 a year plus gst lease means expiry is not until 2044
Wairoa subdivision member Amanda Hopkins says Coastguard provides a valuable service.
“We tend, quite rightly, to think of Coastguard as the heroes who rescue people from danger out on the water, but the organisation is much more than that.
“It also involves itself with education and training on water safety, first aid, and with boat master and seamanship advice.
“Volunteers have been doing this for half a century, ever since a 1975 plane crash off Duders Beach, after which a rescue unit was manned by Maraetai Beach Boating Club members using a 16-foot runabout.
“Today Coastguard Maraetai has more than 30 volunteers, two under 21 but 10 of them more than 65 years old,” she explains.
Fellow Wairoa representative Malcolm Bell says with the local area growing rapidly, membership is growing, and the group has been developing its facilities and social programmes to engage with new residents and their families.
“Many of our newer residents have been attracted by the water and all that bring in terms of recreation and leisure opportunities.
“But boating does not come without risks, and ensuring Coastguard Maraetai can continue to operate and be there in times of an emergency is important to us as a board.”
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