Photo: LDR/ Gisborne Herald
Some of the region's sports facilities are being "held together with duct tape", many are in their "second or third waves of life", with some clubs operating "without much to call a facility" at all.
Sport Gisborne Tairāwhiti, Trust Tairāwhiti and Gisborne District Council have partnered to ask central government for the funding over the next decade, saying the goal for a complete revamp is "well beyond the financial resources" of the region.
After two years spent engaging with about 200 sporting groups, clubs, codes and individuals, staff behind it described presenting the business case as a "reasonably momentous" and "auspicious point" in the process.