Award winning couple building rural-urban connections
Oxford farming couple Rochelle and Geoff Spark recently won the Cooperative Spirit Award at Waimakariri Irrigation Limited’s 2025 Shareholder Excellence Awards.
Oxford farmers Geoff and Rochelle Spark recently won the Cooperative Spirit Award at Waimakariri Irrigation’s (WIL’s) 2025 Shareholder Excellence Awards for their ongoing efforts to foster positive connections between rural and urban residents.
They describe feeling “humbled, surprised and chuffed” about receiving the award and Geoff says he is very supportive of WIL’s efforts to recognise farmers for the work they do which is often behind the scenes.
“We don’t do what we do for the purpose of recognition, however it is good for our industry to acknowledge positive work. We appreciate what WIL is doing with starting up these awards for shareholders this year.”
In 2010, the couple designed their 500-metre-long irrigation lake with the dual purpose of providing a reliable supply of irrigation water for their farm and as a recreational space to share with the community.
Rochelle says the lake was originally designed as a square, but this was changed to a rectangle to make it more suitable for recreational pursuits.
“Our vision was to use it for more than just storage and to have the right design to make it multipurpose.”
Geoff, Rochelle and their children all enjoy being active so when Canterbury Triathlon Club’s race director John Newsom approached the family with the idea of hosting the Oxman Triathlon at their irrigation lake in 2019 they jumped at the opportunity.
Now in its seventh year, the Oxman Triathlon has grown to approximately 400 athletes as word spread about the event which brings together people from different backgrounds. In 2022, a multisport race was added to the event with around 50 competitors kayaking around the lake. Geoff adds that having the Oxman at the beginning of summer provides a good practice race for the Coast to Coast which is held a couple of months later.
He also enjoys welcoming competitors from the city onto a working farm for the event to bring people from different backgrounds closer together.
“I don’t believe in the rural-urban divide. Instead, I prefer to find opportunities to build stronger connections between farmers and people living in more urban areas. For me, it is about having the chance to share our space and the philosophy of ‘healthy farm, healthy food, healthy water.”
Along with the Oxman Triathlon, Geoff and Rochelle host over 700 primary school students for the annual Canterbury Primary Schools Triathlon. The irrigation lake is also used for waka and dragon boat racing and 15 years on from when work first started on the lake, both Geoff and Rochelle are happy to be able to provide clean water for swimming and boating.
“John couldn’t believe how clean the water was when he came out to test it. He told us it is one of the cleanest bodies of water he has ever held an event at.”
The Cooperative Spirit Award also recognised Geoff and Rochelle’s efforts to ensure that staff are active participants in their farming business while providing opportunities for progression in the agricultural industry.
“We aim to create an inclusive supportive culture where everyone can freely share their ideas. It’s all about creating the right environment to encourage the next generation to give farming a go. Work-life balance is also important as we want people to have enough free time to enjoy their hobbies and family time.
“It is also about accepting that sometimes things won’t always go as well as you hope, but to focus on continuous improvement, and every now and then to take the time to pause and acknowledge and be grateful for what we have achieved together. It’s a team approach that encourages people to take the initiative and look ahead to the future.”
