Petition for Bomb Point Park
A Hobsonville Point resident has started a petition after concern over the future of a reserve.
Grant Dixon, 64, says his fears about Bomb Point Park - or Te Onekiritea Point - escalated due to small changes he’s noticed in publicity material and maps related to the reserve, and lack of transparency around the transfer process.
Around a month ago, Dixon picked up Hobsonville Land Company (HLC) maps showing Bomb Point labelled as under negotiation.
‘‘It’s basically saying, ‘ Don’t assume this is going to be a park, there may not be park’.’’
Among others, the changes reflect his concern that pieces of, or all of the park will be sold off, as the transfer of the reserve from government to the Auckland Council has not been finalised.
After contacting several local board members and councillors, Dixon says there isn’t a definitive response as to where in the process the transfer is.
‘‘They [the councillors] should be in the loop, and quite honestly, I don’t believe they are in the loop.’’
Dixon says HLC has refused to answer his questions in writing.
The sale of the 11ha park, which was arranged by the former Waitakere City Council in 2010, and budgeted at $20 million, was due to go through in 2018. A conversation with a local board member in 2015 alerted Dixon to the issue, after they expressed concern the council could no longer afford to buy the park from HLC due to the rise in land prices.
Hobsonville Land Company CEO Chris Aiken says the intention is to keep the reserve as park.
‘‘The [reserve] area in the Unitary Plan is planned between the council and government to be as it always has been for the last five years, Te Onekiritea, Bomb Point.’’
He says changes on the HLC map were to ‘clarify the [current] position’, in response to questions about the exact status of the park.
Aiken is clear there is no issue over the transfer of land, despite the fact that the process cannot be completed overnight.
‘‘We are working in partnership with partnership with council on this - we are not out to gain them for the last dollar. This is a key reserve.
‘‘We don’t understand why this is being treated as an issue when it has been really, really clear.’’
Dixon’s petition started on July 10, and has almost 600 signatures. ‘‘The solution for this problem is for the government to give the land to the Auckland Council, because that’s the stopping block,’’ he says.