$46m spent on new parks
Council acquires 35 spaces for purposes including conservation and walkways
Auckland Council has spent $46.4 million on 35 new parks and open spaces in the past year. full list of the open spaces — 31.5ha of parks, walkways, cycleways and conservation areas — was presented to councillors yesterday.
The council budgeted $47.9m to spend on open spaces but sneaked under that for the 2016/17 financial year after spending $46.4m.
Environment and community committee deputy chairman Alf Filipaina said the council had done “really well” to stay under budget.
He felt they had got the balance between the types of spaces right.
The most expensive space was a 70,000sq m park in Hingaia, Papakura, costing just over $6m.
Apart from spaces acquired for no cost, the cheapest piece of land was for a cycleway on Ormiston Rd in Flat Bush, costing $156,000.
Residents in Rodney will be the biggest beneficiaries, with nine of the 31 new spaces in the area. Next is Papakura with five, then Hibiscus and Bays with four and Upper Harbour and DevonportTakapuna with three each.
The council acquired 11 of the parks and open spaces — a combined land area of about 1.3ha — for free. Maintenance for the free land will total $99,629 a year. Castor Bay Stanley Point Clevedon Beachlands Orewa Hobbs Bay Flat Bush Mt Wellington Birkenhead Takanini Takanini Conifer Grove Hingaia Huapai Huapai Huapai Riverhead Hobsonville Hobsonville Swanson Total Walkway Neighbourhood park Neighbourhood park Cycleway Addition to regional park Ecological conservation Neighbourhood park Neighbourhood park Neighbourhood park Neighbourhood park Neighbourhood park Neighbourhood park Sport park
The majority of the spaces are neighbourhood parks, with 14 of the 35 serving that purpose.
Three of the spaces are additions to existing parks, two are walkways and the council’s senior policy manager for parks and re- 321 12,000 12,400 creation, Paul Marriott-Lloyd, said there were two sport parks on the list — a $3.2m part-payment during negotiations for space on Clark Rd, Hobsonville, and the multipurpose park in Hingaia.
“Suburb parks will be home to a mix of different experiences. The issue with sports fields is that they are big spaces.”
Manurewa-Papakura ward councillor Daniel Newman said the council needed to find a “balance” between neighbourhood and sport parks.
“Auckland Council needs to balance the need [for] neighbourhood parks, which are essential for the wellbeing of every resident, with the need to acquire land for sports parks and active playing surfaces.
“In addition, Auckland Council needs to direct its budget to include better drainage, irrigation and lighting to maximise the utility of our fields and courts to cater for Auckland’s growing sport and recreational needs.”
Newman said the budget for acquiring open spaces needed to be increased.
“Unless we change the contributions policy, we will not be able to afford the increasingly scarce and expensive land necessary to cater for the sport and recreational needs of Aucklanders.”
Marriott-Lloyd said Auckland has 241 sports parks, with “about 800 fields across them”.
Rodney Local Board deputy chairman Phelan Pirrie said establishing more parks had been “hard-fought for”.
“All those parks are in places that are being developed, that’s a good thing.”