Parks maintenance

As a Grey Lynn resident and ratepayer for 40 years I am writing to concur with Tony Waring’s excellent letter regarding the state of Auckland parks. I have long lamented the removal of the dedicated park manager, such as we used to have in Grey Lynn. Now we have one contractor for all the parks, Ventia, a newly formed, totally untested Australian company, which has been incapable of mowing the grass in Grey Lynn Park (and no doubt others) for months.

The explanation on behalf of the mayor is laughable: “It has not been possible to mow Grey Lynn Park since August as there has been excessive wet weather. Any mowing would damage the turf as the ground is exceedingly very [sic] wet and boggy in the majority of places throughout the park. There are also very steep slopes that are not currently able to be mowed due to accessibility.”

As there has never been a problem in the past, I would say this is because the fancy new mowers they purchased on getting the multimillion-dollar contract are not fit for purpose, being larger and heavier than those previously used.

The mayor added that he is “confident that Ventia will manage council’s assets to the high service standards we expect” and adds, “Staff are satisfied with the attempt that has been made by Ventia to maintain grass turf to the best of their ability”. Well, “staff” may be satisfied but this ratepayer is not.

Louise Johnstone, Grey Lynn.