Parks low on public drinking fountains
Health concerns have been raised about a scarcity of drinking fountains in Auckland’s parks.
Auckland Council’s head of operational management Agnes Mccormack said only 183, or 5 per cent, of Auckland’s 3695 parks had drinking fountains. And of the 817 parks with playgrounds, only 16 per cent of them had drinking fountains within the vicinity, Mccormack said.
A study by the University of Otago found that drinking fountains were also scarce in Wellington’s parks and playgrounds. Only 6 per cent of children’s playgrounds and 29 per cent of Wellington city’s parks from 10 of the largest suburbs had drinking fountains.
Drinking fountains could help address New Zealand’s obesity epidemic, encouraged fitness such as dog walking and reduced the risk of heat stroke, the study said.
The researchers found that discolouration around the Wellington fountains’ spouts was fairly common and could ‘‘discourage some people from using the fountains’’.
‘‘Ratepayers deserve a better deal than that sort of grungy mess around a nozzle,’’ public health professor Nick Wilson said. Across the board, the number of drinking fountains was ‘‘way too low,’’ Wilson said.
Auckland was also warmer than Wellington which meant it was at a higher risk of heat wave occurrence, Wilson said.
‘‘From a public health perspective, it’s a problem around New Zealand that local councils need to get their heads around.’’
Lee Beattie from the University of Auckland’s school of architecture and planning said public amenities in parks were important especially as intensification increased in Auckland.
Mission Bay resident Rachel Goldstine said Auckland ‘‘definitely’’ needed more drinking fountains in public places.
‘‘Having more fountains would bring more people to parks, playgrounds and beaches,’’ Goldstine said.
‘‘More water fountains will encourage kids and adults to drink more water as it will be easier to access.’’
A poll on community website Neighbourly found that across 26 central Auckland neighbourhoods, 89 per cent of residents who took part said Auckland needed more drinking fountains while 11 per cent disagreed.