Parks galore in Supercity
Local board members choose their favourite green spaces during Parks Week
What’s your favourite park? Ask any Aucklander and you’re likely to get a different response — there are so many pearlers to choose from.
The city is blessed with such an abundance of green space — there are more than 4000 parks around the city — that if you visited a new one every day it would take more than 10 years to get around them all.
So Auckland Council asked local board members around the Supercity to pinpoint their favourites in an effort to whittle down the choices for your next outing. Their responses — unsurprisingly — were as diverse as the city.
Native bird life, ancient forests, dog walking, bike tracks, sea views and fantastic playgrounds were among the reasons cited for their choices.
Waitemata Local Board’s Adriana Avendano Christie pointed to Western Park / Tuna Mau as her favourite because of its diverse character.
“The park is tailored for all genders, all ages, even species.
“Kids running around the playground, couples working out on gym equipment. Lastly, the heritage feature gives a lot of character to the space [and] makes it unique.”
Fasitua Amosa from the Whau Local Board reckons Long Bay Regional Park has it all — “a great beach, loads of space and I love seeing loads of different people sharing and enjoying public space together”.
Henderson-Massey local board’s Ingrid Papau raves about Royal Reserve’s “epic” playground — including fairytale towers, sand, massive swings, a 12m slide and trampolines.
Parks Week is held across New Zealand to encourage getting out into nature. Access to green space has been proven to improve mental and physical health, longevity, and even educational outcomes.
But you don’t have to understand the science to know there’s something special about parks — half the joy of it is just getting out in the fresh air and maybe discovering something new.