Extended until next year

 

From Albert-Eden Local Board

More time to have your say on Chamberlain Park

 

Albert-Eden Local Board is in the early stages of developing a masterplan for Chamberlain Park and wants to know what users of the park and local residents think.

The board has extended the survey period, which offers Aucklanders the opportunity to provide input into the early stages of the planning process, until 30 January 2015.

Local board chair Dr Peter Haynes says the board has been overwhelmed by the amount of community interest in the future of Chamberlain Park already, and wants to ensure that all groups have the opportunity to provide input.

“This is the first stage of a significant process for the future of the park and it’s important that we start with a clean slate and consider as many ideas as possible.

“Right now, we are faced with a dilemma – the Albert-Eden area has Auckland’s lowest levels of open space with only 2.8 hectares for every 1000 residents.

“We also have almost one third of the region’s capacity shortfall in sports-field provision – this means that, with no real scope to add or improve more playing fields, many players are missing out.

“Projected population growth, lack of suitable land and funds to buy and develop more parks, and the changing needs of our people demands that we make smart decisions about the future use of places like Chamberlain Park.

“We need additional parks and reserves to allow residents to lead active and healthy lives,” he says.

People can complete the Albert-Eden Local Board’s online survey at shapeauckland.co.nz until 30 January 2015. The survey is a first-look at all of the possibilities for the park, including the adjacent Rawalpindi Reserve and the Western Springs Garden site, and asks people’s views on:

• type of golfing activities – including six, nine, 12 and 18-hole courses, driving ranges, starting-new-at-golf and practice areas
• sporting activities, including cricket, football, multi-use artificial turf, all types of rugby and baseball
• passive recreation like walking, cycling, jogging, dog exercise and picnicking
• play spaces, from playgrounds to skate parks and playing courts
• cultural uses and community-based ecological restoration.

In keeping with exploring all options for the park, the survey asks for the public’s views on housing; however the board itself does not support this as a future possibility for the park.

“No decisions will be made on the future of Chamberlain Park until extensive consultation has been carried out. It will consider the interests of all users of the park and the wider community,” says Dr Haynes.

Dr Haynes points out that studies of golf trends indicate a preference for shorter courses with starting-new-at-golf facilities and driving ranges.

“Shorter courses are increasingly popular overseas, and learn-to-play facilities enhance the chances that we’ll see another Lydia Ko emerge in Auckland.

“The demand and market for golfing provision is changing. This is an opportunity to review facilities in light of current pressures for open space and recreation provision within the inner city.”

Once survey results have been collected, options will be developed for further consultation. This is likely to be later in 2015.

 

Further Information 

On behalf of New Zealand Golf, O’Connor Sinclair prepared National and Auckland Regional Golf Facility Studies (2013). The studies identified the following golf course trends and issues. This summary is derived from: “Auckland Golf Facility Strategy New Zealand Golf”. Findings include:

• Increasing operational costs
• Lack of income diversity: golf courses have traditionally relied upon membership revenue as their main source of income
• Lack of diversity in golf experiences and player pathways: golf facilities are becoming less relevant to their surrounding community and not evolving alongside societal and technological trends or diversifying the golf experience enough to attract new participants
• Oversupply of rounds in Auckland and low utilisation of golf courses across Auckland is low at 23 per cent. There is an oversupply of relatively homogenous golf services and facilities and therefore an oversupply of rounds at these facilities
• Untapped target markets: Golf is currently meeting the needs of a relatively narrow part of the potential market and there is considerable opportunity for participation growth in new market segments.

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