The bowling club closed some years ago, but it leaves a very valuable piece of land and high quality buildings that we believe would best be utilised as a community centre and garden.  We see that with increasing intensification of Mission Bay, there will be more and more people living closer together, many without access to any outdoor space.  That will create increasing demand for public green space.  In this context, selling any existing public land for further apartment development would seem to be short-sighted and foolish, and yet that is exactly what Auckland Council, through their property arm Panuku, are planning to do with the bowling club land.
We believe that a much better idea is to retain it in public ownership, using the existing buildings as a community centre, and converting the grounds to a community garden.  This would be a quiet family park, with play areas for children, gardens for the elderly, picnic areas for families, and utilising the existing buildings as a community centre for a range of local groups.  This park specifically cater to locals and would be a counterpoint to the busy active Selwyn Reserve that caters to visitors from all over Auckland.
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Panuku intends to sell the land, but will have to undertake public consultation.  This was intended for November 2019, but seems to have been shelved.  We are preparing plans for an alternative use so that we are able to present a well thought-out alternative to convince Auckland Councilthat this public asset should be retained for the long term benefit of the community.

Mission Bay Kohimarama Residents Association