CITY VISION TOLD TO STOP THE BULL AND COME CLEAN ABOUT CHAMBERLAIN PARK CANDIDATES ACCUSED OF FUDGING THEIR POSITION ON REDEVELOPMENT PLANS The Chamberlain Park action group believe that City Vision members of Albert Eden are potentially misleading the voting public by failing to come clean in their candidate information about their development intentions for the public golf course. City Vision Local Board members Graham Easte, Glenda Fryer and Peter Haynes (all of whom are standing for reelection) have been strong advocates of a multi million dollar rate payer funded redevelopment of Chamberlain Park. Yet each of them, in the face of strong public disapproval, have chosen to play down their intentions in their candidate information. Albert-Eden Local Board candidate Graeme Easte has stated in his Candidate Information that "The City Vision team support (sic) CP continuing to be the home of public golf while bringing in new activities and restoring Meola Creek." However, Mr Easte and his fellow City Vision Board members have voted for the redevelopment of Chamberlain Park by cutting the course in half. Golf is an 18-hole game and a 9-hole course cannot be the home of public golf. The many users of the course who can't or don't want to afford to join expensive golf clubs deserve the opportunity to play on a proper 18-hole course. What Mr Easte and City Vision is proposing is akin to cutting a rugby pitch or a tennis court in half for amateur games. Mr Easte's fellow candidate Glenda Fryer has also stated "No sale of Chamberlain Park", but a proposal that the course be used for housing was roundly voted against in a Shapeauckland survey and no sale appears to be on the table. Surely it would be better for Ms Fryer and Mr Easte to both outline exactly what they are proposing so they can be properly judged by the local community rather than skirt around the issue, particularly as City Vision is proposing to spend 10s of millions of rate payer dollars on the unwanted redevelopment of an asset that already plays an important role in the community. The action group also questions why the current Albert Eden Local Board Chairman Peter Haynes makes no mention of the park's future in his candidate information when under his leadership it is the biggest budget item proposed for the next three years should he successfully be re-elected. A petition set up by the Chamberlain Park action group to "stop the chop" at Chamberlain Park now has circa 2,300 signatures and it expects this number to grow further in the coming weeks. That is significantly more people than the entire Local Board funded consultation process managed to get. Moreover, that consultation process had serious gaps in it, not least there was no option for the status quo and a fanciful wish list of redevelopment options with no real budget estimate. The last thing rate payers need is to spend 10s of millions of dollars on the redevelopment of an asset that already plays an important role in the community. Sign the petition https://www.change.org/p/save-chamberlain-park For comment please contact: Richard Quince 46A LINWOOD AVE, MOUNT ALBERT, AUCKLAND, 021 027 16935SAVECPARK@GMAIL.COM