PETER'S COMMENTS ON LIVE NEWS ttp://livenews.co.nz/2016/10/04/improvements-planned-for-all-the-community-at-chamberlain-park/ OUR RESPONSE Albert-Eden Local Board Chairman Peter Haynes’ recent statement on the re-development of Chamberlain Park clearly highlights the flaw in the “super city” structure imposed by Government which allows local boards to make unilateral decisions about recreational space without considering the impact on the whole city area. i. Nobody has said that the Board wishes to chop up the park for property development or to remove golf from the park or to sell the park. What is proposed by the Board is chopping up the park from an 18-hole golf course to a multitude of uses, which has been opposed by the majority of those responding to the surveys and “consultations” sponsored by the Board. The proposed re-development is anticipated to cost in excess of $30 million. ii. Those opposed to the proposed re-development are not only golfers, but 3,000 (and growing) concerned citizens who recognise the importance to the city of Chamberlain Park in its present format. iii. Mr Haynes has commented on golf playing numbers. Auckland Council has stated that there will be an increased or sustained demand for golf until at least 2030. Also, Active New Zealand has identified golf as the most popular participation sport in Auckland. Yet Auckland has only two public golf course servicing the entire region – this is much lower than in other cities such as Melbourne and Sydney for example. iv. Mr Haynes is presumably referring to the Unitec development in his comment about 5,000 residents. This is a 15-year project and apparently there are currently no plans in existence for this development, which may well include recreational facilities for residents. v. While the Albert-Eden area may consider itself short of sports fields, Auckland Council’s own research showed that there was an excess of 2,000 sports field hours in 2014, so this is not an issue for the city as whole. In any event, the addition of only two sports fields at Chamberlain Park would do little to alleviate any perceived problem. The Board would be better to consider spending some of the proposed $30 million on sand carpeting its existing sports fields to allow all-weather use which would provide a lot more benefit to the wider community. Also, sports fields are mainly used on weekends whereas golf courses are used dawn to dusk seven days a week. vi. Reference is made to the lack of commercial return from Chamberlain yet there do not appear to be any figures on the rate of return on the proposed $30 million spend. At least there is a return from Chamberlain from the green fees paid to use the course and it would be interesting to see what return is received from other all-sports areas such as Fowlds or Walker Parks. vii. Mr Haynes refers to the Board having an opportunity to look at the best use of Chamberlain Park and undertaking consultation. At no point in the “consultation” process was the status quo offered as an option, in fact its inclusion in consultation documents was opposed by City Vision Board members. All “consultations” and surveys undertaken showed a clear preference for retaining an 18-hole course at Chamberlain. viii. Of the four options for the master plan referred to by Mr Haynes, the 9-hole option which became the master plan received the support of only 35% of respondents compared to 40% for 18-hole options and 25% for “none of the above”, hardly a ringing endorsement. Reference by Mr Haynes to the master plan as “aspirational” ignores the fact that $2.28 million has already been earmarked for spending on the re-development . ix. Mr Haynes states that he has been advised that the golf facilities proposed for Chamberlain would improve the appeal of the course. A recent survey of both club and casual golfers by NZ Golf (which has been provided to Auckland Council) shows that golfers do not want driving ranges, ”pitch and putt” facilities or shorter courses. What they want is more time to play more golf and face the challenge of a full 18-hole game. This directly contradicts the advice Mr Haynes is relying on. It is suggested that Mr Haynes ask his “experts” how they would feel about having their home course cut in half. x. There is no opposition to the restoration of Waititiko, but it is believed that this could be done without impacting the golf course. xi. The western end of the park is the wettest part of the area and can only be accessed down a street with limited parking options. xii. Surely the Board should be doing more about the “stench of sewage” at the Rawalpindi Reserve than simply moving the playground. The residents will still have to put up with the stench and sewage contamination from the reserve is an issue for Waititiko. xiii. Mr Haynes repeats his comments about sports fields and the points made in iv) above refer. xiv. The proposed aquatic centre and sports fields are intended to be built on an area of the park where the basalt is 20m thick and where there is no existing road access. St Lukes Road at this point has been identified by Auckland Transport as one of the busiest roads in Auckland and the fact that another set of traffic lights would be required will only add to cost and congestion. There is no indication whether or not Auckland Transport would approve this requirement. xv. The additional access ways and parking needed to service the proposed aquatic centre and the artificial sports fields, as well as the driving range and ground cover under the proposed playground combined with loss of trees to facilitate the plan mean that, overall, there will be less green space in the park area than currently exists. This should be of concern to City Vision’s Green constituency. It is of interest to note that the proposed spend on Chamberlain will be one of the largest single-ticket items on the Board’s agenda if they can obtain the necessary funding. Mr Haynes refers to unnecessary alarm about the future of the park, but if he and his fellow City Vision members had been up front with the electorate about their plans then perhaps the electorate would have known what was going on and been able to make their own judgment. Moreover, City Visions failure to highlight their plans during this current election cycle means they have no mandate for change from the public. Finally, Mr Haynes continually ignores the fact that the significant majority of rounds at Chamberlain Park are played by casual golfers from throughout Auckland who do not wish to, or cannot afford to, join a private club, many of whom would be constituents of City Vision’s Labour base. The opposition to the re-development proposed comes from throughout Auckland, and even beyond, and is from golfers and non-golfers alike. Chamberlain Park is one of the busiest golf courses in Auckland and has been enjoyed by generations of golfers from a wide range of ethnicities .If Auckland wants to improve its liveability status then it needs to cater for both the haves and the have-nots.