Shame on Auckland Council for selling this piece of green space in Takapuna

John Gillon from John Gillon - Kaipatiki Local Board

Shame on Auckland Council for selling this piece of green space in Takapuna. Last week, a majority of councillors, Mayor Phil Goff and mayoral-hopeful Efeso Collins, voted to sell the parkland at 4 Blomfield Spa despite the sale being opposed by the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board who are responsible for local parks in Takapuna.

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The park is to be sold to help raise $70million per year in park and property sales to fill budget shortfalls, which is a very poor reason to sell green space at a time when Auckland is intensifying and private gardens are disappearing.

If 4 Blomfield Spa wasn't being used enough, then perhaps it could have been developed into a community garden, or re-forested to help fulfil council's Urban Ngahere (Forest) Strategy, or exchanged for better park space elsewhere in Takapuna.

The vulnerability of parks like this shows why it is absolutely essential for ALL local boards to gazette all parkland under the Reserves Act and provide a Reserve Management Plan for them, as soon as possible. Over the last few years, the Kaipatiki Local Board has converted all parks to reserves and will be consulting on an omnibus Reserve Management Plan to cover all reserves in a few months.