Attachments of Papakura Local Board

Unitary Plan

· The Auckland Unitary Plan zones set parameters for how different areas are used, developed or protected and is expected to change in the future.

· All land in Auckland, including land in coastal marine areas, has a zone. In Papakura, the business metropolitan centre zone is important as it enables:

· growth, scale and intensification and acts as focal point for community interaction

· commercial growth and development

· the provision of hubs serving high frequency transport

· a wide range of activities including commercial, leisure, high density, residential, tourist, cultural, community and civic services.

· The Unitary Plan General Coastal Marine Area rules have a major influence on Papakura’s natural ecosystem. The rules apply to the foreshore, seabed, water and air in coastal areas and provide for use and development in the coastal marine area to:

· enable the construction, operation, maintenance and upgrading of infrastructure within the coastal marine area

• protecting natural character, landscape values and natural features

• maintain and enhance water quality

• protect significant ecological values

• protect historic heritage values

• maintain and enhance public access, open space, recreational use, amenity values, and access to and along the coastal marine area.

· The Unitary Plan also includes a natural heritage overlay that provides rules and criteria to assess any impacts to outstanding natural features. The rules are of relevance as much of the open space in the area is near to or on the coast and may include heritage aspects.

The policy context

The Auckland Plan 2050 sets out the vision for Auckland. The Parks and Open Space Strategic Action Plan sets out what needs to happen to Auckland’s parks and open space network to implement the vision of the Auckland Plan.

The key moves and actions prioritised in the network plan will help the board align to those objectives and deliver the best outcomes for the area.

The Parks and Open Space Strategic Action Plan identifies four areas of focus. These are used to create the network of parks and open spaces required to achieve the outcomes identified in the Auckland Plan.

· Treasure our parks and open spaces

· Connect our parks and open spaces

· Enjoy our parks and open spaces

· Utilise our parks and open spaces

Auckland Council’s approach

The network plan is future-focussed and a key tool for implementing the Parks and Open Space Strategic Action Plan.

Network plans map the aspirations to improve parks and open spaces at a local level.

Reserve management plans address the management of land held for parks that are reserved and classified under the Reserves Act 1977. They have been approved for some of the Papakura parks and future development must align with these management plans.

Community Services is embarking on a programme to deliver a single omnibus open space management plan for each local board area. This will replace the individual reserve management plans. The open space management plan will be prepared under the statutory requirements of the Reserves Act 1977 and will require local board approval.

Service Property Optimisation

· Service Property Optimisation was adopted by the Governing Body in 2015. Optimisation of underperforming service property (the council’s open space property assets) allows for the reinvestment of revenue from the sale back into the open space network. The optimisation objectives include:

· release underlying value from land (optimal use of the land)

· upgrading community services or facilities so they are fit-for-purpose

· improved community outcomes

· facilitate housing and urban development

· self-funding: sale proceeds are reinvested to fund redevelopment with no additional budget.

· There are 31 open spaces in Papakura that are less than 1000m² which is smaller than the recommended size of a pocket park. Potentially these could be considered for optimisation.

1.2 Papakura Local Board area

The Manukau Harbour originated less than 10 million years ago.

Papakura is located on the shores of Pahurehure inlet of the Manukau Harbour and is 34 kilometres south of Auckland city.

The Manukau Harbour shores were the entrance to the inland route to Wairoa (Clevedon) and the Hauraki Gulf.

’Te Akitai, Ngai Tai, Ngati Tamaoho and Ngati Pou are iwi who formed part of a wider confederation known as Te Wai-O-Hua and have associations with the area.

The whole of the Takanini area derives its name from the Te Akitai chief, Ihāka Takānini. Papakura was also named after the rich earth beneath the area - Papatuanuku (earth) and kura (red).

The Papakura (and Drury) and surrounds were an important access area for travellers in pre-European times and later in the early settler and 1860 land confiscation and conflict periods. With Manukau Harbour to the west and the Hunua Ranges to the southeast, it was an area highly utilised as a link between Tamaki Makaurau / the Auckland Isthmus and the Waikato.

The Papakura Local Board area covers just over 4000 hectares and is bounded on the eastern border by the Hunua Ranges regional park and includes a 14000 hectare native forest which is the largest in the Auckland region. The 26 kilometre coastline on the western border also highlights the areas relationship to the Manukau Harbour.

The Papakura borders are further defined by State Highway 1 which divides the local board into an east and west land area which is divided again by the Southern Line railway network and the Great South Road corridor.

The result is that traversing east to west across the local board area provides greater challenges and increased walking and cycling risk.

The area is also divided into census area units (Figure 4) which helps with demographic modelling and identifying open space locations as they relate to population groups, and residential access to open space.

Figure 4. Parks open spaces by Census Area Unit (CAU)

Land development

The Papakura landscape has been highly modified in the past 150 years and very little (approximately 3%) native vegetation remains (Figure 5 below).

Figure 5. Remaining native vegetation

Local board focus

The local board want to ensure that the network plan is in alignment to the Papakura Local Board Plan 2017. The local board and community have worked together to develop the local board plan which it believes best reflects what is important to the area.

Three of five outcomes within the local board plan have a close relationship to broader open space outcomes including:

· people in Papakura lead active, healthy and connected lives

· Papakura is well-connected and easy to move around

· Papakura is treasured for its environment and heritage.

The intention of the network plan is to align and give effect to the open space outcomes in the local board plan.

Papakura’s parks and open spaces

Papakura has 153 council owned open spaces spread across the local board area (Figure 6). These total approximately 520 hectares which is around 13 per cent of the local board land area. The two categories of open space that are of primary interest to the open space network plan include:

· 122 neighbourhood parks (272 hectares)

· 13 sports parks (188 hectares).

Other open spaces that are of importance and contribute to the wider open space network include:

· 2 cemeteries (3 hectares)

· 11 esplanades (54 hectares)

· 3 natural bush spaces (7 hectares of sensitive environment area)

· 14 storm water reserves (10 hectares)

· 26 kilometres of coastline.

There are also five Department of Conservation locations:

· 795m²site west of Keywella Esplanade

· 7790m² Red Hill Scenic Reserve

· 852m² raised esturine landform within the Pahurehure Inlet and east of Park Estate Road

· 30,000m² esplanade adjacent to the Drury Interchange

· 1063m² esplanade just below Bremner Road.

Figure 6. Papakura open space network

Papakura’s people as at 2013

· The 2013 census for the local board area recorded 45,636 residents (an increase of 4,472 people, or 9.8 per cent since the 2006 census). The demographic profile records the following ethnicities:

· 61.1 per cent European

· 28.1 per cent Māori

· 14.5 per cent Pacific peoples

· 12.8 per cent Asian

· 1.4 per cent Middle Eastern Latin American African

· 1.1 per cent other.

· 23.5 per cent of local residents were born overseas. Of that number, 39 per cent have been in New Zealand for less than 10 years and the largest group was born in the United Kingdom.

· 41 per cent of households were couples with children and a further 27.5 per cent were sole parents with children. Couples without children make up 31.5 per cent of families. The proportion of one-person households is 19.8 per cent and couple only households is 25 per cent.

· A comparative analysis of the 2013 census demographic profile highlights the similarities and differences of Papakura to the wider Auckland area and New Zealand:

· 28.1 per cent of people belong to Māori ethnic group, compared with 10.7 per cent for Auckland and 14.9 per cent for New Zealand

· The median age of Papakura residents is 33.1 years. For Auckland it is 35.1 and New Zealand is 38 years

· 23.5 per cent of people in the area were born overseas, compared with 39.1 per cent for Auckland and 25.2 per cent for New Zealand as a whole

· 24.4 per cent of the local board area are under 15 years of age compared with 20.9 per cent in Auckland and 20.4 per cent for New Zealand

· 11.4 per cent are aged 65 years and over compared with 11.5 per cent for Auckland and 14.3 per cent for New Zealand.

1.3 Current State

· The current state of the Papakura open space network is discussed under the four key focus areas of Treasure, Enjoy, Connect and Utilise. This section identifies strengths, issues, opportunities and threats as well as community perceptions and potential future influences on the open space network.

Treasure

Protecting and conserving our environment, heritage and landscape, and growing education opportunities

Cultural Heritage

· The local board area has a rich history of both mana whenua and the early settlers of Auckland. Many parks, streets and built heritage reflect these origins. Papakura was a strategic location.

First people

Anthropolological investigations note that Māori first occupied the Manukau Harbour area from the 1300s and had established settlements by the 1400s.

Europeans first started moving through the area in 1834. Settler George Loverson Cole arrived sometime between 1846 and 1847 and is recorded as being the father of Papakura.

Mana whenua

Papakura has a prominent Māori cultural history due, in part, to its strategic location and also its access to resources.

Ten Iwi have mana whenua status in Papakura and include:

· Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki

· Ngāti Maru

· Ngāti Tamaterā

· Ngāti Whanaunga

· Te Ākitai Waiohua

· Ngāti Paoa

· Ngāti Tamaoho

· Ngāti Te Ata

· Te Ahiwaru Waiohua

· Waikato - Tainui

In pre-European times the Manukau Harbour provided a range of kai moana (sea food). The surrounding area would have been covered in bush, flowing streams, forests and swamps. These would have provided access to a range of building materials and a variety of food.

On the Papakura side of the Hingaia peninsula at Chalky Point was a canoe landing. A track led to Waipapa at the head of the Pahurehure Inlet. The track is described as having been used for generations by Māori to gain access to Pukekiwiriki and the neighboring settlement of Te Aparangi as well as the Pa at Otūwairoa Stream (formerly known as Slippery Creek) and the Opāheke settlement.

Te Ao Māori (Māori world view)

Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi) forms the foundation of a relationship between the Crown and Māori. The Crown has statutory obligations to Māori. Auckland Council is committed to meeting these obligations and recognises the contribution Māori have made to establishing and developing Auckland.

The environment is integral to Māori identity and culture. Māori see the environment as an interconnected whole, and assess its health in the same way.

Māori recognise that the privileges and benefits the environment provides mankind also comes with a responsibility to care for and maintain the environment for future generations. This commitment is expressed as kaitiakitanga – the practice of guardianship and environmental management grounded in a Māori world view.

Māori also influenced Papakura’s cultural heritage landscape in other ways including:

· pre-European settlement and occupation

· achieving statutory acknowledgement of the:

o coastal marine area

o Drury marginal strip and conservation area

o Drury Creek Islands Recreation Reserve

· changes to stream names in and around the area were gazetted in 2018 as part of Ngāti Tamaoho Claims Settlement Act 2018:

o Symonds Stream to Mangapū Stream

o Slippery Creek to Otūwairoa Stream

o Waihoihoi Stream to Waihoehoe Stream

o Hays Stream to Waipokapū Stream

o Hays Stream conservation area to be renamed Waipokapū Stream conservation

o Hingaia Stream and its tributaries

o Ngakaroa Stream and its tributaries.

Colonial era

Missionaries are recorded as travelling through the Papakura and Drury areas from 1834, staying at the Māori village of Opāheke near the mouth of Otūwairoa Stream.

The government identified the area being of strategic importance and the Papakura Block was purchased in 1842 for £200 and the exchange of two horses. The land extended from Papatoetoe to just south of present day Papakura.

In 1844, the Hingaia Block (2193 acres) was purchased by Adam Chisholm.

In 1853 Papakura village was subdivided into town lots a signal of growth and prosperity.

There was a surge in population growth from 1855. Harvesting of natural resources such as tree and flax milling occurred along the Papakura and Otūwairoa Streams.

Coal mining commenced for a short time and a brickworks, a pottery and fireclay works then became big industries in the area. These went into decline during the 1930s. Other industries came and went and included basalt quarrying, timber milling, kauri gum digging, and bloodstock and horse racing.

Marae

There are no mana whenua marae in Papakura. The Papakura Marae is a mataawaka marae that was established in 1980. It provides cultural, health and social services for all Papakura people and surrounding suburbs.

Mana whenua and Auckland Plan

The Auckland Plan promotes Māori outcomes including:

• Māori self-determination and expression

• shared efforts between Māori and with others

• the integration of Māori values into planning, decision making and delivery.

The strengths and contributions Māori bring to Auckland will fuel growth and advance Māori social, cultural, economic and environmental wellbeing.

The planning and provision of open space has a role to play in giving effect to the Auckland Plan outcome of A thriving Māori identity is Auckland’s point of difference in the world – it advances prosperity for Māori and benefits all Aucklanders.

This can be achieved by focusing on:

· continuing to identify and protect sites of cultural heritage, particularly in the planning and development of Papakura

· increasing reciprocal partnership, collaboration and decision-making opportunities with mana whenua, public, private and community partners

· enabling kaitiakitanga outcomes in the management of natural resources and customary rights

· advancing mana whenua priorities.

Resource Management Act and mana whenua

Mana whenua have a special cultural and spiritual relationship with the environment, which is a matter of national importance under the Resource Management Act 1991.

This includes their relationship with their:

· wāhi tapu (sacred sites)

· taonga (treasures)

· water

· ancestral lands.

Local government and mana whenua

The Local Government Act 2002 and the Reserves Act 1977 set out specific requirements for councils to facilitate participation by Māori in local authority decision-making processes. This means providing opportunities to be involved in decisions relating to the management of mana whenua values associated with parks.

Mana whenua values

· These core values are acknowledged by Mana whenua as appropriate for the Auckland region and are outlined in more detail in the Auckland Design Manual.

Rangatiratanga: The right to exercise authority and self-determination within one’s own iwi/hapū realm.

Kaitiakitanga: The exercise of guardianship by the tangata whenua of an area in accordance with tikanga Māori in relation to natural and physical resources; and includes the ethic of stewardship.

Manākitanga: The ethic of holistic hospitality whereby mana whenua have inherited obligations to be the best hosts they can be.

Wairuatanga: The immutable spiritual connection between people and their environments.

Kotahitanga: Unity, cohesion and collaboration.

Whanaungatanga: A relationship through shared experiences and working together which provides people with a sense of belonging.

Mātauranga: Māori/mana whenua knowledge and understanding.

Local board and mana whenua rangatira

The local board supports a joint mana whenua governance working party for Māori input into local board decision-making.

The Local Board Plan also includes initiatives of direct relevance to mana whenua and mataawaka. These include protection and enhancement of the Manukau Harbour; improvement of water quality in catchment streams; and the identification and protection of wahi tapu in and around Papakura.

The local board advises it has met with five mana whenua groups ‘rangatira ki te rangatira’ and aims to keep actively building relationships, learning each other’s priorities and looking for opportunities to collaborate.

A Joint Management Committee with mana whenua governance has been established to oversee the care and use of Pukekiwiriki Pa historic reserve.

Local parks and mana whenua

Local parks provide opportunities for mana whenua to express their kaitiakitanga and enhance opportunities for mana whenua. This ranges from

· identifying mana whenua values and promoting these and tikanga (culture), kawa (traditions) and mātauranga Māori (traditional Māori knowledge)

· increased engagement and joint kaitiaki projects, such as gathering harakēkē (flax)

· naming places with traditional mana whenua names

· mahi toi and planting opportunities.

Mana whenua concerns about the environment

There are a number of te taiao (environment) issues that mana whenua are concerned about and include (but not limited to):

· te oranga o te wai: the health and wellbeing of waterways. The extent of this includes:

o pointing out that better sedimentation control is required

o higher quality stormwater control systems are needed

o advocating for innovative wastewater systems that reduce the impact to zero on our harbours, awa and waterways

o increased riparian edge planting

o fencing off waterways from farm animals

o protecting culture and heritage locations particularly along esplanade routes

· coastal inundation and damage to culture and heritage sites

· protection of wading bird colonies

· the absence of a programme of work to update reserves naming

· working at a project by project level rather than at a strategic programme level.

Papakura’s military history and open space

The New Zealand Wars occurred between 1845 and 1872. Papakura’s population increased significantly during the 1860s.

A memorial oak tree was planted on 19 July 1919 on the original Papakura school grounds to commemorate the First World War.

The Papakura school grounds were developed as Central Park Reserve (informal recreation zone) in the 1970s.

278 Great South Road (informal recreation zone) is adjacent to Central Park Reserve and includes a prominent Papakura-Karaka war memorial that was unveiled in June 1921.

Papakura Military Camp was established in 1939 and after a period lasting almost 70 years was heavily downsized during the early 2000s. Much of this land was subsequently rezoned for residential housing and 15 hectares is set aside as public open space and are aptly named ‘Army Fields’.

Cultural and heritage inventory

Papakura’s cultural and heritage inventory is spatially represented below within Figure 7.

Figure 7. Papakura culture and heritage inventory

The legend for the above map includes:

• red dots: archaeological sites

• blue dots: historic features

• green triangle: historical botanical sites

• pink dots: māori heritage

• purple dots: New Zealand Archaelogical Association areas and marine sites.

There are 20 culture and heritage locations recorded upon open space areas (Table 1 below).

Hingaia Esplanade also records eight archaeological sites along the coastline. Central Park and the Central Cenotaph combined also record a cluster of historic and botanical features.

Table 1. Culture and heritage on open space

Open space	Category
Waiata Shores Point	two archaeological sites
Walter Strevens Reserve	archaeological site
Pahurehure Esplanade Reserve	archaeological site
Herkts Bush	historical botanical site
Coles Crescent Park	two historic structures
Margan Bush	archaeological site
Pukekiwiriki Pa	archaeological site
Hays Creek Esplanade Reserve	archaeological site
Smiths Reserve	historic structure
Massey Park	historic structure
Central Park	two historic structures two historic botanical sites
Central Cenotaph	historic structure historic botanical site
Papakura Cemetary	historic structure historic botanical site
Willis Bush	historic botanical site
Chisholm Corner	historic structure
Kirks Bush	historic botanical site
Hingaia Esplanade	eight archaeological sites
27 Bremner Road (DoC)	two archaeological sites
Drury Sports Complex	archaeological site historical botanical site
Drury Domain	two historical structures

Sites of significance

The Auckland Unitary Plan Schedule of Sites and Places of Significance to mana whenua is currently being updated. At the present time there are no recorded ‘sites of significance to Māori places in Papakura.

The local board has commissioned the preparation of a cultural and heritage trail. Work to date has identified 29 features on or close to reserves.

Natural heritage & biodiversity

The 2016 State of the Auckland Terrestrial Report Card for the eastern plan area (which includes Howick, Māngere, Manurewa, Otara,-Papatoetoe and Papakura Local Boards) scored a ‘C’ grade (up from ‘D’ in 2014). It measures native plants, native birds, pest animals, weeds and wetlands in the area.

Papakura has areas with a variety of plant and animal life which are considered to be important and desirable. Key features are:

· land cover has been significantly modified over the last 150 years and only approximately three per cent of native vegetation remains

· a rare orchid (Danhatchi Australis) was discovered in Kirks Bush in 1966 and is found only a few other Auckland locations

· there are two significant wading bird areas located on the western coastal area of Conifer Grove and western coastal area at the end of Park Estate Road.

Marine and fresh water quality

The Manukau Harbour was once an important resource for early Māori and European settlers. People relied on this ecosystem for both food and transport.

The 2016 Manukau Harbour environmental health score was a ‘D’ grade measuring water quality, contaminants in sediment and ecology.

There are two major streams in the Papakura area. The Papakura Stream is located on the northern boundary and Otūwairoa is located near its southern border.

The 2016 state of Auckland freshwater report card grade for the Papakura and Manurewa Local Board areas was a ‘D’ grade.

The health of the Papakura and Manurewa Local Board rivers is considered to be “impaired”. High levels of urban development and impervious surface areas prevents rainfall from soaking into the ground. The follow-on impact for waterways are high water temperatures, changes to natural flow patterns and increased pollution from contaminated stormwater.

Fresh water quality varies widely across Auckland’s rivers and streams. On the whole the pattern tends to be:

· excellent where catchments dominated by native forest

· good-fair where catchments are dominated by exotic forest and/or rural land use.

· Poor water quality in rural catchments is generally characterised by high nutrient levels and sediment

· poor where catchments are dominated by urban land use.

The Papakura Local Board Plan 2017 has a focus to improve water quality. This includes:

· working with eight other local boards on the Manukau Harbour Forum to improve water quality

· working to improve the water quality of streams

· exploring ways to improve the wetlands and waterways that feed into the harbour.

Wai Care services are delivered in the area to help educate people about freshwater issues. In 2015/16 they supported eight active groups, monitored 12 sites, had 763 students involved, delivered four events with 250 people involved and planted 3470 trees.

Coastal inundation

Coastal inundation is caused by the combined action of high tides and adverse weather conditions leading to storm surge events which flood low-lying coastal areas. It is expected that this will be exacerbated by projected sea level rise and increased storm events induced by climate change.

Much of Papakura’s coastline is likely to be affected by coastal inundation and storm surge events. The coastal inundation zone (Figure 8) highlights areas within Papakura that have been, and are likely to experience additional flooding events into the future. These include:

· Brylee Reserve

· Longford Park Reseve

· Coles Mill Lane

· Esplanade Reserve (Pahurehure Inlet)

· Papakura channel from Karaka North to Drury Esplanade

· Roundtree Reserve

· Pahurehure Esplanade Reserve

· 41R Elliot Street

· Hingaia Esplanade

· Hingaia Stream Esplanade

· Karaka Reserve

Figure 8. Open spaces and risk of coastal inundation

Wading bird sites

There are also two significant wading bird populations off the coast of Wattledowns and Hingaia/Drury (Figure 9). These provide an opportunity to focus a coastal connection and additional education about coastal bird colonies and coastal protection.

Figure 9. Wading bird colonies

Community volunteers and the environment

The Auckland Plan 2050 includes a focus on supporting and working with communities to develop the resilience to thrive in a changing world. This involves building on and developing local communities’ existing strengths and assets.

Two volunteer groups maintain open space in the local board area:

· Friends of Margans and Kirk’s Bush.

· Pahurehure Inlet Society.

Connect

Creating a green network across Auckland by linking our parks, open space and streets

Creating a connected network of parks, open spaces delivers a variety of benefits.

One of the strengths of the Papakura parks and open spaces network is the eight kilometres of coastal edge access available for walking or cycling.

The local board has also agreed to slowly update to bi-lingual signage and wayfinding. These aim to encourage the use of the network. They also create an opportunity for storytelling and historical identification.

Walking and cycling networks

Auckland Council has five overlapping approaches, which plan for and implement walking, cycling and green-corridors through the region. These are:

· parks and open spaces

· biodiversity

· healthy waters

· transport

· greenways.

The local board has also prepared a Greenways/Local Paths Plan. This aims to create more connections to encourage residents and visitors to walk and cycle. The focus is on connecting the existing network of larger parks.

The Papakura Greenways/Local Paths Plan 2017 aims to:

· improve walking connections

· improve cycle connections

· improve recreation opportunities

· improve ecological opportunities

· improve community connections

· improve access to streams, rivers and the coast.

The Greenways/Local Paths Plan follow natural landforms such as streams and coasts as well as streets and motorways. Greenways also encourage opportunities for ecological restoration as they often align with streams and other natural areas.

The Greenways/Local Paths Plan proposes to achieve this by improving the Papakura neighbourhoods, as well as connections to paths being developed in the:

· Takanini Papakura Integrated Area Plan

· Hingaia and McLennan Park Special Housing Areas

· Opāheke Park Development and the Takanini Stormwater Conveyance Corridor

· Auckland Transport Auckland Cycle Network)

· New Zealand Transport Authority proposal for the Southern Corridor Improvements Project

· The Te Araroa national walkway (which only includes the northern tip of the local board area).

An additional challenge for the Papakura Greenways/Local Paths Plan will be to meet the needs of additional residential and population numbers within the existing urban area as well as connecting to new residential areas and the new supply of open spaces.

Connecting the coast and streams

The coastal edge also provides a defining feature of the landscape.

There are opportunities to extend the coastal edge and stream esplanade network by:

· planning for the development of 8.5 kilometres of coastal walkway that connects Hingaia to Drury (as the residential development of the area allows)

· connecting around three kilometres of coastal esplanade (where there are gaps in the current esplanade network)

· negotiating access to those areas of coastline not in public ownership, or provide an alternate route

· improving the east to west coastal connections to inland areas

· providing strong walking and cycling linkages that follow the existing stream network from the coast to inland areas.

There are also significant constraints and challenges to achieving a coastal connection for walking and cycling:

· State Highway 1 is a physical barrier to connecting inland open spaces to the coast

· The Southern Line railway network and Great South Road are physical barriers to connecting open spaces either side of these routes

· Arterial routes attract a higher level of risk when used by walkers and cyclists. The risks include personal safety from vehicles, direct exposure to noise and direct exposure to pollution.

Greenways/Local Paths Plan and sustainability

The Greenways/Local Paths plan discusses alignment to the Auckland Climate Action Plan and the Million Trees Strategy.

The Million Trees Strategy aims to offset carbon emissions, protect water quality by planting along rivers and coastlines and improve the living environment. At present there are no locations in Papakura that are registered with the Million Trees Strategy.

There are also opportunities to plant trees as part of wider mitigation responding to the effects of storm surge, coastal inundation and soil erosion.

Enjoy

Ensuring our parks and open spaces can meet the needs of our growing population

Growth areas

Papakura’s population is forecast to grow to 77,000 by 2038 up from 45,636 residents in 2013 (almost 70 per cent population increase).

The Auckland Plan anticipates that up to 70 per cent of new dwellings will be built within existing urban areas and metropolitan town centre area.

Who will be using our parks in 2038

Demographic change has implications for open space planning. It provides an indication of who will be using Papakura’s open spaces into the future.

Figure 10 records the four largest ethnic groups in Papakura.

Figure 10. Ethnic profile comparison over 25 years by percentage

The two most significant changes are:

· European ethnic group is forecast to decrease by 5.6 per cent

· the Asian ethnic group is forecast to increase by 9.2 per cent.

Other population changes likely to influence activities on open space include:

· older adult population changes. There was a 16.5 per cent increase in people over 65 years of age between 2006 and 2013. By 2038 this cohort is forecast to become 18 per cent of the community

· young families are forecast to become around 19 per cent of the community

· 9.9 per cent of the population are forecast to be young adults.

· 11.3 per cent of the population are forecast to be primary school age.

· The open space needs of a changing community profile need to be considered during park planning and development.

Enabling growth

The Unitary Plan zones manage how areas of Auckland are used, developed or protected. The Unitary Plan will allow more intensive residential and business development in parts of the local board area that mostly follows the transport corridor. This includes Takanini West, Takanini South, Papakura North, Papakura Central, Opāheke and Hingaia.

Figure 11 highlights that an estimated 18 per cent (circled areas) of the land area will experience high levels of growth within the existing urban footprint.

Figure 11. Unitary plan growth areas

Residential intensification is also enabled outside of the transport corridor however not to the same extent.

Under the Unitary Plan, existing residential sections are enabled to redevelop from between two storeys (mixed housing suburban) and seven storey (terrace housing and apartment building zone) residential living.

The Business–Metropolitan Centre Zone (circled in black) has the potential to enable greater building heights than the standard zone heights (multi-level).

Growth and impact on open space

The impact on open space within the areas highlighted above in Figure 11 include:

· the Business-Metropolitan Centre Zone development (circled in black) will recieve greater population numbers that will make use of nearby open spaces. These open spaces include Central Park, Prince Edward Park, Village Green, and Massey Park

· the two future urban zone areas (bright yellow) located north-east of Papakura central and south-east of Papakura (Figure 8) will require new open spaces. The acquisition of open space for these areas will accompany any residential development

· the Business-Metropolitan Centre Zone development will include a high frequency transport hub which will help provide open space connections along the north-south transport corridor

· the business zones located strategically at the northern boundary, central and southern boundary (purple areas) will offer opportunities to connect large numbers of workers to open space opportunities

· the Manurewa Takanini Papakura Integrated Area Plan 2018 follows the transport corridor. It is an urban plan that outlines a vision over the next 30 years and anticipates residential and business growth. The increased number of residents will place an increased load on open spaces in and around the area.

Population growth will also mean:

· a greater demand for a range of open space recreation and sport experiences

· private open space by way of residential backyards is likely to diminish as intensification occurs

· For most school rolls, these will increase which will lead to demand for more classrooms. This will mean that school playgrounds will come under increasing pressure

· demand for the provision of new open spaces in new subdivision areas.

Open space gaps

The Open Space Provision Policy 2016 informs investment decisions to create a high quality open space network. It also provides direction on open space at a network scale.

The actions set out within section 2 of this report reflect the following focus for investment statements set out below:

· investing in the established open space network to offer a wider range of activities for more people

· improving linkages between open space, such as establishing greenways

· optimising assets through land exchange and reconfiguration

· acquiring new open spaces as opportunities allow, particularly in large brownfield developments.

The focus for investment in open space in greenfield areas is:

· investing in new open space when growth occurs

· integrating open space with stormwater, transport, schools and community facilities

· creating a resilient and multi-functional open space network that can evolve with changing community needs over time

· connecting new and existing open space networks.

Neighbourhood parks provide basic informal recreation and social opportunities within a short walk of surrounding residential areas and are typically between 0.3 to 0.5 hectares.

There are indicative neighbourhood park open space gaps across the local board area and are highlighted in red within Figure 12. Open space gaps are assessed using the Open Space Provision Policy walking distance target of between 400 and 600 metres (depending on density), a distance a user would need to travel to access the open space.

Figure 12. Neighbourhood park open space gaps

Suburb parks provide a variety of informal recreation and social experiences for residents from across a suburb. These are often located in prominent locations and help form the identity of a suburb and often accommodate organised sport facilities, such as sportsfields.

New suburb parks are typically three to five hectares if providing for informal recreation uses only and up to 10 hectares or larger if also accommodating organised sport uses.

The indicative suburb park open space gaps are presented within Figure 13 below.

· Figure 13. Suburb park open space gaps

Suburb park open space gaps are assessed using the Open Space Provision Policy walking distance target of 1000 metres (depending on density), a distance a user would need to travel to access the open space.

The process to close open space gaps first needs to focus on improving the quality of the existing open space network with a focus on neighbourhood parks.

Sport and recreation strategy

· Having alignment and a clear line of sight between the provision of open space and the allocation of open space for sport and recreation purposes is important.

· The Auckland Sport and Recreation Strategic Action Plan 2014-2024, is a strategic plan for the recreation and sport sector and Auckland Council. The local board has a role to play in achieving all nine of the targets, particularly Target 4 – Improve access to sport and recreation infrastructure.

· Sport and recreation makes a major contribution to the population’s quality of life, to health and wellbeing and to the economy. It provides opportunities for fun and entertainment and contributes to making Auckland a valued destination.

Sports park location

Sports parks are often large open space areas and are able to attract and cater for large numbers of users

Figure 14 highlights Papakura’s 12 sports parks in relation to the unitary plan growth areas.

Figure 14. Location and distribution of sports parks

Key conclusions from this distribution show:

· the alignment of the sports parks is primarily from the north to the south between a 2500 metre wide corridor which is accessible via the arterial transport routes

· there is a concentration of four sports parks around Business-Metropolitan Centre Zone (blue circle). The Unitary Plan identifies this area for residential intensification and population growth

· from the centre of Papakura, residents are within 10 minutes drive of a sports park

· in terms of spatial distribution, there are suburb park gaps particularly towards the northern end of the local board boundary, the north-eastern, south-western and western edges of the local board area (new growth areas)

· the local board has received a report about the sports codes and their needs. All of whom play on the suburb park sports parks. The local board wishes to implement the recommendations in the Papakura Sports Needs Assessment 2018, the majority of which require either renewals or capex investment at sports parks.

Community sports clubs on reserves

The range of clubs and the number of teams playing sport on the local board sports grounds is set out below in Table 2. The largest is the Papakura Netball Centre with 200 teams and the smallest is Papakura Kings (American Football) with two teams.

Table 2. Sports clubs and teams

Name	Teams
Ardmore Marist Rugby & Sports Club	42
Counties Manukau Softball Assoc.	67
Drury and Districts Rugby Football and Recreation Club Inc.	10
Drury United Football Club Inc.	38
Papakura City Football Club Inc.	58
Papakura Cricket Club Inc.	15
Papakura Kings (American Football)	2
Papakura Netball Centre	200
Papakura Rugby Football Club Inc.	15
Papakura ‘Sea Eagles’ Rugby League and Sports Club Inc.	24
Papakura Tennis and Squash Club	19
United Cricket Club (Counties Manukau) Inc.	6

Sportsfield capacity

· A 2014 study of sports field capacity and demand measured the use and shortfall of fields. It employed a measurement tool using full field equivalent hours – the number of full field hours used. This highlighted a shortfall of four competition hours and 19 training hours.

· In response to these results, the local board made a significant investment in sports grounds to improve turf resilience and reduce the number of closures.

· The results of an updated study in 2017 (Future of Sports in Auckland 2018 – 2028) recorded a complete turnaround and highlighted there is a 75 hours competition surplus and a 119 surplus of training provision as well as 13 surplus hours of training light provision (Table 3).

· Table 3. 2017 Papakura local board winter sports field hours

· By 2025 the forecast is for a surplus of 48 competition hours, 63 training hours and a shortfall of 17 hours training light provision (Table 4).

· Table 4. 2028 Papakura local board winter sports field hours

Winter sports fields

· In 2017, Papakura recorded 16 per cent of its sports field hours not being available due to the effects of weather as did the Franklin Local Board.

A summary of winter sports field club use and participation rates for Papakura are set out below:

Rugby -

· 11 per cent decline in senior rugby club team numbers

· 5 per cent decline in junior club teams (mainly older juniors)

League -

· 10 per cent decline in senior league club teams (most significant since 2016)

· youth teams maintained their participation rates

· 4 per cent decline in junior teams

Football -

· 11 per cent decline in senior football teams

· 6 per cent growth in junior teams

Infrastructure provision and play space

· The provision of open space infrastructure is an important part of activating and enabling access to open space. Infrastructure types include play space equipment, seating, tables, footpaths, shade trees, rubbish bins, carparks etc.

Play space equipment and distribution

· Of 122 neighbourhood parks, 27 of these have play park installations (33 per cent).

· It should be noted that not all neighbourhood open spaces should be activated with play installations e.g. sensitive environment area.

· Of 13 suburb parks, 12 have play space equipment (92 per cent).

· Of 17 esplanade and coastal areas, three esplanade reserves are located along the 26-kilometre coastline and have play space equipment (18 per cent).

Public toilets

· There are 19 public toilets (13 of which are within 1000 metres of the metropolitan town centre).

· Rubbish bins are concentrated within the Business-Metropolitan Centre Zone area and thinly distributed across the wider open space network.

· Figure 15 (refer below) provides an indication of population densities within each of the census area units and the location of open spaces. This provides an indication of potential parks customers to each of the open spaces within these areas.

Mapping infrastructure

· A map view of the provision of play space equipment and public toilets is set out below within Figure 15. It highlights the distribution of these infrastructure assets and also indicates the gaps in provision of infrastructure across the local board area.

· The distribution of play space infrastructure is lower in Takanini North, Massey Park, Papakura North, Papakura North East, Papakura South and Hingaia, when compared to the rest of the local board area.

· Emerging future urban zone areas will also need planning and consideration for the provision of play space infrastructure.

Papakura Local Board

25 September 2019

Satisfaction with parks

The 2014 and 2017 Captivate Survey of neighbourhood parks and customer satisfaction analysed up to 30 parks in the local board area. 84 per cent of users considered neighbourhood parks were valuable or very valuable to their community. The results for levels of satisfaction are set out below within Figure 20.

Figure 20. Papakura satisfaction with neighbourhood parks

Seventy-nine per cent said they were satisfied or very satisfied with neighbourhood parks. Only five per cent were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied.

Suggestions for improvements to neighbourhood parks are summarised in Figure 21.

Figure 21. Themes for improvement to neighbourhood parks

The three themes for improvement to neighbourhood parks (Figure 18) provide important customer data to inform the maintenance, renewals, and capital investment programme.

Community input to planning parks

The Parks Sports and Recreation Department have held face to face meetings with local residents and stakeholders to discuss:

· community input to the concept design of six parks (Bruce Pullman Park, Keri Downs Park, Kauri Heart Drive, Carrisbrook Reserve, Drury Sports Park, Opāheke Park)

· the Papakura East community has provided feedback there is low play space provision in their area.

Utilise

Utilising our parks and open spaces to create a green, resilient and prosperous city with thriving communities

Events, connecting communities and open space

The Auckland Council Events Policy provides the framework for event decision making. Local boards are responsible for local events.

Parks and open space (civic spaces, neighbourhood parks, suburb parks, sports parks, regional parks) act as venues for events including community events, picnics, sports events, weddings and summer fun programmes.

The local board has three key event initiatives recorded within its local board plan that are important for the area. Parks and reserves have a key role to play in delivering on these event initiatives and are set out below within Table 6 below.

Table 6. Events and open space

Key initiative	Role of open space
Introduce programmes to attract new businesses, leisure providers and events to the town centre.	· Selected open space as locations for recreation, sport and leisure provider events
Implement a programme of cultural and arts events	· Selected open space as locations for culture and arts events
Promote Papakura as a visitor destination and create a schedule of sports, arts and cultural events	· Provide high quality sports parks · Selected open spaces to enable opportunities to host arts and cultural events · Selected open space sites for appropriate arts and culture assets.

Takanini town centre

There are three large parks that could hold events and are just over 1200 metres walking distance from the Takanini town centre (Figure 22). These include:

· Bruce Pullman Park

· Army Fields

· McLennan Park.

Figure 22. Takanini town centre and open space

There is an opportunity to strengthen the walking and cycling connection of the three event parks as well as connecting them to the Takanini town centre. This would bring together the local boards aspirations for event activities as well as potential economic development.

Metropolitan town centre

There are six suburb parks within 1100 metres of the metropolitan town centre area (Figure 23). These locations offer an opportunity to strengthen walking and cycling connections to the metropolitan town centre and also prioritise them for event capability investment.

Figure 23. Park locations and metropolitan town centre

Drury town centre

The Drury town centre is within 1000 metres of Drury Sports Park (Figure 24).

In addition, just south of the Drury business area (purple), and within the future urban zone area (yellow), a new town centre is also proposed.

· The Drury Sports Park is already under pressure from use and demand will likely increase as this area grows. The local board acknowledges this and a masterplan is being prepared for the Drury Sports Complex.

Figure 24. Drury Town Centre and open space

Changing demands

Demands on open space are changing and increasing. Demographic profiles, population growth, sport and recreation choices, and open space users expectations about levels of service are changing.

Some uses of open space are not consistent with existing reserve management plans. For example:

· coffee vendors and food cart operators seeking event locations opportunities to provide a mobile service

· the demand for sports platforms has been met however there appears to be an underinvestment in neighbourhood parks development

· community demands for play park equipment and more family focussed service levels are increasing

· in Papakura there appears to be a disconnection between the acquisition of new neighbourhood parks and the follow-on investment required to provide neighbourhood park facilities

· leases restrict wider public use of open spaces. Forward planning is required so that the local board can make informed choices about leases on open space.

Leases

As land use is intensified for residential houses, privately owned open space is diminishing in size. This will likely increase demand for public open space.

Buildings restrict the use of park land for other recreational activities. Community-owned buildings may provide for exclusive use which further restricts the range of activities possible. It is important that careful consideration is given to the continued use of open space by community groups.

The local board has delegated authority to approve community leases. The needs and demands of current and future communities should be considered by the local board when considering renewal or reviews of leases.

In Papakura there are 51 community leases of which 39 (76 per cent) are located on reserves. Of the 39 reserve leases, 60 per cent are for the purpose of sports and recreation and 17.5 per cent are for community services. The remaining 22 per cent of leases are allocated to playcentres, community gardens and the Papakura Marae.

Other lease details include:

· 13 are due to expire within one to five years

· eight are due to expire during the six to ten year period

· 16 are due to expire later than 10 years.

A list of groups holding leases on public open space land is set out in Table 7.

Table 7. Leases on open space

Community leases on parks
Park or reserve name	Lease group name	Lease term
Central Park Reserve	Auckland Citizens Advice Bureau (Papakura)	Current
41R Elliot Street	Counties Badminton Association Incorporated	Current
Prince Edward Park	Counties Manukau Softball Association Incorporated	Current
Longford Park Esplanade (Wellington) Reserve	Counties Playcentre Association Incorporated (Wellington Park)	Current
Drury Domain Reserve	Drury and Districts Rugby Football and Recreation Club Incorporated	Current
Drury Sports Complex	Drury United Football Club Incorporated	Current
Massey Park	Marne Rd. Papakura Bowling Club Incorporated	Current
Massey Park	Papakura Athletic and Harrier Club Incorporated	Current
Green Street Reserve	Papakura Bowling Club Incorporated	Current
Central Park Reserve	Papakura Budgeting Service Incorporated	Current
Old Wairoa Reserve	Papakura City Brass Band Incorporated	Current
McLennan Park	Papakura City Football Club Incorporated	Current
Papakura Recreation Centre	Papakura Croquet Club Incorporated	Current
Old Wairoa Reserve	Papakura Lapidary Club Incorporated	Current
Te Koiwi Park	Papakura Marae Society Incorporated	Current
Papakura Recreation Centre	Papakura Parents Centre Incorporated	Current
Central Park Reserve	Papakura Potters Club Incorporated	Current
Longford Park Esplanade (Wellington) Reserve	Papakura Radio Club Incorporated	Current
Longford Park Esplanade (Wellington) Reserve	Papakura Rod and Custom Club Incorporated	Current
Southern Park	Papakura Rugby Football Club Incorporated (Beach Road)	Current
Massey Park	Papakura Rugby Football Club Incorporated (Ron Keat Drive)	Current
Prince Edward Park	Papakura Rugby League Foundation	Current
Central Park Reserve	Papakura Support and Counselling Centre Incorporated	Current
Green Street Reserve	Papakura Tennis and Squash Club Incorporated	Current
Keri Downs Park	Papakura Tongan Otu Motu Anga’ofa Society Incorporated	Current
Papakura Recreation Centre	Papakura Toy Library Incorporated	Current
Longford Park Esplanade (Wellington) Reserve	Papakura Volunteer Coastguard Incorporated	Current
Rollerson Reserve	Rollerson Park Community Gardening Committee	Current
Central Park Reserve	SeniorNet Papakura Incorporated	Current
Longford Park Esplanade (Wellington) Reserve	South Auckland Car Club Incorporated	Current
Old Wairoa Reserve	Te Kohanga Reo National Trust Board (Nga Puāwai o Wikitōria Te Kohanga Reo)	Current
Old Wairoa Reserve	Te Kohanga Reo National Trust Board (Nga Puāwai o Wikitōria Te Kohanga Reo)	Current
Taka Reserve	Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust Board (Te Kōhanga Reo o Hūmārie)	Current
Smiths Reserve	Te Whanau Hapori Charitable Trust	Current
McLennan Park	The Bruce Pulman Park Trust (McLennan Park)	Current
Pulman Park	The Bruce Pulman Park Trust (Pulman Park)	Current
	The Scout Association of New Zealand (1st Papakura Scouts)	Current
Pahurehure Esplanade Reserve	The Scout Association of New Zealand (Papakura Sea Scouts)	Current
Keri Downs Park	Umataha Papakura Tongan Community Association Incorporated	Current
Drury Sports Complex	United Cricket Club (Counties Manukau) Incorporated	Current

Landfill sites

Landfills which have achieved capacity have been de-commissioned through a process of capping with clay soils (so as to mitigate the leaching of toxic outflows to the surface) and gradual conversion to open space and park land.

The risk can vary from each site. The severity of hazard will determine the range of future uses possible on former landfill sites.

Ray Small Park is located on the edge of the Pahurehure Inlet and is a former landfill site. It is now a 6.1 hectare suburb park used for sports and playspace recreation. Underground pipes flow from the former landfill site to the Pahurehure Estuary.

Waimana Reserve is also a former landfill site and is now a 1.9 hectare esplanade reserve in Takanini.

The future development of these sites for passive or active recreation may be accommodated at these locations. However, any sportsfields and associated assets would be subject to management of a range of risks which may include:

· landfill gas

· leachate

· stability

· soil contaminants

· underlying waste.

Any development must also ensure ongoing compliance with the closed landfill discharge consent.

The Pahurehure Estuary adjacent to Ray Small Park provides an opportunity to investigate the development of a wetland.

Schools and open space

Schools have a significant investment in land and facilities in the area and can provide for community use. They provide hard court surface areas, playgrounds, sportsfields and sometimes indoor court facilities for education specific purposes.

The Sport New Zealand Insights tool (in partnership with the Ministry of Education) records 23 schools in the Papakura Local Board area and are listed below (Figure 25). Of the 23 schools, only one school (Opāheke Primary) is not fenced and closed off to the public.

Figure 25. Schools in Papakura

Community Services is leading the development of a partnership agreement with the Ministry of Education to explore the use of school facilities. At present no schools in Papakura have been identified for partnership purposes. However the 12 schools listed below are located in open space gap areas.

· Takanini School

· Kelvin Road School

· Opāheke School

· Rosehill College

· Rosehill Intermediate

· Park Estate School

· Hingaia Peninsula School

· SCG Strathallan

· Conifer Grove School

· Sir Edmund Hillary School

· Papakura South School

· Drury Christian School

Responding to school sports trends

Sport New Zealand advise that teenage participation levels are dropping off with a spike occurring once they leave secondary school. In response to this The New Zealand Secondary School Sports Council (NZSSSC) is heavily involved with monitoring and making changes to the way it delivers its sport and recreation programme.

Data for sports participation highlight two key trends over the last 17 years:

· traditional sports including rugby, netball and cricket record a decline in participation

· newer sports including football, futsal, basketball, badminton and mountain biking record increases in participation.

· The NZSSSC have recommended a programme of modified sports catering for the recreational student. These changes are designed to also keep young people engaged with recreation and sport. The initial modified sports include football, tennis and touch and the range of activities will increase. They also advise that basketball and lacrosse are increasing in popularity.

· There is an opportunity to work with the NZSSC to help ensure that any participation gains and learnings that are achieved through the secondary school network, are shared with the local board to leverage and be extended into the public open space realm.

Coastal edge

The coast is a defining feature of Auckland’s environment and lifestyle. It is therefore important to plan the open space network to protect and provide access to, and along, the coast. In some circumstances there may be reasons why the access or the development of infrastructure such as esplanade walkways is not feasible e.g. topography, damage to ecological or archaeological values.

Much of Papakura’s coastline is accessible. However there are a range of issues that need to be managed:

· there are coastal access gaps between Takanini West and Pahurehure

· in some cases there may be encroachment issues where private properties adjoin coastal esplanades

· building raised walkways along the coastal edge similar to the Pahurehure esplanade path boardwalk.

The coastal edge gaps are highlighted below.

Figure 26. Coastal esplanade walkway opportunities

Stream network and walking and cycling

There is a 5.7 kilometre section the Papakura Stream that offers an opportunity to connect open spaces along the way, and to create an esplanade walking and cycling route adjacent to an arterial stream in Papakura. This is highlighted in purple within Figure 27.

Figure 27. Potential esplanade walking and cycling route

There is also a potential walking and cycling route at the southern end of the Papakura Local Board boundary that follows Otūwairoa Stream to the bottom of Pukekiwiriki Pa. This is highlighted in purple within Figure 28.

Figure 28. Otūwairoa (Slippery creek)

Community gardens

There are three community gardens identified within Papakura. Two are at Keri Downs Reserve and one is located at Rollerson Park.

Gardening is the sixth most popular activity overall (16.4 per cent) in the local board area. As backyards (private open space) become smaller, there may be greater challenges in meeting the needs of gardeners.

We also need to take into account the forecast population increase to the older adult, young retiree and older retiree segments whose top three activities include:

· walking for sport or leisure

· gardening

· golf.

At present the local board supports the allocation of three community leases on open space to entities for gardening.

Providing opportunities to learn about seed banking, growing from cuttings, mini gardens, balcony gardens, potting, shared gardens, composting sites, and onwards through to teaching gardens can contribute to community resilience and wellbeing.

SECTION 2 – KEY MOVES

2.1. Four key moves

The open space network plan key moves align to the Parks Open Space Strategic Action Plan focus areas of:

· Treasure

· Connect

· Enjoy

· Utilise.

Key moves have been identified to structure actions to develop Papakura’s open space network. Presented under each of the key moves is a high-level summary of actions to achieve the key move.

Each of the key moves and the supporting high-level actions respond to the issues and opportunities identified throughout the current state analysis. They also respond to local board feedback which includes:

· acknowledge population growth and intensification

· acknowledge funding constraints

· improve relationships with mana whenua

· protect and serve the environment

· improve water quality

· increase walking and cycling

· increase recreation opportunities

· alternative options for similar benefits

· more event locations

· planning and funding cycles.

The key moves provide direction for the future development of the open space network over the next 10 years.

The four key moves are:

Treasure

1. Celebrate our natural areas and cultural history

· Identify and resource open spaces where recreation, arts, and culture events may be hosted.

· Identify open space opportunities where culture and heritage sites may be connected (preserve/conserve/connect).

· Improve the Papakura esplanade walking and cycling opportunities along with ecology, water quality and tree planting.

· Work with mana-whenua to incorporate Māori design principles across all park developments.

· Improve local board and mana whenua relationships.

Connect

2. Connect our community to open space

· Develop existing open spaces across the local board area.

· Partner with schools to connect the community to school open spaces.

· Integrate and extend connections.

· Increase walking and cycling opportunities at suburb parks.

· Monitor and review community leases.

· Update reserve management plans.

· Respond to changing demographic profile patterns and sports and recreation trends.

Enjoy

3. Improve the quality of our local neighbourhood parks

· Increase the provision of play space equipment and infrastructure based on need.

· Incorporate the suggestions for improvements to neighbourhood parks.

· Improve the system for investment in parks.

Utilise

4. Improve our open space resilience and sustainability

· Increase tree planting.

· Improve community gardens and local sourcing of tree seedlings.

· Increase the number of open space volunteers.

· Develop a targeted response to storm surge and coastal inundation.

2.1.1 Celebrate our natural areas and cultural history

Identify and resource open spaces where recreation, arts, and culture events may be hosted.

The local board has aspirations to celebrate its natural areas and cultural history and one way to achieve this is to host more recreation, arts and culture events.

There are event facilities at Bruce Pullman Park, Massey Park and Central Park. There is also significant population growth forecast in the Business – Metropolitan Centre Zone and the Takanini transport corridor area, Hingaia and Drury.

Table 8 prioritises the location of the parks proposed for event locations. The priorities are based on:

· existing residential areas

· unitary plan growth in the area

· proximity to economic prosperity opportunities.

· Local Board priorities

Table 8. Event open spaces and growth

Event open locations	Priority
Investigate the provision of event capability at Prince Edward Park, Maunsell Field, Ray Small Park, Pukekiwiriki Pa, Central Park, Keri Downs, and the Village Green.	Priority 1
Investigate the provision of event capability facilities at the Army Fields and McLennan Park.	Priority 2
Investigate the provision of event capability at Drury Park, Opāheke Park, Southern Park and Hingaia Park.	Priority 3

The following reserves currently host events however the level of event capacity could be improved. The investment also needs to be considered against a few factors including centralising or decentralising events, sharing events across the network or limiting events to specific parks, scale of event etc.

Event parks currently include:

· Pullman Park: sport and recreation

· Central Park: art and recreation

· Massey Park: sport and recreation

Prince Edward Park is currently undergoing a concept design planning process which presents itself as an opportunity to include event element provision.

Identify open space opportunities where culture and heritage sites may be connected (preserve/conserve/connect).

The local board has commissioned the preparation of a culture and heritage trail which is due for completion in October.

This is an opportunity to investigate and align local board priorities for action as this will also promote opportunities for leverage.

Celebrating the coastal and esplanade edge is important as it is a defining feature of Auckland’s environment and lifestyle.

At other locations along the esplanade network there are opportunities to celebrate both open spaces and culture and heritage locations by:

· joining up the coastal edge where appropriate

· describing access from the in-land residential areas to the coast

· appropriately acknowledging and celebrating culture and heritage sites.

Open space culture heritage opportunity # 1

There are three archaeological sites on the coastal edge of Takanini West (red dots highlighted on Figure 29).

The coastal edge of the Waiata Shores development also includes a Department of Conservation site.

Figure 29. Takanini West

Open space culture heritage opportunity # 2

The coastal edge on the Pahurehure Inlet (east of the Southern Motorway) has two recorded culture and heritage locations (circled in red). (Figure 30).

Figure 30. Pahurehure Inlet

Open space culture heritage connections opportunity # 3

The Hingaia esplanade includes a collection of culture and heritage sites (Figure 31). The key areas for further investigation are located on the coastal edge between State Highway 1 from Pescara Reserve to Hingaia Road near Drury Esplanade Reserve.

The Hingaia census area unit is over 600 hectares of which around one-third includes residential development.

Most of Hingaia is zoned mixed housing suburban and over the next 30 years is forecast for significant growth. This presents an opportunity to plan ahead and celebrate and appropriately acknowledge the culture and heritage sites.

Figure 31. Hingaia

Open space culture heritage connections opportunity # 4

There are culture and heritage sites located between Hingia Road near Drury Esplanade Reserve to the Drury Sports Park near Bremner Road (Figure 32).

Less than one kilometre inland from Drury Sports Park are six important historic structures, two of which are on open space and four are located adjacent to Norrie Road.

Figure 32. Drury

Connecting open space along a heritage trail

The following open spaces include culture and heritage elements. These will require consultation and engagement with mana whenua and others to help establish how significant they are in terms of supporting a culture and heritage trail. These include:

· Central Park

· Kirks Bush

· Herkts Bush

· Pukekiwiriki Pa

· Margans Bush

· Pahurehure Estuary

· First Flight location (un-named)

· Smiths Reserve

· Massey Park

· Red Hill Scenic Reserve.

Work with mana-whenua to incorporate Māori design principles across all park developments.

The Te Aranga Design Principles provide for the assessment of existing environments and for the redevelopment of places and spaces.

There are also unique methods that incorporate western science integrated with Māori cultural practice that may be of assistance to the local board when working with Māori on environmental matters.

· The Cultural Health Index: is designed to assess the health of waterways from both a biophysical and cultural perspective

· The Mauri-o-Meter: a decision-making framework that combines a stakeholder assessment of worldviews, with an impact assessment of indicators to determine sustainability and trends over time.

The development and incorporation of southern mana whenua design principles aims to compliment and provide a local focus to design advice. This will provide any prospective designs with a greater level of mana whenua design insight that can be incorporated as part of the overall design process.

Mana whenua extend an opportunity to council units to present their annual work programmes to the southern mana whenua forum for discussion. Early feedback to work programmes will help inform individual projects. This approach would meet the outcomes and objectives of the Auckland Plan Māori identity and wellbeing section including:

· advance Māori wellbeing

· promote Māori success, innovation and enterprise

· recognise and provide for Te Tiriti o Waitangi outcomes

· advance mana whenua as rangatira in leadership and decision making and provide for customary rights

· celebrate Māori culture and support to te reo Māori to flourish

· reflect mana whenua mātauranga and Māori design principles throughout Auckland.

Bi-lingual naming of parks

At present around 15 per cent of parks and open spaces have dedicated Māori names and six per cent are un-named.

The local board is supportive of a gradual replacement of existing signage to bi-lingual and to name those parks and open spaces that are currently nameless or dont have Māori names.

Improving the relationship between local board and mana whenua relationship

The local board supports building on its relationship with mana whenua.

2.2.1 Improve the quality of our parks

Reduce the low provision of and access to play space equipment and infrastructure

In response to play space provision gaps, investigate:

· Papakura North: there is a need for playpark provision in this area. There are opportunities to plan for provision on the esplanade reserves.

· Papakura North East: There is a small area in Herkts Bush and alternately Old Wairoa Reserve may offer opportunities for play provision.

· Massey Park: There is an existing park between Massey Park Stadium and Massey Park Swimming Pool however access was gated off to stop thoroughfare from Marne Road to Ron Keat Drive and stop vandalism. The fenced area of the play park could be reconfigured to enable access to the park whilst also controlling thoroughfare east to west.

· Papakura South: Continue with the planning at Smiths Avenue. There is also an opportunity to provide play equipment at Te Koiwi Park near the marae.

· Papakura East: There may be an opportunity to provide play equipment at 2 Charles Henry Way (stormwater asset) or at 210 Clevedon Road local park.

· Hingaia: Lower priority as it a new growth area still under development and play provision should be planned as part of this development

· Takanini North: lower priority for play provision. The census area unit is a mix of residential, light industry and heavy industry business zone. There is an opportunity to partner with Takanini Primary School seeking community access to the grounds, hard court surfaces and play park equipment.

Further investment in sports fields

The local board has made major improvements to sportsfields, so much so that by 2025 the forecast is for a surplus of 48 competition Fixed Field Equivalent (FFE) hours and 63 training FFE hours. There is also a forecast shortfall of 17 FFE hours of training light provision.

Therefore the recommendation regarding the near future investment in sportsfields is:

· No further investment is required in sports turf platforms. Any investment targeted for this area could be redirected to neighbourhood and playpark infrastructure.

· Deferring any proposed investment in training lights out to 2023 – 2024.

Review and prioritise the suggestions for improvement to neighbourhood parks

Forty-nine parks are identified by the public for improvement and are set out below. The detail and a line by line commentary can be found in the Auckland Council Papakura Local Board Neighbourhood Parks Research Results 2017. A summary is set out below:

· fifty per cent wanted improvements to facilities (shade, shelter, seating, benches, picnic tables, toilets, water/drinking fountain

· forty-four per cent wanted improvements to activities and playgrounds (more/better equipment, provide for a wider range of age groups)

· thirty per cent wanted improved maintenance and security (lighting, rubbish bins, cleaning, remove prickles and weeds, tree trimming).

No neighbourhood park within short walk of home

· Residents who lived in Papakura North East, Papakura East, Papakura South and Opāheke commented in larger numbers that they do not have access to a neighbourhood park within a short walk of home (Figure 33).

· Figure 33. Mapped shortfall of neighbourhood parks

· As a priority, investigate improving the following open spaces:

· Herkts Bush

· Carisbrook Park

· Kirikiri Reserve

· Rollerson Reserve

· Wing Park.

Monitor and review community leases

Those leases held in low open space provision areas should be reviewed as a priority and include:

· Drury

· Papakura North East

· Papakura North.

Update reserve management plans

Local parks are held under the Reserves Act 1977 or the Local Government Act 2002 (LGA). It is a statutory requirement for reserve management plans (RMPs) to be prepared for those reserves held under the Reserves Act and are desirable for those held under the LGA.

It is intended that each of the reserves located across the 21 local boards be reviewed over a seven-year period. At present, four local board reserve management plans are undergoing a review. The cost for each review and preparation of omnibus plan is in the order of $120,000 and the work is spread across two financial years.

The preparation of an omnibus plan needs to be agreed and the costs need to be met by each local board. No timeline has been set to review Papakura’s reserve management plans.

However an interim local park management plan guideline has been prepared to assist local boards with good park and open space decision making. This sets out:

· an outline of the omnibus management plan approach

· Auckland Council’s approach to the Reserves Act 1977.

The guideline aims to provide a consistent approach to the day to day management of local parks in the absence of a management plan or formal management policy or where the existing management plan is inadequate or out of date.

The guideline covers all parks administered by the local board which are either classified under the Reserves Act and/or administered under the LGA. It does not apply to land administered by the Governing Body, Auckland Transport or other Council Controlled Organisations.

The guideline will also apply to new parks as they are acquired during this interim period.

Improve the system for investment to parks

The two primary methods for investment to parks includes renewals and capital investment. Both require planning, preparation and monitoring and evaluation.

A big challenge for the local board is to recover or find alternate renewals investment for the period between 2018 – 2023 as there are no funds available for this purpose.

The capital development programme may offer the local board a source of funds to repurpose towards reinvesting in reserves.

Given there is a surplus of sports fields in the local board area, this may provide the rationale to review and reprioritise investment elsewhere across the network.

· The following process (Table 9) may also provide a framework for discussion with the Parks team about forward planning and monitoring of parks and open space investment.

Table 9. Renewals and capital investment

Investment mechanism

Improvement

Renewal

· Prioritise the renewal

· Commit resources for investment

· Develop a programme of work and present to the local board for sign-off

· Parks to provide regular up-dates at its local board workshop meetings

· Parks to present quarterly renewal programme up-dates to the local board

^·Parks present an annual report to the local board about the renewal programme.

Capital Investment

· The programme needs to take into account a forecast timeline for acquisition of new parks

· It also needs to prioritise new capital investment to activate the parks for community use e.g. landscaping, infrastructure (not renewals)

· The programme needs to highlight whether the investment is targeting growth funding or is rates funded

· Parks to prepare a programme of work seeking local board support

· Local board to advocate to the long term plan review process

· If successful, then prepare a programme of work for delivery

· Parks to provide regular up-dates to workshop meetings

· Parks to present quarterly renewal programme up-dates to the local board

· Parks present to the local board an annual report about the renewal programme.

Schedule 8 of the Contributions Policy 2019 records a line item for ‘Reserves development’ which may be of interest to the local board to investigate further.

Optimisation of service property

The local board may wish to front-foot the investigation into targeted open space optimisation and take greater control of the process.

New pockets parks are typically between 1000m² to 1500m²large. It can be the case that open spaces less than 1000m² may offer fewer open space values than their larger counterparts.

Thirty-one open spaces are smaller than 1000m². They range in size from 59m² to 935m².

· Eight are less than 500m²

· Seven are between 500m² and 600m²

· Four are between 600m² and 700m²

· One is between 700m² and 800m²

· Five are between 800m² and 900m²

· One is 935m²

Of the 31 open spaces, the following list of10 locations may merit investigation towards optimisation and reinvestment back into the open space network. These open spaces are either small and disconnected from the wider network or are small and in close proximity to larger open spaces:

· 13R Redcrest Avenue

· Corner Broadway and Railway Street West

· 7R Marengo Parkway Reserve

· 16R Redcrest Avenue

· 2R Longford Drive

· 25R Calumet Way

· 75 Hunua Road (need to retain espalande)

· 7R Redcrest Ave (need to retain access to Childrens Forrest)

· 109 Settlement Road (house).

2.3.1 Connect our community to open spaces

Developing existing open spaces

The following census area units have open space gaps:

· Takanini North

· Takanini West

· Takanini South

· Papakura North

· Opāheke

· Rosehill

· Papakura North East

· Massey Park

· Papakura East

· Ardmore

· Drury

The process to close open space gaps is to prioritise improvements to existing open spaces in and around these low provision areas.

Partner with schools to connect the community to school open spaces

Of the 23 schools in the area, 12 schools are within low open space provision areas. Of the 12 schools, a priority for partnership may include the following three schools:

· Kelvin Road School

· Opāheke School

· Park Estate School

The second-tier priority would include the following:

· Takanini School

· Holy Trinity Catholic School

Although Hingaia is still an emerging population and the open space network is yet to be fully identified, this may be an opportunity to discuss a relationship between the Hingaia Peninsula School and SCG Strathallan in order to contribute to community wellbeing and cohesion.

The priority ranking allocated to each of the above schools takes into account present population, forecast population growth, relationship and access to other open space elements, and quality of open space experience offered at each of these locations.

High Schools and open spaces

· Working alongside the New Zealand Secondary School Council will help ensure that any participation gains and learnings that are achieved through the secondary school network are shared with the local board to leverage and be extended into the public open space realm.

· Working closely with Rosehill College and Papakura High School may also contribute to transitioning teenagers from a school environment to a community sport and recreation environment.

· Traditional sports such as rugby, netball and cricket are already enabled with open space provision. Open space provision for football, futsal, basketball, badminton and mountain biking may need reviewing in the future.

Improve the Papakura esplanade walking and cycling opportunities along with ecology, water quality and tree planting.

There are four opportunities to improve coastal access as well as stream esplanade access.

In some situations there may be reasons why access or the development of esplanade walkways is not feasible. For example topography, risk of damage to ecological or archaeological values, the land concerned is not in public ownership, insurmountable coastal inundation issues, or there are encroachment issues to be resolved.

Takanini West to Papakura North

There are 2,200 metres of limited public coastal access between Takanini West and Pahurehure North, as presented in Figure 34. There are four sections (highlighted in black) where there are breaks in the esplanade. If connected, this would provide an active transport option along the length of coastline from Papakura’s northern coastal boundary to the metropolitan centre.

There are three options to consider when planning to connect these gaps, whilst also taking into account concerns about preserving and protecting culture and heritage sites. These options include:

· negotiate esplanade access with the private land owners

· build a raised timber walkway similar to the one near Prince Edward Park (however not favoured by mana whenua)

· highlight a clear road route that bypasses the private coastal sections and rejoins the coast at specified locations.

Figure 34. Takanini West to Pahurehure North

Hingaia esplande

The Hingaia area has almost 11 kilometres of coastline that will require esplanade planning and provision (Figure 35).

E38 of the unitary plan sets out the rules relating to the subdivision of urban land and the rules regarding land vested for the purpose of esplanades (and reserves, roads, stormwater, infrastructure) and other purposes.

There is a 200 metre gap in the Hingaia esplanade at 35 Hayfield Way which is held in private ownership.

As the area is still being developed, it will be important to prepare to secure esplanade along this coastal area whilst also taking into account concerns about preserving and protecting culture and heritage sites.

The acquisition of coastal esplanade will occur at the time of residential development in the area.

Figure 35. Hingaia to Drury

Papakura Stream

Papakura Stream forms the boundary line between the Manurewa and Papakura Local Boards.

There are six reserves evenly distributed along and adjacent to the 5.7 kilometre Papakura Stream (Figure 36).

Figure 36. Papakura Stream (5.7 kilometres)

There are five open space gaps along the stream (refer Figure 34 and 35). Closing these gaps will enable an east to west active transport option across the local board area and connect the open spaces.

There are very few crossings and active transport choices that allow populations to connect to neighbouring open spaces.

· Presently there are five locations that enable crossing the Papakura Stream. These are located in the Takanini North area, three of which include SH1, Great South Road and Southern Line railway.

· There are no crossings in the Takanini West area to enable Papakura residents to cross over and access Randwick Park and Totara Park (and other open spaces).

· Enabling access across the Papakura Stream will connect communities, and enable greater access to the wider open space network for both local board communities.

The 2.3 kilometre section of Papakura Stream inside the Takanini North future urban zone area (Figure 37) includes an esplanade reserve strip that extends for 1.3 kilometres.

Figure 37. Papakura Stream gaps (Takanini North)

Three sections of stream are not connected and are circled in black. These gaps in the esplanade network occur inside private property, therefore any consideration of connecting the network will be at the approval of the landowners.

Alternately, once urban planning for the Takanini North area moves from its current status of being a future urban zone, to a structure planned area, and onwards to receiving a plan change. This land-use change process will provide an opportunity to promote the need for additional esplanade reserve seeking to close the three esplanade gaps.

The opportunity available to the local board now is to signal a need for esplanade connections at these locations. They would form part of a negotiation and acquisition of esplanade at the time of residential development.

Papakura Stream and Waiata Shores

The length of Papakura Stream from Porchester Road exiting into the Manukau Harbour at Glenross Drive Foreshore is around 3.4 kilometres long. There are two gaps in the esplanade network almost 800 metres long (Figure 38). These two gaps lie between a mixed housing urban zone (Waiata Shores) and a light industry zone.

The Waiata Shores development proposes vesting a 20 metre wide esplanade along the Papakura Stream and Manukau Harbour and vesting a coastal point recreation reserve.

Formalising the esplanade route and crossings to Frangipani Avenue Reserve and others will enable greater open space connections for both local board communities.

Figure 38. Papakura Stream gaps (Takanini West)

Otūwairoa Stream

The six thousand meter long Otūwairoa Stream offers an opportunity to connect a purported traditional transport route from the coast to Pukekiwiriki Pa.

The Otūwairoa Stream (Figure 39) can be divided into two sections.

· Section 1: is a 3,700 metre section of Otūwairoa Stream from Drury Esplanade to the Southern Line railway.

· Section 2: is 2,300 metre section of Otūwairoa Stream from the Southern Line railway network to Redhill Scenic Reserve.

The area is largely a Future Urban Zone and presently undergoing a structure plan process. Each of these two sections have gaps esplanade gaps as the land is still in private ownership.

The Future Urban Land Supply Strategy 2017 records the timing for the land in Opāheke – Drury being ready for development between 2028 – 2032. The acquisition of land to create esplanade reserve is likely to be undertaken at the time of residential development.

Figure 39. Otūwairoa Stream

Section 1: Otūwairoa Stream

There are three areas along this portion of Otūwairoa Stream that are disconnected from existing council owned esplanade. These amount to just over 1,100 metres (Figure 40).

Figure 40. Drury Esplanade to the Southern Line railway

There is an opportunity to signal to council planners that esplanade reserve connections are likely to be required between Drury Esplanade and Opāheke Reserve.

Section 2: Otūwairoa Stream

Section 2 of Otūwairoa Stream (Figure 41) from the Southern Line railway network to below Redhill Scenic Reserve includes two stream edges that are disconnected from council owned esplanade amounting to just over 700 metres.

The stream runs between the Heavy Industry Zone and the Future Urban Zone.

Figure 41. Southern Line to Red Hill Scenic Reserve

There is an opportunity to signal to council planners that esplanade reserve connections are likely to be required in this area.

Integrate and extend connections #1

The Addison development in Takanini South is an established mixed housing suburban area within a radius of 400 metres. The area has also been part of a wider community safety study due to a number of community safety issues.

There are 17 reserves ranging in size from the smallest at 80m² to the largest 5000m². Sixteen of these reserves are between 80m² and 508m² large. Pullman Park is at the eastern edge of the Addison development and Kauri Drive Commons is at the western edge of the development.

The opportunity here is to better connect the 16 small reserves located between Kauri Drive commons and Pullman Park (Figure 42).

Figure 42. Addison

Integrate and extend connections #2

The Greenways/Local Paths Plan prioritises connecting larger open spaces (suburb parks). The opportunity available to the local board is to extend this network to connect the small neighbourhood parks to the larger parks set out within the Greenways/Local Paths Plan. This may also help the community connect to parks that have established play park equipment.

Integrate and extend connections #3

The safer routes programme has been in development since 2018. There is an opportunity to develop stronger east to west connections across the arterial route transport network. Bridging these gaps will enable communities to connect to a wider network of open spaces. These connection opportunities include:

· North to south around the Manurewa Takanini on ramp

· Great South Road and Taka Street / Walters Road / Waterview Road / Broadway / Elliot Steet / Wood Street / Wellington Street / Beach Road / Settlement Road /

· Hingaia Road and Beach Road

· Walter Strevens Drive and State Highway 1

· Pescara Park across State Highway 1

· Park Estate Road across State Highway 1.

Integrate and extend connections #4

· The renewal of Kāinga Ora-Homes and Communities (KOH&C) housing stock in Papakura is increasing. At present it appears they have budget for years 2018 – 2022 which includes 26 sites for redevelopment.

· The local board has received interest from KOH&C seeking to acquire a parcels of open space land adjoining KOH&C properties in Redhill (Figure 43).

Figure 43. KOH&C properties and open space

There is an opportunity to promote the Open Space Provision Policy and advocate for improved open space and social outcomes associated with any requests for disposal. There may also be opportunities under the optimisation policy for reinvestment back into the open space network.

Suburb parks and walking and cycling

The larger suburb parks provide an opportunity to develop walking and cycling trails around the perimetre. These are vey popular in other areas and provide communities with access to open spaces that support active transport activities within a relatively safe environment.

Investigations for the provision of trails could be initiated at:

· Pullman Park

· McLennan Park

· Ray Small Park connecting to Prince Edward Park via the boardwalk

· Massey Park

· Te Koiwi Park connecting to Smiths Reserve

· Keri Downs Park connecting to the Childrens Forrest, Margans Bush, Pukekiwiriki Pa, Red Hill Scenic Reserve, Dominion Reserve

· Southern Park connecting to Kirks Bush

· Hingaia Park connecting to Hingaia Peninsula School.*

* Negotiating access to Hingaia Peninsula School may be easier because it is new and still establishing itself in the community. If this were able to be achieved, this would help create broader community access to wider community resources.

2.4.1 Improve our open spaces resilience and sustainability

Respond to changing demographic profile patterns and sports and recreation trends

The 28 per cent of community who are recorded as inactive may be linked to demographic profile changes and their activity preferences, as well as low investment in neighbourhood parks and infrastructure. It may also be indicative of lifestyle changes and competition for recreational time from sources such as technology.

In response to these changes, the recommended adjustment for parks and open spaces include:

· Sports: Support the increased demand for football sports platforms.

· Recreational: Demand for parks equipment and infrastructure that supports young children and parents, teenagers, and older adults (also refer to the Captivate Survey results for details).

o Children: invest in play infrastructure including supporting infrastructure for parents. Also explore increased enablers to generate free-play activities.

o Teenagers: Locate infrastructure closer to street edges.

o Older adults: support and incorporate the recommendations from the Making Auckland an Age Friendly City.

Increase tree planting

Auckland Council has declared a climate emergency. This signals the council’s intention to put climate change at the fore front of its decision-making.

One way the local board can support this is by engaging with the Million Trees Strategy and becoming a member to the Million Trees Programme.

At present the local board has no registered locations forming part of the Million Trees Strategy. The following locations offer opportunities for further investigation and the planting of appropriate tree species:

· Papakura Stream: Shade trees to cool the water and stabilise the stream banks

· Otūwairoa Stream: Shade trees to cool the water and stabilise the stream banks

· Coastal esplanade: Shade trees and stabilise the coastal edge

· Neighbourhood Parks: Shade trees

· Suburb Parks: Shade trees

There are other benefits from planting trees including oxygen production, reduce storm water run-off, reduce erosion, mitigate flooding, provide habitat for wildlife, provide food.

Improve community gardens and local sourcing of tree seedlings

There are opportunities to refocus community garden activities at Rollerson Avenue and Keri Downs. Additional leadership may be required to review the current use with a view to incorporating seedling development of tree species. Mana whenua advise that locally sourced seeds and seedlings would form an important (ecosourcing) part of this process. Science also indicates that ecosourcing is likely to be more efficient and effective.

Schools may also have an interest in growing and planting seedlings as part of an overall local board drive in support of the Million Tree Strategy

There may also be an opportunity to negotiate with Healthy Waters to include around 2400m²of Rangi Road Drainage Reserve for the purpose of seedling development in partnership with a community training provider (Figure 44)

Figure 44. Rangi Road Drainage Reserve

Improve community gardening opportunities

In Papakura, gardening is the second most popular activity amongst older adult, young retiree and older retiree populations, and is in the top nine activities overall (except for the secondary lifestage).

Older adult populations are forecast to increase at the same time that section sizes are getting smaller and house sizes are forecast to get smaller. Learning gardening skills may also contribute to self-sustainability outcomes and improve community resilience.

There are two opportunities for the local board and open space to support this cohort further:

· Support and empower older adults to lead community gardening activities at selected open space locations e.g. Rollerson Avenue, Keri Downs, Rangi Road Drainage Reserve.

· Provide open space opportunities for gardening in much the same way that sport and recreation activities are provided. This will enable gardening activites and support the transference of gardening skills, seedling development, composting, care and protection of local public open space.

Increase the number of open space volunteers

Empowering the community to become involved in activities that have a wider purpose often requires a call to action. Climate change has significant momentum and the Million Trees Strategy is an important vehicle to rally the community. By joining together the parks and open space locations, seed and tree planting, and the community, it may be possible to increase volunteerism.

Identifying and working with large audiences in the first instance may provide a number of successes. Leadership will be required to inform and motivate large audiences including schools and community organisations. Also highlighting how individuals can become involved will also be important.

Te Tāruke-ā-Tāwhiri (Auckland”s Climate Action Framework) will provide a broader sense of belonging and focus, as well as leverage, and alignment to a region wide initiative.

Develop a targeted response to storm surge and coastal inundation

The open spaces likely to be affected by coastal inundation and storm surge include the following 11 reserves:

· Brylee Reserve

· Longford Park Reseve

· Coles Mill Lane

· Esplanade Reserve (Pahurehure Inlet)

· Papakura channel from Karaka North to Drury Esplanade

· Roundtree Reserve

· Pahurehure Esplanade Reserve

· 41R Elliot Street

· Hingaia Esplanade

· Hingaia Stream Esplanade

· Karaka Reserve

The implications of coastal inundation and storm surge need to be better defined for the local board to better understand its role and determine of how it wishes to manage these situations. Creating an awareness and understanding how the community may contribute to reducing the impact of coastal inundation in locations such as parks and wider infrastructure is an important civil defence management tool.

The Coastal Management Framework for the Auckland Region 2017 does not record Papakura as a hotspot for coastal management.

However, because 11 of the local board open spaces are impacted by storm surge and coastal inundation events, it is important to understand the implications of the coastal management policy options on Papakura’s open space:

· prepare coastal inundation response action plans (as appropriate) for discussion with the local board

· aim to reduce the impact of coastal inundation and storm surge events on the Papakura coastal open space network including the list of 11 reserves below, by considering and implementing the Coastal Planting Forrest Guide, Million Trees Strategy and Te Aranga Design Principles.

SECTION 3 – PRIORITISED ACTIONS

Prioritised actions have been identified that will contribute to council delivering a sustainable quality open space network. These actions respond to the anticipated growth and provide the community with access to a range of recreational, social, cultural and environmental experiences.

The actions have been structured as follows:

· Papakura Local Board advocacy

· Papakura wide projects

· Prioritised actions.

3.1 Prioritisation principles

The primary purpose of the open space network plan is to prioritise actions to improve the open space network.

Prioritisation highlights a focus and direction for planning and implementing park development and improvements.

The following list of principles have been considered when prioritising actions:

· existing capital works programmes and contractual commitments

· areas zoned for high growth (metropolitan centre, town centres, local centres, mixed use, terrace housing and apartments) and where there is a gap in provision

· areas of deficiency and/or poor-quality open space prioritised over areas of good provision and/or good quality open space

· high level cost benefit of individual actions

· planning and funding cycles and other influences such as land acquisitions, infrastructure projects, integrated planning with neighbouring local boards and other stakeholders such as environmental services and healthy waters

· changes and trends in sport and recreation.

Each action has been prioritised according to the above principles. The prioritised actions were then weighted under the following criteria:

· high priority actions: year 1-3………

· medium priority actions: year 4-7….

· low priority actions: year 8-10……...

3.2 Working with others

Three of the four key moves have actions that will require the local board to partner or work with others to improve the open space network (Table 11). The success of these relationships will be one measure in determining if the delivery of the action will be successful.

Table 11. Local Board advocacy

Celebrate our natural areas and cultural history

· Schedule an ongoing process of engagement with the Southern Mana Whenua Forum to share best practice management, conservation, promotion and preservation methodologies from a cultural perspective to support Māori heritage in the area and:

o incorporate the Te Aranga Design Principles

o implement mana whenua design principles

o implement Māori naming of reserves

Connect our community to open spaces

· Of 23 schools in Papakura, focus on developing a partnership relationship using the following hierarchy.

o Priority 1: Kelvin Road School, Opāheke School, Park Estate School, Hingaia School

o Priority 2: Takanini School, Holy Trinity Catholic School

o Priority 3: the remaining schools in the area.

Improve our open space resilience and sustainability

· Work with the community to provide targeted services that include:

o co-design of parks play infrastructure

o incorporate age friendly design features

o provide community gardens for local sourcing of tree seedlings, and community gardening activities

o increase the number of open space volunteers using calls to action such as tree planting days, gardening activities, grow a tree activities

o build community resilience through open space activities along the coastline, streams and local parks

3.3 Network scale projects

The local board area wide projects are important as they influence open spaces at a network scale (across multiple open spaces rather than an individual site). This is consistent with the Open Space Provision Policy target for open space:

“Maintain and extend an integrated network of quality open spaces across the region that meets community needs and provides a diverse range of recreational opportunities by 2040.”

There are three sets of prioritised actions set out within the tables below. Some will provide the local board with “quick-wins”, and others will take more time to plan and preparation resources:

· 12 are a high priority and aim to be implemented in years 1 – 3 (Table 12).

· 18 are a medium priority and targeting years 4 – 7 Table 13).

· 11 are lower priority and targeting years 8 – 10 (Table 14).

3.4 High priority actions

There are 12 high priority actions over the next three years and are set out below.

Table 12. High priority actions.

Focus Areas	Actions	Key Move
Identify and resource open spaces where recreation, arts, and culture events may be hosted	Investigate the provision of event capability at Prince Edward Park, Mansell Field, Ray Small Park, Pukekiwiriki Pa, Central Park, Keri Downs, and the Village Green.	Celebrate our natural and cultural history
Improve the local board and mana whenua relationship	Continue to build a relationship with mana whenua at both the governance level and Southern Mana Whenua Kaitiaki Forum level.	Celebrate our natural and cultural history
Work with mana whenua to incorporate Māori design principles across all park developments	Investigate using collaborative working models including: · Cultural Health Index · Mauri-o-meter	Celebrate our natural and cultural history
Reduce the low provision of and access to play space equipment and infrastructure	Mitigate and manage the safety issues along the thoroughfare between Marne Road and Ron Keat Drive. Reopen access to the playpark area located on the Marne Road side of the thoroughfare to Ron Keat Drive.	Improve the quality of our local neighbourhood parks
Improve the system for investment to parks	Review the current investment tagged for sports field development with a view to reprioritising resources towards neighbourhood parks	Improve the quality of our local neighbourhood parks
Improve the system for investment to parks	Prioritise open space infrastructure renewals to those in low open space provision and low open space infrastructure provision areas	Improve the quality of our local neighbourhood parks
Incorporate the hierarchy of improvement suggestions from residents regarding 49 neighbourhood parks	Review and prioritise the actions for improvement of 49 parks identified in the Captivate Research.	Improve the quality of our local neighbourhood parks
Improve the system for investment to parks	Review the renewals and capital investment programme and commission financial advice regarding improvement to the system.	Improve the quality of our local neighbourhood park
Improve the system for investment to parks	Receive quarterly update reports about the renewals and capital investment programme.	Improve the quality of our local neighbourhood park
Integrate and extend connections	· leverage opportunities from large network infrastructure projects to improve connectivity and access to open space within the existing urban area. · retrofit linkages and improve access to open space in the existing urban area when opportunities arise.	Connect our community to open space
Respond to changing demographic profile patterns and sports and recreation trends	Recreational demand for parks equipment and infrastructure needs to support young children and parents, teenagers, and older adults. The design process needs to include: · Children: play infrastructure investment including supporting infrastructure for parents. They also need to be involved in the design process. · Teenagers: infrastructure located closer to street edges. They also need to be involved in the design process. · Older adults: support and incorporate the recommendations from the Making Auckland an Age Friendly City report. They also need to be involved in the design process.	Connect our community to open space
	Plan and prepare for increased demand for soccer sports platforms.	Connect our community to open space
Support the Million Trees Strategy	Sign up to the Million Trees Strategy and focus on: · coastal edge planting · river esplanade planting · eco-sourcing of plants through the existing community gardens.	Improve our open spaces resilience and sustainability

3.5 Medium priority actions

There are 18 medium priority actions and locations for actions for the four to seven year time period set out within Table 13 below and highlighted in orange. The preceeding years will allow time for the Community Services Directorate to plan how best to co-ordinate the actions as there may be efficiencies achieved by grouping some of these priorities into Census Area Unit locations.

Table 13. Medium priority actions.

Focus Areas

Actions

Key Move

Identify and resource open spaces where recreation, arts, and culture events may be hosted

Investigate the provision of event capability facilities at the Army Fields and McLennan Park.

Celebrate our natural and cultural history

Identify and resource open spaces where recreation, arts, and culture events may be hosted

Appropriately acknowledge the culture heritage sites located along the 26 kilometre Papakura Local Board coastline of esplanades and generally located at:

· Waiata Shores foreshore

· Pahurehure Inlet

· Hingaia

· Drury.

Celebrate our natural and cultural history

Connecting open space along the coast and stream network

Improve the Papakura esplanade walking and cycling opportunities along with ecology, water quality and tree planting at:

· Takanini West to Papakura North

· Hingaia Esplanade

· Papakura Stream

· Otūwairoa Stream

· Investigate the development of a wetland north of Ray Small Park in the Pahurehure Estuary.

Connect our community to open space

Connecting open space along a heritage trail

Work with the Heritage Unit to determine if the following open space locations have culture and heritage assets substantive enough to form part of a culture and heritage trail:

· Central Park

· Kirks Bush

· Herkts Bush

· Pukekiwiriki Pa

· Margans Bush

· Massey Park.

· Pahurehure Estuary

· First Flight location (un-named)

· Smiths Reserve

· Red Hill Scenic Reserve

Connect our community to open space

Partner with schools to connect communities to school open spaces

As a second tier priority, partner with:

· Takanini School

· Holy Trinity Catholic School

· SCG Strathallan

· Papakura Central School.

Connect our community to open space

Integrate and extend connections

Connect the small reserves between Kauri Drive Commons to Pullman Park.

Connect our community to open space

Advocate to extend the safer routes programme to include:

· north to south around the Manurewa Takanini on ramp

· Great South Road and Taka Street / Walters Road / Waterview Road / Broadway / Elliot Steet / Wood Street / Wellington Street / Beach Road / Settlement Road

· Hingaia Road and Beach Road

· Walter Strevens Drive and State Highway 1

· Pescara Park across State Highway 1

· Park Estate Road across State Highway 1.

Suburb parks and walking and cycling

Investigate the provision of walking and cycling trails at:

· Pullman Park

· McLennan Park

· Ray Small Park connecting to Prince Edward Park via the boardwalk

· Massey Park

· Te Koiwi Park connecting to Smiths Reserve

· Keri Downs Park connecting to the Childrens Forrest, Margans Bush, Pukekiwiriki Pa, Red Hill Scenic Reserve, and Dominion Reserve

· Southern Park connecting to Kirks Bush

· Hingaia Park connecting to Hingaia Peninsula School.

Connect our community to open space

Increase the number of open space volunteers

Empower the community to become involved in open space volunteer activities.

Improve our open spaces resilience and sustainability

Improve community gardens and local sourcing of tree seedlings

Expand the current gardening activities at Rollerson Avenue Park and Keri Downs to include:

· local ecosourcing and tree seedling preparation.

· provide volunteer support.

Improve our open spaces resilience and sustainability

Work with schools to support gardening activities.

Improve community gardening opportunities to enable the transference of gardening skills for activities including:

· a call to action seeking older adults leadership.

· support seedling development, composting, care and protection of local neighbourhood public open space.

Work with Healthy Waters to discuss including gardening activities at Rangi Road Reserve.

Update reserve management plans

Commission the preparation of omnibus management plans.

Connect our community to open space

Partner with schools to connect communities to school open spaces

As a priority, discuss a partnerhip with:

· Kelvin Road School

· Opāheke School

· Park Estate School

· Hingaia School.

Connect our community to open space

High schools and open space

Work with the Secondary School Council to understand participation gains and learnings.

Connect our community to open space

Work with Rosehill College and Papakura High School with a view to supporting a transition from high school participation in sport and recreation to community participation in sport and recreation.

Develop a targeted response to storm surge and coastal inundation

Request the preparation of a plan to mitigate the effects of coastal inundation and storm surge impacting the esplanade reserves.

Improve our open spaces resilience and sustainability

3.6 Low priority actions

There are 11 lower priority actions for the 8 – 10 year time period highlighted in yellow below (Table 14).

Table 14. Low priority actions.

Focus Areas

Actions

Key Move

Identify and resource open spaces where recreation, arts, and culture events may be hosted

Investigate the provision of event capability at Drury Park, Opāheke Park, Southern Park and Hingaia Park.

Celebrate our natural and cultural history

Joining up and to the coastline

Joining up the esplanade where appropriate.

Develop access from the in-land residential areas to the coast.

Appropriately acknowledge and celebrate culture and heritage sites.

Protect wading bird colonies

Improve the quality of our parks

Increase provision and access to play space equipment and infrastructure in:

· Papakura North

· Papakura North East

· Massey Park

· Papakura East

· Takanini North

· Papakura South

· Hingaia

Improve the quality of our local neighbourhood parks

Incorporate the hierarchy of improvement suggestions from residents reqarding 49 neighbourhood parks.

Improve the small playground areas:

· 16R Clarice Place, Takanini

· 16R Reding Street, Takanini

· Fernaig Reserve

· Cross Street Reserve

· 8R Kereru Rise

· Lime Reserve

· Childrens Forest (Game Place).

Monitor and review community leases

When appropriate, review as a priority those leases held in:

· Drury

· Papakura North East

Close the open space provision gaps across the local board area by developing existing open spaces

Review and improve open spaces in the following areas:

· Takanini North

· Takanini West

· Takanini South

· Papakura North

· Opāheke

· Rosehill.

· Papakura North East

· Massey Park

· Papakura East

· Ardmore

· Drury

Connect our community to open spaces

Integrate and extend connections

Update the Greenways/Local Paths plan and connect:

· smaller neighbourhood parks to the suburb parks

· connect the Future Urban Zone in Takanini North and Spatial Priority Area in Drury.

· Amenity	· Status
· Counties Badminton Association	· Regional facility
· Bruce Pullman Park	· Regional facility
· Hunua Ranges	· Regional park
· Massey Park Stadium	· Local hub and sub-regional facility
· McLennan Park	· Local hub and sub-regional facility
· Massey Park Swimming Pool	· Local hub