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Resolution
number FR/2023/156
MOVED by Member L Soole, seconded by Member M Bell JP:
That
the Franklin Local Board:
a) whakaae
/ accept the findings of Auckland Council’s Franklin community
provision investigation 2023 as follows.
i) There
are existing gaps in:
· community centre space provision in the Waiuku sub-division
· neighbourhood park provision in the Pukekohe and Waiuku sub-division.
ii) By
2031, there is a projected gap in community centre and leisure space
provision in the Pukekohe sub-division.
iii) By 2041, there
is a projected gap in leisure space provision in the Wairoa sub-division.
iv) By
2051, there are projected gaps in the provision of:
· arts and culture, library, community centre, aquatic and leisure space
in the Drury area
· nine indoor court spaces across the Franklin Local Board area
· 118 open spaces totalling 75.5 hectares across the Franklin Local
Board area.
v) Some
community spaces such as rural libraries, rural halls and Jubilee Pool are
likely to be duplication, and could be considered for optimisation in the
future.
b) whakaae / accept the
key moves recommended by Auckland Council’s Franklin community
provision investigation 2023 as follows.
Community
service and space
i) Key
move 1: Develop an indicative business case for a new multi-use community
facility and an aquatic and leisure facility in the Drury area to meet the
needs of the future population by 2028 and to secure the land to site the
facilities ahead of development.
ii) Key
move 2: Monitor capacity in Pukekohe Library to ensure that it can serve
future population.
iii) Key
move 3: Investigate rural library provision:
· in the short term, investigate options to serve Maraetai residents
through Beachlands Library
· in the long term, monitor visits to rural libraries and potentially
investigate alternative delivery methods.
iv) Key
move 4: Investigate options to deliver community services through Waiuku
Library to address the existing gap in community centre provision.
v) Key
move 5: Investigate whether venue for hire services (i.e. rural halls) are
required and/or could be delivered in other types of community spaces to
optimise utilisation.
vi) Key
move 6: Develop an indicative business case for two to four new indoor courts
in the Pukekohe area by 2027.
vii) Key
move 7: Negotiate with relevant schools for better community access to
courts.
Open
space
viii) Key
move 1: Provide equitable access to open space across the Franklin Local
Board area by increasing the capacity of the open space network and improving
the quality of the open space network.
ix) Key
move 2: Enhance and broaden open space visitor experiences by improving the
quality and accessibility of open spaces to cater for a range of user needs;
increasing socialisation and active recreation opportunities.
x) Key
move 3: Treasure the natural and cultural environment of open spaces by
protecting and enhancing their ecological features and values, including
wildlife habitat and biodiversity; promoting and enhancing the cultural
heritage of open spaces.
xi) Key
move 4: Enhance or develop walking, cycling, and green corridor connections
by increasing and enhancing connections between open spaces and improving
awareness of connections.
c)
note this report appears to be
disconnected from the current local context, does not reflect what
communities have told the local board, or what the local board has asked the
organisation to do.
d)
note this report does not
address the intention of the key initiative stated in the Franklin Local
Board Plan 2020, namely (emphasis added):
“Develop a Franklin
community facilities and outdoor space network plan to inform future work and
investment and ensure the growing population has equitable access to public
arts, culture, pay and recreational facilities (including pools) and
associated services”.
e)
note the inherent issue
created by assessing current and future need for local community facilities
and open spaces against prescriptive Auckland-wide regional plans and
policies, adopted 8-10 years ago, that do not recognise the current local
context or local priorities.
f)
request a review
the Community Facilities Network Plan 2015 to ensure:
· planning for community facilities
acknowledges increased decision-making of local boards
· planning for and provision of
community facilities reflects the local context and addresses local need
· guidelines for provision of youth
spaces
· guidelines for provision of local
emergency community hub locations, including for rural halls and marae
· marae are recognised within the
‘network’ of community facilities
· climate change, distance from and
travel time, and accessibility via a public transport lens are included.
g) request a review of the regional policies
relating to open space to ensure planning for parks and open space reflects
the increased decision-making of local boards, acknowledges local context and
addresses local need:
· Parks and Open Space Acquisition
Policy 2013
· Parks and Open Spaces Strategic Action
Plan 2013
· Open Space Provision Policy 2016.
h)
note that the board’s
ability to implement any of the key moves suggested in this report is
constrained by the willingness of the organisation to prioritise staff time
to provide advice and do the work needed to progress the key moves.
i)
note that the board’s
ability to implement some of the key moves is also constrained by
availability of budget, and this report recommend things that the board has
no way of funding eg provision of additional open space in existing urban
areas.
j)
note the following feedback on
Attachment A – Franklin Community Provision Investigation 2023 –
Technical Report:
I.
The key findings in
the report are of limited use to the board as the insights provided are based
on regional policies and prescriptive provision guidelines that do not
reflect the local context. In particular, we note:
A)
the Waiuku
subdivision currently has enough community spaces, however these spaces might
not meet the prescriptive criteria of a community space as defined in the
CFNP 2015.
B)
while there may be
a shortage of ‘neighbourhood parks’ as defined in the Opens Space
Network Provision Policy, there is currently no shortage of open space
Pukekohe and Waiuku.
C)
gaps in provision
in Beachlands, Franklin’s second biggest (and growing) urban centre,
have not been identified.
D)
Beachlands relies
on local trusts and volunteers to provide core community facilities and
services, with the level of service not equitable with elsewhere in Franklin
(or wider Auckland) namely:
i) Te Puru Charitable Trust (a minor CCO)
provides recreation and leisure space, yet is not funded to maintain its
buildings, which are in need of significant renewal. Should this trust
fold, there will be no recreation facilities in Beachlands. The narrow
focus of this report has not identified the local nuance in service provision
and real risk of no provision.
ii)
Beachlands and
Maraetai Rural Libraries are run by volunteers and open limited hours per
week, and do not provide the same level of service as the Council libraries
in Pukekohe and Waiuku. Customers at rural libraries cannot access the
wider Auckland Library book collection or other services such as internet and
printing etc. If the volunteers stopped volunteering, there would be no
library service at all in these areas. The narrow focus of this report
has not identified the local nuance in service provision and inequity of
service provision.
k)
note the disconnect between
what the Community Facilities Network Plan 2015 defines as a community
centre, and what the community understands is a community centre. For
example, the Hamilton Estate Community Centre is currently leased so not
available to the general public.
l)
note that the report does
acknowledge the nuance between venues for hire managed by community groups eg
rural halls, and those that are council run venues for hire (some rural
halls). Community led halls are much more than just venues for hire and
are actively managed by rural hall committees. In addition the list of
venues for hire does not include all the rooms available for hire within
Franklin: The Centre and the Waiuku Service Centre.
m)
note that communities do not
necessarily have access to indoor courts that are not council owned and the
board does support including courts owned by external parties within
provision calculations, and suggest there is a shortage of court spaces
currently.
n)
note that travel time is
dependent on the time of day – at peak hours 15 minutes is an
unrealistic measurement; and that people prefer to access services in their
local community, and not have to travel to another community, particularly if
this means travelling between urban areas separated by greenfield areas
o)
note that facility provision
guidelines that include travel time by car as a metric do not reflect
Council’s commitment to climate change.
p)
note that not everybody has
access to private vehicle transport, and some areas of Franklin have no
public transport, therefore provision of community facilities within the
local community becomes more important.
q)
note that access to facilities in Franklin is a current
issue, as facilities that do exist are not always able to be used due to the
quality of provision; eg sports fields with no lighting cannot be used at
night in winter or do not have sandcarpeting drainage so cannot be used when
it is wet; fields only being suitable for certain sports; libraries
that aren’t open full time hours; and facilities that cannot be
accessed due to lack of public transport.
r)
note that access to
high quality indoor court space is an issue currently in Pukekohe, and
suggest the provision guidelines need to be reviewed to require a minimum of
four basketball courts in local leisure spaces.
s) request staff develop advice on aquatic provision in Pukekohe,
noting the suggestion that the Jubilee pool could be optimised given
its poor performance and limited contribution to network capacity; however
also noting that the Franklin Pool may not have enough capacity to cater for
existing demand.
t)
request the
findings of this report be reassessed against the most recent population data
from Census 2023 when it is released and that data from both Franklin and the
areas of northern Waikato adjacent to Franklin be considered given the impact
from Waikato residents who live close to Franklin and who are major users of
community spaces and facilities in Franklin (in particular Waiuku and
Pukekohe).
u) note that the Council owned land on the corner of Belmont
Road and Adams Road South, Pukekohe is the best site to build new facilities
in Pukekohe, and that development of this site needs to consider both
community facilities and open space provision to meet current and future
needs in Pukekohe which could
include indoor recreational provision/ meeting space for young people.
v)
note this report is step one
in a process to ensure fit for purpose community facilities and open space
across Franklin.
w)
request Regional Services and
Strategy staff return with next steps on how to create fit for purpose
network provision and how to implement the key moves outlined in this report.
CARRIED
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