A community rallied and the council bowed to the pressure.
The Wanganui District Council rescinded a recommendation to sell about half Handley Park in Gonville, swayed by the weight of more than 900 signatures to a petition opposing the plan, along with emotive addresses to its meeting yesterday.
The sale of the part of the reserve, which fronts a busy section of State Highway 3, was part of the council's planned divesting of its properties in a bid to pay off debt.
In all, 32 properties were tagged but now three of them - Handley Park, Richmond Park in Aramoho and part of Montgomery Rd reserve on Great North Rd - have been either pulled from the sale altogether or in part.
If the 4500sq m parcel had been sold, proceeds would have to go to the city's endowment fund which means it would not affect council debt.