New $2.5m Mount Maunganui park to be closed until end of February

Mount Maunganui's new $2.5 million park will be closed for a month while the "urban space" is completed.

Fencing went back up around the former Phoenix car park, now named Te Papa o Ngā Manu Porotakataka, on Tuesday for final works to be complete.

The park will be closed until the end of February while permanent security cameras are installed, the water feature added, grass is planted in two of the gardens next to Shadelands Lane and the finishing touches are put on the concrete.

Tauranga City Council general manager of city transformation Jaine Lovell-Gadd said extra trees will be planted closer to winter.

The toilet block will stay open for most of February, but will temporarily close at times.

Meanwhile, the council spent $1592 on employing security guards to patrol the space from December 28 to January 10.

A report was made to the police on December 28 about a group of skateboarders that became "verbally aggressive" and reportedly refused to leave after being told to move on by a security guard.

Lovell-Gadd said the Nutech security guards - who had been patrolling from 3pm to 10pm - were no longer needed.

The guards were employed to "keep the area safe" as well as advise skateboarders to skate elsewhere, and Lovell-Gadd said those outcomes had been achieved.

Two new CCTV cameras would instead be installed to deter skateboarders.

The cost of installing the new security cameras was yet to be confirmed, Lovell-Gadd said.

Ian New, who owns the Kiwiana Gifts & Souvenirs shop in Mount Maunganui, said the park needed to be finished as soon as possible.

"I know there are skateboarders there, it is a big concrete slab so they are going to use it," he said.

"If it was a green space it might be different because you can't skate on grass."

Deputy mayor Kelvin Clout said having security guards was an "overkill" because there was a significant cost in employing someone to man the area daily.

"They certainly weren't cost effective in the means of controlling any unruly behaviour."

Clout said security guards were employed primarily because of concerns skateboarders were creating a "public nuisance" in terms of noise and potentially knocking people over.

"We really are relying on members of the public to raise any concerns directly with the police rather than us as the council paying for security guards," he said.

He said there was a great future for the park and the council would continue to engage with the wider community.

"Like many new civic amenities, it can take some time for its true potential to be realised."

Tauranga City Council chief executive Marty Grenfell told the Bay of Plenty Times he was planning to review the Phoenix car park revamp.

The council was working with Mount Mainstreet to find a permanent home for "Mountie", the statue downtown the Mount outside of the new park.