Kit Howden: How to combat park poverty

This year has been one to celebrate for Auckland's parks, it being the 40th anniversary of the Regional Park network and with the addition of new regional parks on the fringe of the region.

Local councils in the region and community groups have also campaigned to provide for parks and such action has wide community support.

Parks are essential for our use, to protect the environment as well as being a gift to future generations.

These include neighbourhood reserves, sports grounds, event venues and large heritage parks like our volcanic cones and provide for a multitude of conservation, recreation, tourist and community services.

The new park land will assist in meeting many of these environmental and community needs, but considering the growth of Auckland, are we providing enough parks and how are we managing them in relation to the population pressure?

Are agencies, including the Government, the Regional Council and local councils, providing their fair share of parks for now and the future, or will some sections of the community be neglected?

One answer lies with council planners who are forming a Regional Open Space Strategy [ROSS]. This strategy, with local open space strategies, will be incorporated into the regional policy statement and district plan changes which all councils have to follow.

This process appears to be remote from public involvement and may not give the direction required to provide for and manage our future public parks.

Important issues not fully dealt with include:

* The strategy states there will be "increased pressure on parks and open space and reduced opportunity for recreation".

This will occur in areas under intense development and yet in relative terms this is where little park planning and acquisition is occurring.

In the Isthmus of Auckland City there was 5.03ha of parkland for every 1000 people in 1991 and this is expected to be reduced to 3.7ha by 2011.

This standard could go to below 0.5ha by the middle of the century as population and infill housing increases.

* Auckland City has not made much progress to engage the public on an overall park strategy, even though the intention has been covered in annual plans.

It may be too late in parts of Auckland to acquire some areas of parkland because of the high cost of land.

Urgency is needed, especially when regional policy intends to crowd the Isthmus of Auckland with more development and people. Even existing parkland is not safe and as I write, a small area of public parkland in the crowded industrial area of Penrose is being proposed for private sale.

* The strategic importance of parks is given little prominence in park planning and management. Parks and open spaces act as refuges when the forces of nature and human emergencies arise.

In the 1940s parks were filled with camps and hospitals. In decades to come disasters will hit greater Auckland.

The closer we build and encroach on hazard areas such as cliffs and beach frontages the more open space we need as buffers and refuges.

* Large public events are gaining in popularity but they demand large spaces and it appears parks such as Western Springs, the Domain and others may be too small for large events such as Pasifika and others.

As events demand grows so does legislation, and bylaws to exclude informal and freedom of access to public parks. These conflicts need wider public debate.

* The volcanic cones of Auckland have been neglected for many years and there are growing conflicts over use and management.

I see cones such as Maungawhau, Mt Eden as Stonehenge - a sacred site. Would you drive your vehicle into a church?

On the other hand the council needs more public parkland in a crowded city and is hesitant to limit activity. Limiting activity is the only way to protect conservation and heritage values, as seen in good park management throughout the world. There are answers, compromises and a way forward but these lie in the whole community facing the hard issues and looking at the overall provision and management of parks across the region.

* Park planning needs to be visionary - looking decades if not a century ahead. The recent purchase and gift of regional parks is visionary, but the vision is not limited by the wish of the community but by the available funding.

The Long Bay Great Park Society has come up against this even though it has illustrated a powerful vision and need for a large park on the North Shore. Perhaps the constraints of local government under the Local Government Act and RMA prevent visionary park planning. Roads and motorways can be designated and planned many years ahead of purchase and development, but not parks. Are parks a lesser part of our infrastructure and importance in urban living?

* It is disturbing to read that some Aucklanders rarely travel outside their isolated suburbs and some children have not crossed the Harbour Bridge to access the beautiful beach parks to the north of the region. Do only the wealthy suburbs have expensive parks? Are future parks linked to transport including walking access?

There are two directions for action and the first rests with Parliament. Legislation is needed to set minimum standards for public parks in heavily developed urban areas. This requires changes to the Local Government Act and updating the Reserves Act to protect inter-generational park values.

The second action is up to every citizen who believes in public green space within urban areas, to make his or her voice known.

Unless citizens make a stand and claim their common ownership the tragedy will continue and future generations may be left with park poverty.

* Kit Howden is active in the community advocating greater attention towards urban parks. He co-ordinates volunteer action on Mt Eden, Maungawhau and Mutukaroa Hamlins Hill.