2. Focus on providing more free and low-cost options as well as family-friendly sport opportunities.
- Gary Troup.
3. Active people have active minds, is the message we have to get through to parents and teachers.
- OneVoice
4. Auckland Plan and Maori Plan directives are for recreation and sport facilities to keep up with needs, as well as to maintain and extend the public open space network, sporting facilities, swimming pools, walkways and trails and recreational and boating facilities in line with growth. There are concerns at the council's draft 10-year budget suggesting cut backs. We need to push the message "we need a place" -- ensuring the fit-for-purpose network of facilities are available and accessible for all to use.
- Gary Troup.
5. The draft budget has adequate resources to ensure that Aucklanders maintain free access to parks, open spaces and beaches.
Walking is the fastest-growing activity and we have been spending a lot of money building 30km of pathways a year to link beaches and parks and that continues. It would be great to be able to walk along the coast from Orewa to Devonport, and over the harbour bridge with a flyover and all the way down to Maraetai. Over the next decade we will fill in the gaps and create some long-distance walkways as well.
- Ian Maxwell, Auckland Council.
6. We are getting 700,000 people a year through the park for all sorts of sports; if we can get the young people on track and using the park, if we can give them that life skill -- not just sporting skill -- we are on a winner. - Papakura's Bruce Pulman Park Trust (BPPT) general manager Murray Wood.
7. It's getting harder to get ongoing funding for sports facilities and sporting events so we have to think outside the square. BPPT has a multi-use operation to get a corporate income stream. We run a successful corporate and seminar function centre using sports facilities when sports are not using them, and they stay in our accommodation lodge.
- Murray Wood.
8. There are a lot of pay-for-play sports which give people opportunity for action and sport but they do not involve the community aspect which is the solution.
- Murray Wood.
9. There is a huge relationship between sport, education and life skills and that has to be nurtured urgently to make sure the kids get opportunities to reach whatever level of expertise they want.
- Murray Wood.
10. I applaud council's move to get free swimming for under 16s but what's missing is getting kids into swim school and teaching them to swim. There are not enough pools around and schools lack opportunities.
- YMCA Auckland chief executive Peter Fergusson.
11. Fitness centres need to make money so you can pour that back into product development and replacing services and equipment. People's expectations of equipment are reasonably high and they expect the latest and greatest. Technology will bring more demand for interactive experience. You will get them engaged and they will enjoy it and get fit doing it.
- Peter Fergusson.
12. We need to take up opportunities to serve big population growth in the new residential areas as well as the growing market for the ageing population who are getting out and expecting to do stuff. We also have to respond to youth expectations. Youth want to access recreation differently. They are more pay-for-play than joining clubs and being locked into them for 12 or 24 months. They just want to turn up and have a crack.
- Peter Fergusson.
13. Families are busy so want a place where they can all go together, though doing different activities. A community-based facility can deliver a range of programmes for them at the right time of the day.
- Peter Fergusson.
14. Leisure and fitness is becoming more about convenience for people -- when they want to exercise and close to home or close to work. A bit like a petrol station.
- Peter Fergusson.
15. It is scary that few fitness centres and one-off programmes have staff who have the Registered Exercise Professional qualification. If you go to a boot camp in a park, ask them that question, because you can do an awful lot of damage.
- Peter Fergusson.
16. A venue has to take care of people within their geographic centres until public transport is properly addressed, because people are hesitant to move out of their areas to events.
- Counties Manukau Pacific Trust chief executive Richard Jeffery.
17. We need to lead the world not follow with innovation around venues. A classic example is the whitewater park we are building at Vodafone Events Centre; it is an Olympic-standard facility for elite competitive sport but because of the centre's diverse use as a recreational facility, the park will be accessible to the community. Money from recreational rafters will fund access for the schools to come through and use it for youth development and water safety skills. You must think how the community can benefit from it when you are using public money.
- Richard Jeffery.
18. You have to design a venue around a model whereby from businesses using the venue, the profits go into supporting the community access. That thinking was used with the events centre, now open 10 years and having 250,000 visitors a year, and is used with the white water park, where we are planning for 50 years ahead.
- Richard Jeffery.
19. More education at school level around beach safety. We have a surf to school programme where we go out to schools. We also have a beach education programme where the schools come to us and we take them for a day out to the beach.
In the northern region , which covers Auckland to the Far North and encompasses Raglan as well, 112 schools participated in surf lifesaving programmes last year.
"Those simple [beach safety] messages stay with them [kids] for a long time because they're learning them in a fun sense.
More work should be done to enable schools to find funding for the programmes. Alternatively, the programmes could be made compulsory at schools."
- David Butt, lifesaving manager, Surf Life Saving Northern Region.
20. Have a volunteer/honorary ranger supported by a professional park ranger service in every park.
- Friends of Regional Parks committee member Kit Howden.
21. More education and discussion on biodiversity and biosecurity.
- Kit Howden.
22. Make an addition to the Bill of Rights which states that every citizen has easy walking access to a "green space" or park for recreation.
- Kit Howden.
23. Everyone should pick up litter when visiting beaches, parks and reserves. -- Kit Howden
24. Get involved in the debate: Aucklanders have to face the music and realise our city landscape is changing.
The area of parkland available per 1000 people is in decline as building in the city intensifies. Data from Auckland Council shows 5.03ha of parkland was available per 1000 people in the former city council area in 1991. This dropped to 4.57ha in 1996, and in 2011 was 3.7ha.
This will have major implications in generations to come. The 2014 Interim Open Space Provision Guidelines sets the standard as 2ha for neighbourhood parks.
- Kit Howden.
25. As intensification increases, conflicts develop between uses [which lead] to the authorities using regulatory controls and increasing bureaucracy.
Bylaws, Resource Management Act, district plan rules, resource consents and the Reserves Act are examples of this.
It is important that people become involved in the process as it will have a major impact on the lifestyle of residents in future years.
- Kit Howden.
To view our interactive map Commuting interactive: How transport has changed in New Zealand click here.
Overseas experience
Bonnie Zhang, 30. Moved to Auckland from Guangzhou, China in September 2013.
"We really like the outdoors and like going to [the] beach ... and having friends together," Ms Zhang says.
Free access to parks and outdoor spaces, as well as the barbecue ovens, is fantastic because everyone can enjoy them, she says.
Hazel Cocker, 23. Moved to Auckland from Shropshire, England, in June 2013.
"I think one of the best things about New Zealand is you can go to the beach and it's just down the road or you can go for a big long walk," Ms Cocker says. "There's just so much to see and do which doesn't cost any money. [In Shropshire] we're landlocked; the nearest seaside is two hours away in Wales.
"That's such a big selling point for Auckland - you're surrounded by beaches and beautiful places to go."
Katie Wolf, 36. Moved to Auckland from Atlanta, Georgia in the US in December 2011.
Mrs Wolf, her husband and the couple's 2-year-old daughter live in Mairangi Bay on Auckland's North Shore.
"The fact that I can get to six different parks from my house in five minutes is incredible," she says. "My husband and I have this joke all the time, we just can't get over how every playground has a million-dollar view of the ocean.
"You couldn't really have prepared me for how many beautiful open spaces there would be."
In Atlanta, Georgia, the closest beach takes six hours to reach, Mrs Wolf says.
Recycling bins at all parks would also be great, she says.
Future leaders
Ben Dowdle, 20, arts/commerce conjoint degree student at Auckland University, campaign director of Unmask Palm Oil, semifinalist for Young New Zealander of the Year
"Auckland is lucky to be built around the Hauraki Gulf and it is important that as the city develops the streams flowing into it are protected.
"In terms of air quality, we have to think about the obsession with cars.
"The city is becoming more smoggy and we have to be conscious of [what will happen] if our population hits 2 million. We can't all be driving around in cars.
"It is a green city as a result of suburban gardens - though a lot of trees have been chopped down - and there are plenty of parks around Auckland. It is not a bad place to bring up kids."
Flora Apulu, 23, mentoring services manager Genesis Youth Trust, chairwoman of Auckland Council youth advisory panel
"For recreation, we are doing well but over time we must provide different recreational bases for young people," Ms Apulu says.
"Having a park in the community where people can do things like play basketball is important.
"Extending free entry to public pools to include those aged 17 to 24 would also be great, she says.
"I know that when the council started charging over 16-year-olds to swim in its public pools, it had an unfortunate impact.
"It created a barrier for 17 to 24-year-olds who used to go there. For them a charge of $3-4 is a lot for one session in a pool.
"They want to be healthy and swim but at my Manurewa pool there has been a drop in people my age going there; it used to be packed."
5 Challenges
1.
Auckland's population is estimated to increase by one million people in the next 30 years, which will put more pressure on facilities and resources, some of which are struggling to meet demand now. - OneVoice
2. The cost of physical inactivity in Auckland in 2010 was estimated at $402 million in direct health costs and loss of productivity, pain and suffering. There are growing obesity and health issues, most prevalent in Maori and Pacific people living in deprived areas. Recreation and sport provide a key mechanism to address diseases. - OneVoice
3. The need to encourage all the agencies with interests in the sector, including health and education groups, to work together to avoid duplication of effort and to deliver better experiences and support the pursuit of excellence. - OneVoice
4. Providing more free and low-cost options as well as family friendly sport opportunities and initiatives that encourage children and teenagers, particularly girls, and young people to be more physically active now and throughout their lives, and encourage programmes that promote healthy and active lifestyles. - OneVoice
5. The number of people getting into trouble at our beaches. Since January 1, of the 18 drownings in New Zealand, eight have been at beaches. The two drownings in Auckland this month have been at a beach. - Water Safety New Zealand
5 great things
1.
Auckland's beautiful protected areas, including our parks, marine reserves and volcanic cones. We have easy access to the sea, and to beaches on the east and west coasts and walking access to great local parks. -- Friends of Maungawhau chairman and Friends of Regional Parks committee member Kit Howden.
2. Activity is on the rise - 78 per cent of Auckland residents actively participate in recreation and sport once a week and eight out of 10 young people, aged 5 to 18, take part in at least one recreation and sport activity one or more times a week.
- Gary Troup, chairman OneVoice: Recreation and Sport, Auckland, sponsor of the strategic action plan for next 10 years for Auckland organisations and agencies.
3. Two out of 10 Aucklanders were volunteers in the sector in 2007-08 contributing 12 million hours, helping to develop community leaders and positive role models for children. - OneVoice.
4. Recreation and sport contributed $1.2 billion to Auckland's GDP in 2008-09 or 1.8 per cent of it and nearly 12,000 people worked in the sector's industries.
5. In Auckland Council-owned pools, 16 years and under can swim free -- one of few cities in the world where that occurs. -- Auckland Council manager parks, sport and recreation Ian Maxwell.
Now it's your turn
What are your ideas for improving Auckland? They could be a way to perk up your local park, or a big-ticket investment for the whole city and beyond.
Email: newsdesk@nzherald.co.nz.
The series
Monday
Transport
Tuesday
Economy
Wednesday
Housing
Yesterday
Health and well-being
Today
Recreation and leisure
