Viewpoint – Green and blue

Our green and blue areas on the Hibiscus Coast are special. They include Auckland Council parks, reserves and coastal esplanade areas as well as privately owned areas zoned open space – such as the Gulf Harbour Golf Course. The blue areas include our coastal waters and the many streams and waterways.

Saving and safeguarding these areas underlies much of my time and effort as a councillor. That time can sometimes run over many years, for example securing the Hammerhead land at Gulf Harbour and the continuing effort to secure the Archers Block in Stanmore Bay. New threats continue to arise, like the potential loss of esplanade open space at the Wave Spending Beach at Gulf Harbour – a narrow accessway that leads to a small beach below the coastal cliff-line around from the Eastern Boat Harbour. This is the subject of a large scale yachting proposal already rejected for Takapuna and the Hammerhead at Gulf Harbour. A year ago, the effort to save North Harbour Stadium and the associated fields and open space from sale and demolition was a massive undertaking.

Elsewhere in the region, there are other important stadiums like Eden Park and Western Springs also under threat. Speedway, after nearly 100 years at Western Springs, is battling to stay and avoid shifting to Waikaraka Park. Unlike Western Springs, Waikaraka lacks spectator capacity and the many locational advantages of Western Springs, to say nothing of the heritage and history. Ponsonby Rugby, also at Western Springs, likewise faces a shift. 

Eden Park has plans for a significant upgrade including a retractable roof and additional retractable seating at a comparatively modest cost but continues to face proposals from downtown stadium propositions that are very difficult to engineer, will take many years to deliver and involve huge sums of money and risk. As a very small city in international terms, with just 1.7 million people, Auckland must make the most of what it has got and wherever possible protect and safeguard what we have.

The Gulf Harbour Golf Course was, and can still be, a successful and financially viable golf course while at the same time protecting and safeguarding the open space that was an integrated part of the development of Gulf Harbour. Fortunately, there are golf-related development options such as an associated driving range in the vicinity of the parking area that can help make it work. A daily ferry service from the city will also help make the course even more accessible. Importantly, we must ensure the open space is even more secure than it is now; this will have a significant positive impact on property values in the vicinity and Whangaparāoa generally.

The effort to achieve success across these green and blue areas is a team one. Thanks to the many groups and individuals who step up to mobilise, advocate and act to secure this vital future for the present and the future generations that will live in this special place that is the Hibiscus Coast and Auckland.