Auckland's Parks

Forest and Bird, Issue 294, 1 November 1999, Page 3

Auckland's Parks

The publicity given to Auckland’s regional parks in Forest and Bird August 1999 is timely. They are important in conservation terms as well as for their recreational value. However, the Crown did very little to create this ‘conservation treasure’. Over the years, some Crown land has been incorporated in the network, and the Crown has made some modest contributions towards the cost of some of the regional reserves. But by far the greater part of Auckland’s regional parkland has been provided entirely by means of the rates and gifts of the people of the Auckland region. It is entirely owned by them and is not subject to the Reserves Act. Auckland relies on the fact that the land is regional parkland ‘to be held in perpetuity’ as is declared in what is now the Local Government Act.

It is ironic that because the Crown contributed money to the purchase of Whakanewha Regional Park, and consequently that park is subject to the Reserves Act, it is the powers contained in that act which are being invoked to authorise the proposed exchange of part of that park for other land. Arnold Turner CMG, Chairman (1963-68), Auckland Regional Parks Committee