New Zealand Golf's position on Chamberlain Park

New Zealand Golf would like to make its position around the Indicative Business Case and Master Plan for Chamberlain Park Golf Course clear. New Zealand Golf see Auckland Council and local boards as key partners in helping us deliver our goal of enriching lives through a love of golf. “We are supportive of Auckland Council and Albert Eden Local Board having a master plan for Chamberlain Park. New Zealand Golf isnot supportive of the current master plan for Chamberlain Park as proposed by the Albert-Eden Local Board.” says Carl Fenton, Senior Relationship Manager for New Zealand Golf. “We believe there has been some positive work completed around the restoration of Meola Creek; we urge Albert-Eden Local Board and Auckland Council to revisit the indicative business case and master plan with greater insight and collaboration. We have the opportunity to develop Chamberlain Park into an integrated community asset with a focus on positive environmental impact, that future generations of Aucklanders can be proud of. The current master plan lacks real intellect and will not serve the community well. Gone are the days where we can carve bits of land apart and not provide integrated solutions.” “As one of the only sports that normally maintains and improves the public land that it is using, we are uniquely placed to offer expertise and assistance through the Golf Sector Environmental Group, and the GEO foundation to help make Chamberlain Park climate-positive,” says Fenton. “It has been achieved at Remuera Golf Club and with Auckland Council declaring a climate emergency we need to take an intelligent approach to what we do with our green space.” New Zealand Golf want to work with Auckland Council and support opening the green space to more users through the smart design with parks and fitness, walking, running, and cycling trails. There is also an opportunity to relocate some like sports which would free up space in other Albert-Eden parks for the two proposed sports fields, at a potential lower cost to ratepayers. Chamberlain Park is one of the busiest courses in the country with 63,000 rounds over the last 12 months as of 30 June 2019, it is a true community asset. It is part of the existing wild link corridor of ecosystems linking biodiversity on Auckland’s east and west coasts. A University of Auckland baseline study of Remuera Golf Course found 99 different plant species, 27 of which were native to New Zealand. Further, the wood vegetation lining the fairways provided a well-connected series of habitats for avian species and other fauna. Golf offers the opportunity for lifelong activity and supports healthier, longer lives for Aucklanders, and offers a genuine lifelong contribution to the prevention of disease. Golf is the largest adult club-based sport in the country with over 500,000 participants. In Auckland there is over 1 million rounds of golf played annually. As the governing body of golf in New Zealand our role is to lead, grow and support the game of Golf in this country. For more information on the GEO Foundation please visit[live.golf.co.nz/Email/link/74408/52644912/index.htm]https://sustainable.golf/ For any inquiries please contact: Carl Fenton -Carl@nzgolf.org.nz (+64 27 2275 111) Matt Southerden -Matt.Southerden@nzgolf.org.nz (+64 27 700 4647)

Speech to the Council's Environment and Community Committee

The Council should not approve the expenditure of $1m of rate payer funds to support a $29.7m project to redevelop what is the busiest golf course in Auckland.

I hope alarm bells are ringing with this new price tag for the indicative business plan that is up 35% on the previous one for the exact same masterplan.

Just to remind you, Chamberlain Park has been an 18 hole public golf course for 80 years. Today it continues to be a golf course that supports the health and wellbeing of largely the working classes – also around 30% of its users are Maori and Polynesian. And it is not just about golf.

Chamberlain Park is a unique inner city landform that has escaped development till now and provides an exquisite insight into how things looked well before humans first set foot on this land.

For our nearly 20,000 and growing petition supporters such arguments are enough. But not for a local board that wants to concentrate this huge “Think Big” like expenditure on a part of its ward that has an abundance of green space such as Fowlds Park and the Unitec Campus - even more when you take account of the neighbouring Western Springs Park. In fact by our count there are 69 parks and reserves within 2km of Chamberlain Park.

We have submitted more detailed arguments to you which I hope you will have read before making your decision. It is our view that the indicative business plan presented to you here today is flawed in that contains errors and lacks balance and is therefore potentially unlawful.

These flaws have been pointed out to the Local Board and the council staff but they still see fit to place them in front of you today. You should know the Local board voted five three along political lines to approve this project and also defeat a motion to discuss the report with us – I note two of those who voted in favour are not standing for the local board in this upcoming election. I also note that you have received information from Graeme Easte questioning the $29.7m figure and

pouring scorn on Council staff. Mr Easte voted in favour of the indicative business plan – if his convictions were so strong – and we are talking about a significant investment of rate payer funds here – then how could he allow this erroneous plan to put before you here today? Well he may question this $29.7m figure because even with an aggressive 34 year payback period the council staff can only find $26m of benefit. The only thing to conclude here is that this money could be better spent.

So what are some of the flaws?

The plan uses misleading information to imply demand for golf is shrinking in the Albert Eden area. But no one from council has surveyed the users of the course – we have.

It also conveniently ignores that numbers are up 20% in the 2019 year to March.

Then the plan says that the ethnic mix in Albert Eden is changing with NZ Europeans falling as a percentage and Asian numbers increasing – but it does not join the dots to suggest that Asian people are more likely to be golfers than rugby players.

The plan talks about the changing dynamics of golf in support of nine holes – but its masterplan is totally offside with the two main golfing bodies – Auckland Golf and NZ Golf. Over 100,000 people play golf in Auckland. Golf is the number one participation sport in this city.

Ever since we started challenging this in 2015 we have heard there is a critical shortage of sports fields in the Albert Eden area and a lack of open space.

Council language around sports fields has since changed to one of making our fields usable all year around.

However, the council staff and the local board still keep on talking about the lack of sports fields in justifying the expenditure of now $16m on yes – only two sports fields.

Just imagine how many existing sports fields could be weatherproofed for that price. It is not only unfair on golf it is unfair on those kids and teams who get rained off week after week.

The business plan says the masterplan offers a mixture of sport and recreation opportunities allowing a wider and more diverse section of the population to utilise public open space. The fact is there is more than sufficient sport and recreation opportunities in the

vicinity of Chamberlain Park. Changing the offer at Chamberlain Park would merely transfer some sport and recreation activities from close by parks such as Western Springs, Fowlds Park and Unitec Campus, to Chamberlain Park resulting in no net increase in utilisation of open space. I note that Unitec is being developed into a residential area with generous open space provision amounting to several Neighbourhood Parks and a Suburb Park.

The redevelopment options chosen provides poor community outcomes: it just makes no sense for example spending money on carving up part of the park to put a neighbourhood park adjacent to an existing one – this does not increase access to neighbourhood parks by any measure.

In conclusion this is a hugely important issue both in terms of the future of this well used recreational asset and the costs associated with its redevelopment. At the moment you are being asked to make a decision on a flawed indicative business plan.

So I put to you again what we said in our submission. Council decision making is required:

• To take into account all matters that should be taken into account

• To not take into account matters that should not be taken into account

• To be fair

• To be reasonable

Council's latest plan potentially unlawful.

25 June 2019

Stephen Town

Chief Executive Officer Auckland Council

Dear Mr Town,

I write to formally alert you of an error filled Report that Council Parks department staff have prepared for consideration under item 13 at the Albert Eden Local Board meeting to be held Wednesday 26 June. The Report recommends that the Board “endorse that the redevelopment of Chamberlain Park (CP) (Option 2) has a robust case for change” and that the Board “endorse the development of a detailed business case for the development of Chamberlain Park (Option 2)”. The business case and resource consent application is estimated to cost $900,000 to prepare. The proposed “redevelopment”is estimated to cost $29.7 million including $16.2 million for 2 sports fields. However the Report takes into account numerous irrelevant matters, does not take into account numerous relevant matters and contains numerous errors of fact which have materially effected its recommendations to such a degree that it would likely be unlawful for the Local Board to endorse the recommendations in the Report.

The relevant matters that are not considered in the Report include: • That the number of rounds played at CP in the 12 months to 31 March 2019 was 60,106, an increase of 20.2% on the 49,996 rounds played in the 12 months to 31 March 2018. • The following motion: “That the Albert-Eden Local Board: (b) request staff to consider the development options provided by Save Chamberlain Park Inc (option on following pages) and provide advice to the local board on the feasibility of the options” was carried its March 2019 meeting. However, the Save Chamberlain Park Inc Option was not considered in the Report. The errors in the Report include: • That constructing a Neighbourhood Park (NP) at the western end of CP would help meet the identified shortfall in NPs in Albert-Eden. However, there is already a NP at the western end of CP, Rawalpindi Reserve. Constructing a NP adjacent to an existing NP would not help meet the shortfall in NPs as claimed. • That there is “an economic case that identifies a preferred option(s) that delivers community benefits and value for money.” In fact the unsubstantiated claim in the Report of estimated community benefits of $26 million is less than the estimated cost of $29.7 million. There is no “economic case” as claimed, and the proposal to implement Option 2 would not deliver “value for money” as claimed. • That “Offering a mixture of sport and recreation opportunities (by implementing Option 2) will allow a wider and more diverse section of the population to utilise public open space.” There is more than sufficient sport and recreation opportunities in the vicinity of Chamberlain Park. Changing the offer at Chamberlain Park would merely transfer some sport and recreation activities from close by parks such as Western Springs Park, Fowlds Park and the Unitec Campus which is being developed into a residential area with generous open space provision amounting to several NPs and a Suburb Park to Chamberlain Park resulting in no net increase in utilisation of open space. • “There is a current shortfall in sports field hours of 27 hours, growing to 87 hours by 2028.” necessitating the construction of 2 sports fields on Chamberlain at a cost of $16.2 million. The demand for sports fields in Auckland in 2017 was estimated to be 6.7 full field equivalent, hours per week for every 1,000 people in the active age group (5 to 49) in the Auckland Council commissioned report Longdill 2017. The demand of 6.7 in 2017 was a considerable decrease in sports field demand compared with the 7.4 estimated in the equivalent 2014 report, which was itself was a considerable decrease in sports field demand compared to the 8.0 estimated in the 2011 report. The active age group comprised 64.7 % of Auckland’s total population in 2017 by census data. The estimated demand equates to 4.33 hours of field demand for every 1,000 people in all age groups (6.7 x 0.647). Put in another way, 1 hour of field demand is created by every 231 residents (1,000 / 4.33). Each sand carpet field provides 18 hours use and each hybrid field provides 27 hours use per week, in both cases including a 10% allowance for wet weather closure. This means that one sand carpet field can satisfy demand from 4,158 Aucklanders (18 x 231) and 1 hybrid field can satisfy demand from 6,237 Aucklanders (27 x 231). Albert-Eden’s population in 2018 was 107,000 and is enabled to increase to 142,000 by 2042 under the Auckland Unitary Plan. Albert-Eden has 29.4 sports fields which can accommodate demand from a population of 122,000 if all fields were sand carpeted and 183,000 if all fields were upgraded to hybrid turf. Albert-Eden’s existing sports fields can accommodate current demand and demand enabled by the Unitary Plan. Albert-Eden’s northern neighbour, the Waitemata Local Board, had a population in 2018 of 102,000, enabled to increase to 183,000 under the Unitary Plan. Waitemata’s 30.3 sports fields can accommodate demand from a population of 126,000 if all fields are sand carpeted and 189,000 if all have hybrid turf installed. Waitemata’s existing sports fields can accommodate current demand and demand enabled by the Unitary Plan. Albert-Eden has five neighbouring local boards: Whau, Puketapapa, Maungakeikie, Orakei and Waitemata. These six LBAs had population of 520,000 in 2018, enabled to increase to 842,000 under the Unitary Plan. The six LBAs have a total of 217.5 sports fields which can accommodate demand from a population of 904,000 if all fields are sand carpeted and 1,357,000 if all have hybrid turf installed. Albert-Eden’s and its five neighbouring local boards’ existing sports fields can accommodate current demand and demand enabled by the Unitary Plan. This is a small sample of the omissions, wrongful inclusions and errors in the Report. It is our view that the Report does not provide a basis for lawful action by Council and should be withdrawn. Yours sincerely Geoff Senescall Chair of Save Chamberlain Park Inc. cc. Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Ward Councilors, Albert-Eden Local Board members http://infocouncil.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/Open/2019/06/AE_20190626_AGN_8179_AT.PDF

John Tamihere supports Chamberlain Park

Open letter to Chamberlain Park Users and Supporters

Thanks to Geoff Senescall, Richard Quince and Reverend Solomona Uitime who have allowed me this opportunity to address Save Chamberlain Park members on my open spaces policy. I was born down the road from Chamberlain Park and as a youngster – like many kids from the neighbourhood – made pocket money selling golf balls back to wayward hackers, who found the water, went out of bounds or hit the perfect drive then discover their ball nowhere to be seen. My enjoyment of the game was interrupted when my kids came along, but I haven’t ever stopped loving the game, a love which I know you all share. Chamberlain Park – the people’s golf course – must stay intact. In fact facilities need to be improved, not butchered. This is not just for us, but for our kids and grandkids. They deserve to have access to the same green spaces that we had growing up. We must protect our parks and green space for future generations. These spaces are the kidneys, lungs and liver of any city. Our open spaces policy encompasses more than Chamberlain Park. We are committed to implementing a considered, strategic and integrated strategy for stadia and open spaces in Auckland. Ratepayers and users of these facilities deserve clarity, certainty, direction and vision. Unfortunately not a lot of vision or leadership has been on display from our current leaders. Give me the mandate as Mayor and I make these commitments to you:

1. Not one blade of grass will be carved up from Chamberlain Park, unless by agreement.
2. Speedway will remain at Western Springs until a fit for purpose alternative venue is available.
3. Eden Park will get a major upgrade to bring it in line with international stadia standards. Eden Park will host concerts and events to ensure it is an economically viable location. We can’t have Aucklanders being held to ransom by a few neighbourhood nimbies, nor can we fund international stadia for every code.
4. MOTAT, the Zoo, Chamberlain Park, Western Springs and MOTAT 2 – the Sir Keith Park Memorial Aviation Display - must be seen and managed as the People’s Precinct and as one large green footprint. But back to Chamberlain Park and our course. Golf is the highest participation sport in New Zealand – especially in Auckland. That’s why I’m hoping the golfing fraternity will get behind my campaign. Join my movement, go to www.jtformayor.co.nz and read about my five foundation platforms for Auckland. You can donate or become one of the team – it’s your call

Regards John Tamihere

CHAMBERLAIN PARK DEVELOPMENT OPTIONS TO BE CONSIDERED. Can we have a "win, win?

Save Chamberlain Park has presented to the Albert-Eden Local Board a suggested base line option for the business case to be considered as part of the Board’s strategy to develop the Chamberlain Park Master Plan.

SCP suggested to the Board that this base line option would be more beneficial for all members of the community instead of the normal “do nothing” base line options included in major developments and would deliver much of what is contemplated in the Master Plan while still retaining the 18 hole golf course in its current form.

Benefits arising from the proposal include:

i. Availability of walking and biking tracks

ii. Increased open space by linking Rawalpindi Reserve to the destination playground

iii. Utilisation of the existing clubhouse as a community hub

iv. An agreed plan for the restoration of Meola Creek while still allowing golfers to play across the waterway.

v. Lower level of ratepayer spend by not undertaking golf course reconstruction

vi. No loss of existing trees and the opportunity to undertake native plantings

vii. Potential for inclusion in a western eco-corridor linking to Western Springs

viii. Potential to involve the local schools and community in an inner city environmental project

ix. No loss of income while redevelopment is undertaken

x. Security for the users of the most popular 18-hole golf course in Auckland.

The proposal will establish both a Suburban Park at the western end of the park and Chamberlain Park as a Destination Park as defined by Council. The proposal also provides an opportunity for environmental enhancement and the integration of Chamberlain Park and Western Springs as a green corridor.

The Board has agreed to request Council staff to consider the options provided and to provide advice to the Board on the feasibility of the options.

SCP spokesman Richard Quince says “This is an important development. Almost three years after SCP first developed and circulated its “Win Win For All” document which included many of the features now under consideration our voice is finally being heard

COUNCIL TO SPEND $1M TO REVIEW FLAWED PLAN

The Albert Eden Local Board pushed forward with its anti sport campaign yesterday, voting to request staff to commence work to enable a single resource consent application to be lodged for the whole of the Board’s master plan to redevelop Chamberlain Park Golf Course.

The decision, unanimously supported by the 5 City Vision members of the 8 member Local Board, will see work commence immediately on a the resource consent application for all five stages of the master plan. The work is expected to take up to 18 months and cost around $1 million.

Chamberlain Park, the people's golf course, has been a public 18 hole course for 80 years and is the busiest 18-hole golf course in New Zealand. Golf is also the number one participation sport in Auckland and demand for the sport is expected to grow according to Council's own estimates.

If the AELB is successful it will see the golf course cut down to nine holes, denying its many users (as well as future generations) proper and fair access to what is a very popular sport. It also sets a very uneasy precedent as there are 10 golf courses in Auckland that are on Council land which theoretically could meet the same fate as Chamberlain Park.

The latest turn of events comes off the back of the Council (on behalf of the Local Board) being forced to surrender its resource consent for Stage 2 of the master plan in January this year which Council had granted on a non-notified basis – thereby denying the public a say in its plans. Save Chamberlain Park lodged a judicial review application of the non notification and the granting of the consent in December 2018. Council staff “concluded that successfully defending Council’s notification and consent decisions would be challenging.”

SCP chairman Geoff Senescall said that the group was disappointed that the Local Board had again chosen ignore a call for a meeting to discuss a way forward that would be beneficial to all Aucklanders. "In good faith we did not seek costs as we were entitled to after the consent was surrendered. In doing this we had hoped for the opportunity to talk with the Local Board about our alternative plans involving the creation of a predator-free ecology-friendly reserve sanctuary that also supported wider use. Instead of engagement the Local Board has simply put its head in the sand and barreled on with preparations for its $22m rate payer funded project."

"It beggars belief that a Local Board can simply ignore us in this way – especially when the course is so well patronised. We have around 15,000 signatures of golfers and non-golfers on a petition. What this process allows is for us to fully mobilise a campaign for change at the Local Board in the upcoming elections in October."

"On the bright side this latest process as outlined in a 30 page Council strategy paper will see the entire master plan costed and tested by the preparation of a business case which will require Governing Body approval to proceed. We certainly will be watching closely that this work is done properly. In particular we will be looking at assumptions around revenue currently generated from Chamberlain Park to that generated under the master plan. We will want capital costs to be included in that equation. We will also be very interested in the total costs – currently estimated at $22m. Another key focus will be the proposal to spend $15m on only two sports fields when Albert-Eden has sufficient sports fields and such funds could be used to upgrade the many sports facilities in the area."

"There is a lot of water to go under the bridge before this project gets to be anywhere near a reality – not least the upcoming Council election which will be a key test of public desire to priorities the expenditure of $22m plus of rate payer money."

Chamberlain Park wins with Judicial Review against Council

Press Release Date: 24 January 2019

Auckland Council has surrendered its self-granted Resource Consents to commence the redevelopment of Chamberlain Park after Judicial Review proceedings were filed against its plans in the Auckland High Court just before Christmas.

“This decision to back down not only vindicates our decision to legally challenge the Council, it also raises serious questions around the robustness of the processes that saw the Council grant itself a non-notified Resource Consent,” Save Chamberlain Park (SCP) said in a statement.

“This is an important victory against a well-resourced Council that chose to ignore the legitimate interests of Aucklanders who rely on Chamberlain Park for their sport and recreation. We have accepted the Council’s decision to surrender its Resource Consents in good faith. SCP on behalf of its many supporters (including the men’s and women’s golf clubs based at Chamberlain Park) now encourages Council to agree to dialogue so that a sensible solution can be found. We already have developed an alternative plan that allows for increased amenity usage and environment improvements at the park that can be funded through keeping the full 18 hole golf course intact. Surely this is a more reasonable way forward and much better than spending $22m plus of rate payer money on plans that make no commercial or civic sense!”

Chamberlain Park is one of the busiest courses in Auckland, offering an accessible and affordable place to play what is the number one participation sport in the region. It has strong community links, in particular Maori and Pasifika making up around 30% of the course users.

Latest figures released by Council staff show that usage at the park in the last six months is up by a significant 26% over the same period last year. Revenue is also believed to be up by a similar amount. December 2018 usage was the highest in a December since 2009. Had work commenced in February 2019 as originally planned Chamberlain Park would have been reduced to a 14-hole golf course for most of the rest of the year. While the intention would be to change it back to an 18-hole golf course in time it would be significantly shorter and a different golfing experience than it currently is. This would more than likely have an impact on future usage and revenue particularly as the Council’s longer-term goal is for Chamberlain Park to be a nine hole course.