17 December 2018

Auckland golfers and others won an important victory in the High Court last week after the Auckland Council agreed to halt works that were scheduled to start in February at Chamberlain Park.

The Council was to commence stage two of its $22m five-part masterplan but agreed to hold off after Save Chamberlain Park (SCP) filed Judicial Review (JR) proceedings against Council in the High Court in Auckland.

A court date has been set for 7 June to hear the JR with a decision expected before 1 October 2019.

The JR action - filed by SCP in conjunction with the men’s and women’s golf clubs and on behalf of 13,000 plus pledged supporters - was a last resort after the Council prevented the Auckland public from having a say on the future of the park by granting itself a non-notified Resource Consent.

SCP welcomed the latest development. “With Council elections now 10 months away, it means we can also properly seek public attitudes to the Council’s $22m project to redevelop this important and popular golfing asset that includes reducing it to nine holes. We also plan to use this time to discuss our alternative plans that allow for increased amenity usage and environment improvements at the park that can be funded through keeping the full 18 hole golf course intact. We want to engage with Council to see if we can find a sensible way forward.”

Latest figures released by Council staff show that usage at the park in the first four months of this year is up an astonishing 45%. Revenue is also believed to be up by a similar amount. Had work commenced in February 2019 Chamberlain Park would have been reduced to a 14-hole golf course 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 than it currently is. This would more than likely have an impact on future usage and revenue particularly as the Council goal is for Chamberlain Park to be a nine hole course.

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 links to ethnic communities – with Maori and Pacifika making up around 30% of the users.

Part of the Council’s stage two masterplan involves the Council putting a playground on the 15th fairway – a hole that the great NZ golfer Frank Nobilo once described as the best in Auckland. Interestingly this new proposed playground does not meet the Council’s own specifications. Incredibly, this playground replaces another existing one nearby (Rawalpindi Reserve) that does not impact the course and fits Council guidelines.

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