Auckland City Council
Auckland City's Parks and Recreation Committee supports the rezoning of 84 - 150 Morrin Road, Mt Wellington to assist
the Auckland Netball Association in developing netball courts and club facilities on the site.
The Morrin Road site currently has a business zoning under the District Plan. The committee will recommend a change to
the appropriate land activity rule that will permit the area to be developed as a sports park. The Auckland Cricket
Association is also interested in this site.
The Auckland Netball Association now leases the 14 courts at Windmill Road Reserve, where the disadvantages include
local peoples' objection to the noise of the speaker system, inadequate parking and an inadequate number of courts. The
Association estimates that 5,000 people are involved in Saturday netball in winter, 3,000 of them playing at Windmill
Road Reserve. If it relocated to the Morrin Road site, the Association would develop 24 courts.
Parks and Recreation Committee chairperson Cr Phil Raffils says the council has recognised the need for extra netball
courts in Auckland City, and $965,000 has already been indicated in 2001/2002 in the council's long term financial
strategy to develop them.
"The Morrin Road site appears to be ideal for this sort of development, " he said.
The council already faces costs of around $1.3 million for developing the site as an open space reserve. It has been
used as a landfill area in the past and presents a liability to the council in its current state.
"At some stage we will be faced with meeting our Resource Management obligations in respect of this contaminated site.
Developing the land for reserve purposes gives us an opportunity to address the issue in a positive, constructive way
for the benefit of the community."
The committee's recommendations include giving the project priority as a budget item in next year's annual plan.