Improving our parks for sporting use

From City Scene, published on 18 November, 2007

Supporting sport - Resanding eastern fields at Victoria Park (above) to improve drainage, and proposed lighting for sports fields at Cox's Bay Reserve (below), are part of the council's ongoing efforts to improve parks for sportspeople.

St Heliers boardwalk - Work is currently under way on a boardwalk along the St Heliers Bay foreshore (below), from Cliff Road to the new western headland. The project is due to be completed by Christmas and will allow people to readily enjoy great views of the harbour and Rangitoto.

Sports teams in Auckland city are well served by the council's 180ha of sports fields. Specialist green keepers are employed to ensure these fields provide the best possible playing surface for a variety of sports.

The council is currently upgrading Victoria Park's eastern sports fields to improve drainage - following the successful resanding of the park's western sports fields. The council's parks services manager, Mark Bowater, says the work will deliver a much-improved playing surface. "There will be some changes to regular sports fixtures during the works," he says, "but the clubs affected have been very flexible in agreeing to a short term loss for a long term gain." The eastern sports fields will be closed during summer while the work is completed and reopen for winter use next year.

The council also provides other facilities to help sports clubs, including lighting, changing rooms and pavilions. An example of this is the council's plans to upgrade sports field lighting at Cox's Bay Reserve. The work will see the six existing lights removed, and replaced with six new, tall, directional lights. These will reduce light spill for neighbouring properties and provide better conditions for night-time training.