Local board says no to Tomarata park plan

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Plans to make three popular freshwater lakes part of Te Ārai Regional Park have been rejected by the Rodney Local Board. Auckland Council recommended that the Ngāroto Lakes reserves – Tomarata, Slipper and Spectacle Lakes – be moved out of local board management to council’s by adding them to its regional park network. However, despite Rodney initiating the original investigation process last May and council staff finding that the lakes would be ideal for the switch, members voted to keep the reserves as local parks under their governance, at their monthly meeting in Warkworth on July 19.

The potential about-turn first arose at a closed workshop in June, when several members raised concerns from local residents over whether boating, jet skiing and dog walking would be allowed to continue under regional park rules. At the meeting, council staff said that under regional park legislation, such activities wouldn’t necessarily be banned and if there were any proposed changes, they would need to be publicly consulted on.

Several members were also concerned that council’s governing body and regional parks department wouldn’t have a grasp of the history of the lakes and their place in the local community.

“They don’t have the regional knowledge,” Tim Holdgate said. “Maybe regional parks would be a little more restrictive.”

Ivan Wagstaff pointed out that in the draft regional parks management plan, there was a stated desire to remove dog access and boats in future, something which Michelle Carmichael suggested may be better handled by the local board than council.

“We need to look at a better managed approach, rather than a banning approach,” she said. “We can probably achieve both.” Wellsford member Colin Smith said this was a good example of allowing the local community to retain more control of its assets and facilities.

However, Te Ārai resident Mike Harris was bemused by the move when he spoke during the public forum, prior to the meeting.

“It doesn’t make sense. I thought it was a fait accompli,” he said. “Tomarata Lakes should be included in the regional park, it shares a common boundary with these reserves. Regional parks do a good job. They’re maintained to a very high standard and it would be a better use of maintenance resources. I don’t know if local authorities are able to input to same standard and offer the same oversight.”