A draft District Reserve Management Plan has been approved for community consultation by the Whakatāne District Council’s Projects and Services Committee.
The final management plan will set the policy direction for all Whakatāne District reserves, including those with specific, standalone management plans. The public submissions period for the draft plan opens on Tuesday, 24 October and will close on 22 December 2017. Any submissions will then be heard by the Council in February, with formal adoption of the amended final plan by March 2018.
Community Services General manager Mike Naude says the Reserves Act 1977 requires the Council to prepare reserves management plans for all gazetted reserves in the Whakatāne District, setting out the general intentions for their use, development, maintenance, protection and preservation.
“Guidance on the common issues, objectives and policies for all reserves is critical to ensuring consistency in reserve planning and management, and the adoption of the District Reserve Management Plan will enable staff to make informed and efficient operational decisions,” he says. “The Council also has individual management plans for a number of reserves where there are issues or opportunities that require specific use, management or protection philosophies. Rex Morpeth Park, Awatapu Lagoon, Sullivan Lake and the Western Whakatāne Coastal Reserve are good examples. Those plans also have a 10-year cycle, and most are due for renewal.”
Mr Naude adds that the draft plan will also provide guidance on the future management of all reserve parcels, either vested or acquired, throughout the District.
The development of the draft plan followed a best-practice approach, which has seen new reserve categories adapted from the NZ Recreation Association’s ‘Parks Categories and Levels of Service’. These aim to capture the primary purpose of all reserve lands and set out the status of most areas which do not have a current designation.
The full draft District Reserve Management Plan and a summary document will be available for perusal or downloading on this website, and hard copies will also be available at Council offices and District Libraries. Submissions can be made online via the Council website, emailed, delivered to Council offices or libraries, or mailed to the Whakatāne District Council, Private Bag 1002, Whakatāne.