Section 6: Council Activities

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Parks

Responsibility

Mark Bruhn (Manager Parks)

Description of service

Parks plan, manage and maintain a diverse and extensive range of community assets, including public open spaces for aesthetic, passive and active uses, community halls, public cemeteries, a regional crematorium, motor camps, public toilets, public artworks and heritage features.

New Plymouth District has a reputation for the quality of its outdoor open spaces. The importance of these facilities lies in their contribution to the quality of life in the district.

Walkways, playgrounds and other open spaces provide the district’s residents and visitors with important unstructured leisure opportunities.

Scale of service

This describes the size and scope of the activity.

7kms of coastal walkway (with work in progress to extend to 11kms).
1,380ha of park land, including Pukekura Park.
66km of walkways.
23 sports parks.
48 playgrounds.
One zoo.
34 community halls and centres.
Six camping grounds.
Nine operational cemeteries and one crematorium.
51 public toilet blocks.
Eight skate parks.
Public artworks, monuments and heritage items.

Rationale for activity

Local government is the primary provider of public open space for recreational and cultural activities in communities. These facilities have been developed over time in response to community aspirations, needs and demands.

The district’s Parks assets ensure the whole community has opportunities to access a range of facilities and public open spaces for physical activities, leisure, recreation or simply for the enjoyment of their intrinsic values.

Pursuant to the powers given to the Council by the Reserves Act 1977, natural environments, including wetlands and bush areas, can be protected by the mechanism of public reserves and covenants.

Tourism is an important driver of the district’s economy and the Parks service provides motor camps that attract visitors and local residents to spend their holidays in attractive settings. These, together with the sports parks providing for organised physical activities contribute to the wide range of facilities the Parks service provides for community enjoyment.

The parks service also contributes to the environmental well-being of the community through the maintenance and beautification of the district’s streetscapes, including suburban and central business areas thus providing attractive locations for businesses while at the same time contributing the quality of life of local residents and also the positive experience of visitors.

Communities are supported through the provision and maintenance of community halls. The Parks service supports and assists the community halls to function effectively thus contributing significantly to the social well-being of the various community groups and volunteers.

The Parks service manages public cemeteries within the district and also the Taranaki Crematorium.

The Parks service is also responsible for the appropriate maintenance of art, monuments and other heritage items in public places in the district.Return to top

Contribution to Community Outcomes

Parks primarily contributes to the achievement of the district’s Prosperous and Vibrant Community Outcomes. Parks contributes by enhancing the aesthetic quality of the environment and providing a diverse range of quality recreation and leisure experiences and activities. This supports the promotion of growth in the district. Parks also makes a contribution to the Secure and Healthy and Sustainable Community Outcomes.

Prosperous

A district that boasts a sustainable, resilient and innovative economy that prospers within the natural and social environment.

P1 Taranaki is an attractive place to work, do business and to visit.

Vibrant

A district that provides high-quality and diverse cultural and recreational experiences, where independence and creativity are encouraged.

V1 People have access to, and are encouraged to participate in, a wide range of high-quality recreational, leisure, art and cultural activities.

V2 The region has high-quality public amenities and facilities.

V4 All people have access to local services and facilities.

V5 There is safe, convenient and affordable access to the natural environment and public access to the region’s coastal marine area, lakes and rivers is maintained and where practical enhanced.

Negative impacts on community well-being

The facilities managed by parks generally make a positive contribution to community well-being. From time to time negative effects do arise and can include effects from such matters as traffic generation, provision of parking and noise. These are managed to comply with the regulatory requirements of District Plan rules and/or the conditions of approved resource consents.

Facing the challenges – assumptions and risks

Population growth and changes to the population composition have implications for the provision of, and capacity of, Parks assets. Given the forecast modest population growth of 0.4 per cent per year over 2009-2019, it is considered that the Parks public open space assets (for both active and passive recreation) generally have sufficient capacity to meet any increased demand out to 2012. This particularly applies to facilities for organised sport. However, the adequacy of the district’s open space is being reviewed, as part of the District Open Space Strategy to be completed by 2010 in consultation with the community and taking into account the Sport Taranaki Regional Sports and Recreation Strategy.

Recent studies into recreation trends show that the community, with an increasing proportion of ageing but increasingly active persons, is moving towards more unstructured recreational activities such as walking and cycling. For the purposes of this Community Plan it is assumed that this trend will continue.

The most significant challenge for Parks is to continue to maintain and develop its assets at the present quality and levels of service in order that increasing community expectations can continue to be satisfied.Return to top

Assumptions

The community will continue to expect the high level of amenity and functionality currently delivered by Parks assets.

Some initiatives for new facilities, such as the Taranaki Velodrome project and Waitara gym sports facility, are community-led projects which the Parks activity supports in partnership through the provision of land.

Funding levels will be maintained to enable Parks to deliver the levels of service currently enjoyed by the community.

Risks

Parks assets are subject to various risks in the ordinary course of business. The most significant of these are as follows:

Brooklands Zoo may be subject to increasing levels of Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry compliance relating to animal welfare; this will have implications for zoo operating costs and potential additional capital expenditure.
The proposal by the private sector to establish a cremator in Taranaki may adversely affect the financial viability of the Council’s crematorium through a reduction in the demand for services but without a corresponding reduction in operating costs (including depreciation).
Having regard to climate change predictions, extreme weather events may result in more frequent damage to Council administered public open space, especially adjoining the foreshore, and in particular, the Coastal Walkway and the associated foreshore protection works.
Adequate future available capacity of the district’s cemeteries.
The camping ground review is currently under way and significant investment is required to meet regulations and customer expectations.
The level of funding allocated to Parks activities is determined by the Council

Managing risks

Parks will maintain close liaison with Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry as a means of monitoring any changes to animal welfare compliance requirements.
Parks will look to maintain and operate the Taranaki Crematorium at standards equal to or better than the private sector so as to minimise the effects of competition and will activity monitor regional cremation trends.
Increased monitoring, inspection and maintenance procedures will be implemented so as to ensure Parks can respond appropriately and in a timely fashion in the event of storm damage to Parks assets in the vicinity of the foreshore.
A new cemetery to serve New Plymouth District will be developed to be operational by 2012.
Funding for upgrades to campground facilities is included in this Community Plan but it is also assumed that private investment is forthcoming with alternative solutions being closure of some campgrounds.

Levels of service and performance measures

The following levels of service and performance measures outline the objectives we will set and how we will measure our progress.Return to top

Levels of service and performance measures

Asset information

Assets required

The assets that comprise the parks network are as follows:

Managing improved and/or expanded services

The need for expanding or improving parks assets are primarily driven by customer demand and are normally determined by completing a strategy, policy or management plan, all of which are fully consultative processes. Examples of these strategies, policies and management plans to be developed over the next three years are the Open Space Strategy, Pukekura Park Development Plan, Neighbourhood Reserves Management Plan, lake Mangamahoe Management Plan, Playground Strategy, Sports Park Management Plan, Recreation Plan and District Halls Review. It is intended to complete implementation plans for each of these documents when they are complete that outline the full costs (capital and operating) to implement the plans in order to inform future community plans and budget processes.

Prioritisation of these strategies, policies and management plans will be reviewed regularly to ensure that any emerging issues are addressed at the right time.Return to top

Significant new projects that will provide improved or expended services include the provision of a new district wide cemetery, extension of the coastal pathway to Bell Block, increased provision of public toilets and changes to the way camping grounds are currently operated and funded.

This is in addition to asset replacements provided for in the Parks Asset Management Plan which are replaced as either they reach the end of their useful life or customer expectations significantly change making them no longer fit for purpose. Significant renewals identified in the Community Plan include completion of the renewal of the fernery (including upgraded staff facilities), replacement/upgrade of the Bellringer Pavilion, replacement of the lake edge at Pukekura Park and continuation of walkway/pathway surface renewals throughout the district.

Funding

Parks are funded according to the nature of the various sub-activities that make it up. It is not feasible, or desirable, to charge for streetscapes, open spaces, walkways and sports parks when they are not in use and are effectively acting as public open space. These sub-activities are funded from the general rate.

The regional nature of the Taranaki Crematorium means it is unfair to impose all costs on New Plymouth District residents. In order to achieve a fair allocation of costs across the region, it is proposed that the full costs of this service are funded from user charges.

Sports parks, cemeteries and public halls are funded partly through rates and partly through user charges. The rates component is in recognition of the wider benefits and large volunteer efforts that are applied to these facilities. The user charges are to reflect that the specific groups using them benefit more from the activity than those who do not and it is unfair to place all costs on ratepayers.

New or improved physical assets are normally funded via loans in order to spread the costs over the asset’s life. This means that different people using the asset in different time periods all make a contribution to its costs.

Funds for the renewal and replacement of assets come from the activity’s operating revenue and are accumulated to pay for these expenses as needed to maintain the assets ability to continue providing the agreed level of service.

As referred to elsewhere in this plan, significant investment is anticipated from third parties towards the development of the district’s campgrounds.

Managing change

Customer feedback is routinely monitored as part of doing business and where appropriate (i.e. within approved budgets and levels of service) responded to as part of business operations.

Parks assets are managed in accord with a comprehensive long-term Parks Asset Management Plan (PAMP). Asset replacements and renewals across the varying lifecycles of the component assets are attended to within this framework. The PAMP is supported by various working documents including reserves management plans, and the Pukekura Park Management Plan.

Any changes to levels of service are only actioned in accord with council approved strategies, policies and reserve management plans. Invariably these are shaped by customer and community consultation.

Several new major projects committed from earlier years (e.g. new district cemetery, coastal pathway extension) will address identified capacity issues and will be commissioned in the early years of this community plan.

Maintenance, renewal and replacement of assets

Parks assets are diverse with very different life cycles depending on the nature of the asset. The Council’s response to this has been to prepare a comprehensive asset management plan that catalogues all parks assets, their condition and their expected renewal or replacement times.

The majority of the budget, however, is spent on day to day upkeep of grounds and facilities.