NOTE The text that follows this page represents the written content of the Draft Parks and Open Spaces Strategy. The final document released for consultation may differ somewhat in appearance and physical layout to what is presented below e.g. it is likely to be laid out in landscape orientation to enable maps and diagrams to be larger, some graphic elements may move to fit the page layout better, and additional imagery may be added. Except for the following, the main/body text content will remain unchanged from that approved by Council: • The addition of Te Reo Māori headings and sub-headings. At the time that the Agenda closed, all relevant translations were not yet available. • Adding document control information e.g. reference number, version, date etc. • Adding of captions and/or credits to photographs or other images Rautaki mō ngā Papa Rēhia me ngā Wāhi Wātea Parks and Open Spaces Strategy Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................... 3 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 6 2. PARKS AND OPEN SPACES ........................................................................................ 7 2.1 What do we mean by ‘Parks and Open Spaces’? ................................................... 7 2.2 Why are Parks and Open Spaces important? ......................................................... 7 2.3 What we currently provide ....................................................................................... 8 2.4 Other providers ..................................................................................................... 10 3. THE PURPOSE OF THE STRATEGY ......................................................................... 11 4. COUNCIL’S ROLE ....................................................................................................... 12 5. TANGATA WHENUA ................................................................................................... 13 6. CONTEXT .................................................................................................................... 13 6.1 Legislation ............................................................................................................ 13 6.2 National and Regional Strategies, Policies, Plans, & Programmes ....................... 14 6.3 Links with other Council strategies, policies & plans ............................................. 14 6.3.1 Long Term Plan ............................................................................................. 15 6.3.2 Asset Management Plan ................................................................................ 15 6.3.3 Reserve Management Plans .......................................................................... 16 6.3.4 District Plan ................................................................................................... 16 6.3.5 Bylaws ........................................................................................................... 17 6.4 How we use it ....................................................................................................... 17 7. HOW WE DEVELOPED THE STRATEGY ................................................................... 18 8. CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES ............................................................................ 19 8.1 An aging population .............................................................................................. 19 8.2 Sport and recreation trends ................................................................................... 21 8.3 Social trends ......................................................................................................... 22 8.4 Tourism trends ...................................................................................................... 22 8.5 Environmental trends ............................................................................................ 22 8.6 Working with others .............................................................................................. 23 8.6.1 Tangata Whenua ........................................................................................... 23 8.6.2 Volunteers ..................................................................................................... 26 8.6.3 Other agencies .............................................................................................. 27 8.6.4 Private entities ............................................................................................... 28 8.7 Provision equity .................................................................................................... 29 8.7.1 One district, three towns ................................................................................ 29 8.7.2 Historical legacies .......................................................................................... 29 8.7.3 Geographic factors ........................................................................................ 29 8.8 Sub-optimal spaces .............................................................................................. 29 8.9 Utilisation .............................................................................................................. 30 8.10 Play value ............................................................................................................. 30 8.11 Accessibility .......................................................................................................... 30 8.12 Connectivity .......................................................................................................... 32 8.13 Compliance ........................................................................................................... 32 8.14 Community expectations ....................................................................................... 33 8.15 Aging assets ......................................................................................................... 34 8.16 Natural Disasters .................................................................................................. 35 8.17 Pandemics ............................................................................................................ 35 9. VISION ........................................................................................................................ 36 10. PRINCIPLES ............................................................................................................ 38 11. STRATEGIC GOALS ................................................................................................ 39 12. STRATEGIC APPROACHES & PLACE-BASED STRATEGIES ............................... 42 12.1 District ................................................................................................................... 42 12.2 Matamata .............................................................................................................. 66 12.3 Morrinsville ........................................................................................................... 72 12.4 Te Aroha ............................................................................................................... 78 12.5 Rural Settlements ................................................................................................. 88 12.6 Rural Areas ........................................................................................................... 92 13. ACTION PLAN ......................................................................................................... 92 14. MONITORING & REVIEW ........................................................................................ 93 15. AMENDMENTS & UPDATES ................................................................................... 93 16. APPENDICES .......................................................................................................... 93 -2- EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Our Vision Our Strategy in a nutshell -3- Guiding Principles -4- Purpose of the Strategy The Parks and Open Spaces Strategy sets a long-term vision for our parks and open spaces network. It guides decision-making about the provision, development and management of parks and open spaces, to ensure we have the right parks and open spaces, in the right locations, managed in the right way, to meet the needs of our communities The Parks and Open Spaces Strategy guides and informs the way we do things. Over the next 30 years we plan to work on: • Providing the right parks and open spaces in the right places • Better connections between parks and open spaces • Improving our current parks and open spaces • Improving our current playgrounds and providing more where needed • Providing a broad range of tracks and trails for different abilities • Ensuring our town centres are attractive and vibrant • Improving our working relationships with Tangata Whenua • Working smarter with other agencies and volunteer groups • Telling our local stories better at our parks • Looking after our natural areas better Chapters 10 to 13 explain in more detail how we plan to do this. While it does identify potential projects and programmes as means to achieve our goals it is not intended to be a detailed project plan or development plan. -5- 1. INTRODUCTION In 2013 we adopted our first Open Spaces Strategy after consultation with our community.