Park under threat

BY STEPHEN FORBES

Waterfront parkland at Te Atatu Peninsula could disappear under a sea of apartments, warns mayor Bob Harvey.

The 80 hectare Harbourview Orangihina reserve is currently the subject of legal proceedings that are unlikely to be resolved before the new supercity council is elected next October.

Descendants of those who owned various part of the site during the 1950s want their old properties back.

They say the land – acquired under the Public Works Act by the Auckland Harbour Board but never used for an intended deep water port, is rightfully theirs.

The property eventually came into council ownership in 1989 and the claimants say it should have been offered to them first.

The case is now before the courts and development of the property as a people’s park is on hold.

Compensation is another possible legal outcome though Mr Harvey doubts the new council will be happy to pay if the court rules in the claimants’ favour.

"The Te Atatu land will probably be sold if the case comes out of legal limbo," he says.

"I think we might be looking at the People’s Apartments instead of the People’s Park."

And that’s not his only concern.

Mr Harvey says any council projects that haven’t been signed off by next April are unlikely to go ahead under the new administration.

Plans under threat include an upgrade of the Wilsher Village pensioner units, construction of a marae at Te Atatu, and secondary developments around the existing New Lynn transport project.

"You can kiss it goodbye if it isn’t finished and locked in by Easter," Mr Harvey says.

"If they haven’t been given the green light the odds on them being completed or even started aren’t good.

"I think the support for projects the Waitakere City Council isn’t able to complete will be pulled."

Mr Harvey says the council has to realise it has less than 12 months until it closes shop for good.

The Auckland Transition Agency is overseeing the formation of the new supercity council.

Neither the agency or Local Government Minister Rodney Hide will comment.

- © Fairfax NZ News