It's Auckland's pride and joy - the 75ha Domain. Or is it 70ha? Or 65? No one's exactly sure, and little bits of your park are being nibbled away for apartments, offices ... and who knows what. Jacqueline Smith reports
'THE CITY COUNCIL IS TO be congratulated upon the promptitude with which it decided to retain the parks it holds in trust for the citizens of Auckland, and refused to consider the Hospital Board's proposal for the surrender of the Domain Hill in consideration of the Chinamen's gardens in the hollow. We cannot say that we anticipate that this will be the last attempt made to filch public breathing spaces and recreation grounds, on plausible pretext, but we can confidently say that every such decision confirms the rights of our citizens and brings nearer the day when these improper proposals will be heard no more ...'
William Sholto Douglas was in mellow mood when he took to his typewriter and clattered out his leading article one hundred years ago. On February 28, 1908, the editor of the New Zealand Herald could not have foreseen the giant hospital commandeering the Domain's grassy slopes, concrete poured over streams where the 'lungs' of Auckland met his 'crowded city', apartments growing over the stumps of majestic trees. Nor could Douglas foresee that the citizens of Auckland would still be fighting off attempts to 'filch public breathing spaces'. And losing.
SACHA LIKES tearing around on her bike. Rosa likes wrapping herself around the 'tree with the big roots'. Melania likes the sculpture trail, loves lying on a giant stone egg. Nazca runs up and down the museum steps. Kava prowls Ho Chi Minh trail. Any dog would. The Watson family frolic in the Domain at least twice a week during the school term and every day of the holidays. It's their back yard, holding far too many happy memories to fit in any photo album. The children are the fifth generation of their family to live on Maunsell Ave, on the Parnell edge of the Domain.Their great-grandmother moved into a large house nearby in 1925, when the museum's foundation stone was laid. The girls recite the names of all the sculptures by heart and Nazca has named the weta in the bulging roots of a favourite tree. They have their secret spots and memories. So do thousands of Aucklanders. The Domain is ours to enjoy forever, right? The 75ha of gardens, native bush, expansive playing fields, fabulous climbing trees and the museum, represent everything Aucklanders love about their childhood, city,weekends. But most of us are not aware that the Domain is even older than the city. Governor William Hobson bought it from Ngati Whatua in June 1840 as a garden for the people in a brash young town that wouldn't become 'Auckland' until September. Auckland's crown jewel is protected from Wellington under the Domain Act of 1860. But, somehow - behind Parliament's doors and the wordy sentences of numerous amendments - developments have eaten into cherished parkland. Domain supporters fear a new round of editor Douglas' 'improper proposals' are on the way.
GIANLUCA WATSON, chairman of the council-sponsored Friends of the Domain and father to Sacha, Rosa, Melania and Nazca, can point to hectares shaved from the original boundaries. Some former public land is unaccounted for. Mapping exactly how much would be hard because it's buried in the arcane descriptions of long-gone surveyors' rods, poles, perches and acres. The hospital alone takes 11.7ha. Sharing Watson's concern is Parnell resident and former councillor Richard Simpson. He likens the Domain to a rough stone in the sea, starting as a triangle and slowly rubbed into a circle. He's referring to the land we know as Auckland City Hospital, Carlaw Park, ASB Tennis Centre and apartments beside the railway line. When Hobson bought the Domain its boundaries were streams, though our 1867 map shows a larger area. Waipapa Stream flowed down from what is now Titoki St, along the gully and 10m east of the modern railway line. On the lower boundary, another stream is now Stanley St. Spot the difference on our map. The hospital takes up a fair chunk of the old park. Parnell Lawn Tennis Club, among the oldest in the world, served and volleyed where Holy Trinity Cathedral now stands. Pioneering Bishop Augustus Selwyn always wanted a cathedral there: it wasn't agreed upon until the 1950s.When it was, the club moved to a corner of the Domain that had been home to the United Croquet Club, which quietly passed away in the 1940s. Down on Stanley St, tennis took over its site in the 1950s,developing what chief executive Graham Pearce says was a neglected portion of reclaimed scrubland. Nearby, Auckland Bowling Club has rolled up since 1861, the sport's oldest home in the city. Further along Stanley St, Auckland Hospital Board leased a slice of land for Chinese market gardens. Grandstands and terraces went up in 1916; in 1921, it became Carlaw Park, spiritual home of rugby league. In 2002, the dilapidated league ground was closed and the lease sold to developers McDougall Reidy & Co, which is building offices, a hotel, apartments and cafes. That will open in about a year. Later this year, work is scheduled to begin on a retirement village that, curiously, isn't mentioned on the company's website. Hang on a minute ... doesn't that land belong to 'the people' While we're on the subject, let's take the Link bus up Parnell Rd to the other side of the Domain and back a few years to 1986, when rail was privatised. Apartments sprouted on the Parnell Rd side of the railway ... which is actually the Domain ... the people's park. And the council 'editor Douglas' heroes - gave Domain land to the University of Auckland on which to build halls of residence. Parnell community committee chairman Roger Cole-Baker believes those have now been sold to a private developer; at press time we were unable to confirm this. IN 2006, a developer proposed building apartments on a site at 1 Domain Drive, which would lie above a rail tunnel. Richard Simpson's ears pricked up. He'd been under the impression the land was part of the Domain. After digging around and an exasperating campaign to obtain maps from the council, he found a chunk of land on the Parnell side had been sold and turned into apartments. 'I'm not blaming the developers for having the nous to buy the land back then. I'm blaming the council for not hanging on to it,' he says. The Aucklander's requests for information left the impression that the council does not know how much of the Domain has been annexed from under its nose - nor does it seem to care. We were sent this anonymous statement: 'To find that sort of information would require a full survey of the site to confirm any speculation of the land that's been shaved off it since 1840, and that could only be confirmed if there is accurate documentation of what the extent of the Domain was in 1840.' So, whatever has happened, has happened, shrugs the guardian of the Domain. Rebecca Macky, a Parnell lawyer says if it is true that land has disappeared, and it is her understanding that it has, then it is "appalling that the council has been so cavalier with the land. It shows a lack of stewardship and care." But she has not seen the review of the boundaries which she believes the council is undertaking, and as a lawyer she deals in hard facts. She also raises the point that the council allows heavy traffic volumes through the Domain at the expense of the people for who the park was designed. AND HERE comes the next move: The Domain Amendment Bill is before Parliament's environmental select committee. Submissions closed on January 31.A decision is expected in May. Friends of the Domain is concerned that 21- year leases on the ASB Tennis Centre, which expire in eight years, will be extended to 50-year leases. The tennis centre wants to expand the stadium and wants assurance it can stay for a while. Its CEO, Graham Pearce, says any developments will be within the boundaries. But Mr Watson argues the amendment is of great concern to everyone who loves the Domain. There is a clause allowing sub-letting, he says. 'There is nothing stopping these people from moving out and sub-letting the property to apartment developments,' he says. He and others fear new rules are being rushed through, the wording is loose and submissions were called for while people were on holiday. Mr Watson is concerned by 'ad hoc' developments around the Domain and the lack of an overall plan. He points to Huia Lodge, once a nurses' home on Grafton Rd, sold during the 1990s health reforms. Auckland University recently took a 10-year lease for the 321 apartments and evicted non-student residents. 'Though that wasn't Domain land, it highlights the danger that if part of the Domain is given to the hospital, they can lose it,' he says. But the Friends' greatest concern is that the council is supposed to be the guardian of that land on behalf of the people of Auckland. Mayor John Banks says no more land will be lost if he has a say in it.' We need to be pedantic about keeping the boundaries of the land. We want to preserve the integrity of it because it's a magnificent place,' he says. WILLIAM SHOLTO DOUGLAS tapped his last full-stop and tugged his impressive moustache as he reviewed his editorial. It read: 'For the Council has now established a precedent to which the public can refer with satisfaction whenever it is again suggested that we should deprive ourselves of a portion of our parks'.
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