A group of enthusiastic community-minded people with a vision for the future have rallied together to try to stave off the sale of surplus land at Fairfield College to a developer.
The Fairfield Project hopes to convince the Ministry of Education to retain the land and lend its support to the construction of an innovation education centre that will champion science and ecology. And when I say they are asking for support, they're wanting the ministry's support in principle. They aren't asking for a hand-out - they believe they will be able to tap into philanthropic sources to fund the capital costs of the project.
The proposed centre would not only offer an educational facility, it would also tap into the rich biodiversity of the adjacent Kukutaruhe gully system so that people of all ages could help restore it and learn about it.
That's in a similar vein to Waiwhakareke Natural Heritage Park. A while back I wrote an opinion piece about Hamilton City councillor Garry Mallett's proposal to sell off a 5ha block of land adjacent to the 60ha heritage park that thousands of volunteers have spent years restoring and will continue to do so.
The 5ha block was originally destined to be an eco-friendly subdivision. The council has the option to add the 5ha on to the existing 60ha.