Plan for park is no game

A themed playground for local kids sounds like a good idea, but it's not fun for some, reports Debrin Foxcroft
If the folks on Farm Cove's Bramley Drive don't want a game of snakes and ladders, then how about giving the people around Fisher Drive a turn? Residents on Bramley Drive are fighting attempts to build a "snakes and ladders" themed playground in their neighbourhood. Their homes face out onto Tamaki River and it's a $2 million dollar view they are fighting to keep unmarred by a colourful jumble of play equipment. Their battle is made all the more frustrating by the fact that there is another site nearby that would be great for a playground. Residents actually want it, but the local council doesn't want to build it there. In November 2007, Manukau City Council proposed building a children's playground in the reserve in Bramley Drive. The consultation process is now winding up and a decision is expected at the Pakuranga Community Board meeting on July 14. With a snakes and ladders theme, the park was intended to "give something to kids where they can create their own stories". Since then, it's been one bad news story after the other. Over the past seven months some residents have proposed other sites, offering up a more central alternative to Bramley Drive. Sandra Farrell tried to get a playground in the area 36 years ago when she had small children. Now she has grandchildren and still hopes for somewhere they can play. "I just think anywhere you have children out extending their ideas, using their imaginations is great. I appreciate everyone's views, but I don't understand them." Mrs Farrell does, though, have an alternative site in mind. She suggests a playground in the area near what will soon be called Farm Cove Village. Terry and Greg Large are father-and-son developers who bought a Bramley Drive property to develop into apartments. They were horrified to find out that the council intended to build a playground that would change their greatest asset, the view. Greg is now looking at his legal options. "I am horrified, to be perfectly honest," he says. "I can't see how the council can build something like they are proposing so close to a neighbouring property." Mr Large says that one of the reasons they bought this property to develop was the demographics of the community, one he says is in the 55-plus range. "It's the wrong demographic for a playground," he says. Joyce Gurney, a real estate agent in the area with long ties to the Farm Cove community, is interested in seeing a playground developed for the East Auckland suburb, but she agrees with Mr Large that this is not the right place for it. "I have been talking to a lot of people and I just can't understand people giving up their privacy and view for the playground," she says. "I feel its detrimental to people's property value." But the council officers have decided that Bramley Drive is the best location for the playground. Johan Ferreira, manager of parks development, says: "This is not the standard, off-the-shelf kind of playground." But with so much contention, it may be something that never leaves the drawing board.