$228,000 facelift for city park

One of Tauranga's premier parks is getting a $228,000 facelift with work about to begin on a new entrance, wider access road and sealed parking areas.
The upgrade to Yatton Park, home to some of the largest tree specimens of their kind in New Zealand, comes 45 years after the original entranceway was built.
Work is scheduled to begin within the next three weeks.
The current red brick entrance off Fraser St - providing the only vehicle access to the park - was built in 1963 by the Bay of Plenty Floral Festival Society with the words Yatton and Park in wrought iron on either side of the single-lane drive.
The upgrade will include a new entrance and widening of the drive to accommodate two lanes of traffic while about 20 tarsealed parking spaces will replace the dusty gravel areas currently used for parking. Overflow areas will be available for events.
The kerb and channel along the drive will also discourage motorists from parking on the roots of historic trees, none of which will be affected by the project.
The park's name will also be shifted to one side of the entrance so both words are visible to motorists travelling in either direction on Fraser St.
Tauranga City Council project manager Jake Crockford said, weather permitting, work was expected to be finished within eight weeks by Tauranga company Higgins Contractors.
He was yet to receive the contractor's traffic management plan which would outline whether vehicle entrance to the park would be blocked at any stage during construction.
"Maybe at times it will have to be closed but it's too early to say," he said. The upgrade was budgeted for the council's 10-year plan and was part of the Yatton Park Management Plan.
Last year, a new toilet block was erected near the main entrance to the park and Mr Crockford said an upgrade of the walking tracks linking to the Waimapu Estuary walkway were planned for the next financial year.
Mr Crockford said he had tried to make contact with former members of the BOP Floral Festival Society to discuss placement of the original cast iron plaque on the new entranceway but had not succeeded.
* If you were a member of this group or know someone who was, you can contact Mr Crockford on 577 7000.