Residents push for greater use of Savage Reserve in Palmerston North

Judith Lacy is editor of the Manawatū Guardian·Manawatu Guardian·

19 Dec, 2022 04:59 AM4 mins to read

Anna Goodall and Dave Mollard are part of the team talking to the community about reviving and expanding the uses of Savage Reserve. Photo / Judith Lacy

As one of the earliest state housing areas in the country, Savage Crescent was designed as a garden suburb.

Now residents and supporters are wanting to revive community interest in Savage Reserve, at the heart of the West End heritage area.

The project is being spearheaded by Anna Goodall, whose house overlooks the reserve.

She has set up a Friends of Savage Park Facebook group and, with Manawatū Food Action Network staffer Dave Mollard, organised some community meetings.

A West End resident of two years, Goodall has grown increasingly frustrated at how unused the space is except for dog walkers. She watches as the grass is mown every two weeks, thinking it is a waste of money.

The new playground is well-used but she would love to see community games and barbecues held at the reserve.

Goodall established the popular Palmerston North Women’s Social Club and now runs a friendship group for women. Through these groups, she has become aware of how many lonely people there are in Palmerston North, in particular, how many single people there are.

Activities like community gardens are a way for people to meet other people, she says, and with any luck an older single person will connect with a young family.

She believes communities can be brought together and in doing so make all aspects of life better and safer.

Dave Mollard is kai security project manager at Manawatū Food Action Network. He is keen to help establish a community garden at the reserve if that is what the community wants.

The project is at the engagement stage and 30-plus people have attended the two meetings held so far.

The city council has created a robust guide for the development of community gardens, which Mollard says he can help the Savage Crescent community work through.

Ideas include planting native trees to alleviate boggy conditions and to attract native birds, fruit trees to build food resilience, rongoā medicinal plants, and raised beds suitable for disabled access along the existing path.

The city council considers Savage Reserve to still be a sports ground but Mollard believes residents can have their cake and eat it too, with planting in non-playing areas.

When he was a child, he played football for Riverside Club at the reserve.

Mollard is a kaitiaki of Awapuni Community Gardens. There, he says, Māori, Pasifika, and former refugees work side by side. They might only have growing their own food in common, but that is enough to start a conversation, he says.

This Savage Crescent Housing Plan shows the reserve is at the heart of the area.

Community gardens have lots of positives such as helping with food resilience and developing community connections.

Food resilience is on a spectrum that starts with hunger, then moves to food insecurity - when people are stressed as they don’t have enough food - through to food security, which is when people have enough not to have to stress too much about it.

Then comes food resilience, which is having enough food to be able to deal with a crisis - an unexpected bill, or having an access road cut off, Mollard says.

Food sovereignty is the ultimate goal. People have the knowledge required to make informed decisions and are in complete control over the food they eat.

A brochure compiled by Dorothy Pilkington says the Savage Crescent housing area represents the best of the first Labour Government’s criteria for a garden suburb state housing subdivision.

Savage Crescent is centred around the reserve and access to it from the maximum number of houses in the subdivision was a major consideration, Pilkington writes.