Maintain parks Resident

Masterton man Robin Carlyon wants the council to focus on maintaining existing park facilities rather than opening new ones.

Mr Carlyon gave his submission in a Masterton District Council draft annual plan hearing yesterday.

"Don't start any new things in your parks until you're actually maintaining what you have got," Mr Carlyon said.

He said places like Henley Lake were lacking management of basic things and that there are sometimes large puddles blocking paths around the lake.

"Some of the paths are quite dangerous. It's these sorts of things that need to be maintained.

"We aren't talking about little puddles we're talking about more than that," he said.

In his written submission Mr Carlyon wrote that he objected to anything council does in the parks without public having the right to comment.

"Unless the public is allowed the right of a comment before major tasks are going to happen and comments can be made with knowledge of details of what may happen then the dictatorial Masterton District Council will continue to upset users," he wrote.

He suggested a monthly parks newsletter to better inform the public. "Write your documents so they can be understood by the public who have no institutional knowledge," he said.

Councillor Lyn Patterson said over maintenance of things such a walking paths could result in the loss of the concept itself.

She said: "[We] need to be careful or these walking paths are going to end up being concrete paths.

"What we'll end up with is concrete slabs everywhere ..."