The Country
  • The Country home
  • Latest news
  • Audio & podcasts
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life
  • Listen on iHeart radio

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Coast & Country News
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Horticulture
  • Animal health
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life

Media

  • Podcasts
  • Video

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whāngarei
  • Dargaville
  • Auckland
  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Hamilton
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Te Kuiti
  • Taumurunui
  • Taupō
  • Gisborne
  • New Plymouth
  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Whanganui
  • Palmerston North
  • Levin
  • Paraparaumu
  • Masterton
  • Wellington
  • Motueka
  • Nelson
  • Blenheim
  • Westport
  • Reefton
  • Kaikōura
  • Greymouth
  • Hokitika
  • Christchurch
  • Ashburton
  • Timaru
  • Wānaka
  • Oamaru
  • Queenstown
  • Dunedin
  • Gore
  • Invercargill

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Premium
Home / The Country

Friends of Frimley Park fear new water reservoir will 'industrialise' Hastings park

By Shannon Johnstone
Hawkes Bay Today·
29 Jul, 2020 06:31 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Friends of Frimley Park spokeswoman Frances Shotter wants the proposed infrastructure to go elsewhere and says the park should be kept for its recreational purpose. Photo / Paul Taylor

Friends of Frimley Park spokeswoman Frances Shotter wants the proposed infrastructure to go elsewhere and says the park should be kept for its recreational purpose. Photo / Paul Taylor

A Hastings lobby group opposed to the construction of a 8000cu m water reservoir in a public park fears the structure will "industrialise" the popular amenity.

Hastings District Council has proposed to build and operate a water treatment and storage facility in Frimley Park, which includes a reservoir 38m in diameter and 9m tall to roof level, with a 6m-high domed roof and a utility building with a 480sq m floor area.

Four bores will also be installed.

It also proposes to remove existing maintenance sheds and reinstate the area as a usable park to offset park space, which will be used by the proposed infrastructure.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The lobby, Friends of Frimley Park, led by spokeswoman Frances Shotter, said it wanted the park to be classified as a recreational reserve.

"Frimley Park belongs to our community, having been gifted to the people of Hastings by Elsie Williams in 1951/52 for use as a public park and for recreation in perpetuity."

Shotter made a submission opposing the proposal and was heard at a commissioner's hearing on July 17.

Council director major capital projects delivery, Graeme Hansen, said treatment and storage facilities such as that proposed at the park "ensure our city has a drinking water supply treated to the highest possible standards, and that there is enough drinking water (resilience of supply) for daily needs and during times of emergency".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
An artist's depiction of what the proposal would look like minus the additional planting and visual mitigation measures which are a condition agreed to by the council. Image / Supplied
An artist's depiction of what the proposal would look like minus the additional planting and visual mitigation measures which are a condition agreed to by the council. Image / Supplied

The proposal is part of the council's drinking water strategy and funding has been allocated under the council's 2018-2028 long-term plan which comes after the Havelock North drinking water contamination crisis in 2016.

Shotter said the group is not opposed to the infrastructure but claims the reservoir should be built in an industrial area.

Discover more

Hastings dog owner selling 'forever home' after bark complaints

29 Jul 09:54 PM

She also said council wanted to classify the park as a local purpose reserve, which she claimed would allow council to "treat it as a place for establishing council utility infrastructure", which would "industrialise" the park and lead to "further destruction of parkland and trees".

Yet council said no decision to classify the park had been made, and that the site was chosen because it's near an existing bore and connections to existing pipe work.

Hansen said it was "likely" that only the part of Frimley Park with the water treatment plant would be classified as local purpose, "with the majority of the park being retained for open space and recreation".

He said any claim of further industrial developments and destruction of parkland is "incorrect and misleading".

An online petition opposing the proposal has gathered about 2900 signatures which Shotter said "clearly demonstrates the high level of community opposition to this industrial project".

A council spokeswoman said at the commissioner's hearing the council's legal counsel argued there were good reasons the petition could not be given any weight.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The council's reply submission document says the petition "contains emotive and factually incorrect statements" such as the claim council did not notify the public.

Community engagement and consultation included public council meetings in 2019, a park open day in 2019, letters to immediately affected residents and residents in the Frimley area.

There is a delivery timeframe of June 2021. The commissioner's decision is expected in the next few weeks.

In September last year, in the midst of a Hastings District mayoral race, details of a multimillion-dollar Water Central Facility in Hastings was leaked to Hawke's Bay Today. That initial concept was abandoned earlier this year.

Council then launched a $25,000 investigation to find the source of the leak, which came up empty handed.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from The Country

The Country

Beekeeper advocacy group comes under pressure

The Country

The Country: Luxon on coalition friction

The Country

Man lost wife and daughter in Waiuku triple-fatal


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from The Country

Beekeeper advocacy group comes under pressure
The Country

Beekeeper advocacy group comes under pressure

Rifts among industry groups, charities and agencies in the beekeeping industry.

16 Jul 03:00 AM
The Country: Luxon on coalition friction
The Country

The Country: Luxon on coalition friction

16 Jul 01:42 AM
Man lost wife and daughter in Waiuku triple-fatal
The Country

Man lost wife and daughter in Waiuku triple-fatal

16 Jul 12:37 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP