Council survey on Whanganui parks, reserves and pathways

Whanganui residents are invited to provide feedback on local parks, reserves and walkways. Photo / Bevan Conley

Whanganui District Council is reviewing its parks and open spaces strategy and wants to know how the community uses parks, reserves and walkways.

Public input can be provided via an online survey. It will form part of early consultation work to help the council update its strategy for how the public spaces are managed and developed.

Council policy adviser Sandy Lee said there were more than 300 parks and reserves in the district, some of which were privately owned or were part of the Department of Conservation's portfolio.

"The current parks and open spaces strategy was developed in 2007 to cover a 20-year period," Lee said.

"Since the strategy was developed we have seen significant growth and demographic change in Whanganui.

"It is now necessary for the strategy to be updated so that it is informed by the current issues and interests of the community as well as the collective challenges we presently face."

The information gathered during this pre-consultation work will help the council to identify and refine some of the key issues.

Lee said the council was also speaking with other organisations such as Sport Whanganui, Safer Whanganui, the Positive Ageing Forum, Whanganui Police, Whanganui District Health Board, youth and other interest groups.

"We would like to know what the experiences, interests and needs of the community are in relation to parks, reserves and connecting pathways, including the types of activities that residents undertake in these spaces.

"This will help us shape the direction and vision for these important public spaces in our district."

The survey will take about 10-15 minutes to complete and includes questions about how often residents use parks, reserves and pathways, what activities they use them for, how safe they feel using them, and whether the facilities, like playgrounds, meet the needs of users.

It is expected public consultation on the draft strategy will begin near the end of the year with an updated strategy adopted in early 2022.

Alongside this consultation, Sport Whanganui will conduct a review into the use of sporting facilities at Springvale Park, beginning with consultation with current stakeholders.

The council survey is available at whanganui.govt.nz. It closes on Friday, July 30.

For more information contact Sandy Lee at sandy.lee@whanganui.govt.nz