Kaitoke Park visitors on the swinging bridge
The WRS recognises that quality open space is a fundamental requirement of world class cities and regions.
By having great parks, well connected walking tracks and high quality natural areas close to our doorstep, the region will be better placed to ensure its success as an attractive and sustainable region while meeting the needs of the community and visitors.
WHO’S INVOLVED?
The Open Space Working Group comprises representatives from each of the region’s councils, Greater Wellington Regional Council, Department of Conservation, Queen Elizabeth II Trust, and iwi representation. The working group has been led by the WRS Office.
WHAT’S HAPPENED?
The Wellington Region Open Space Strategy and Action Plan was developed by the key open space providers across the Wellington region and approved by the WRS Committee in October 2009.
The development of the Strategy and Action Plan involved developing a vision for open space to 2025 which will guide the future provision and management of open space in the region.
The main outcomes of the Wellington Region Open Space Strategy are:
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There is a coordinated approach for the development, management and protection of open space across the Wellington region;
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There is collaboration across provider and partner organisations so that resources and solutions are shared and exchanged;
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Opportunities and mechanisms to enhance the regional network are identified across the provider organisations;
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There are improved outcomes and greater efficiencies across the regions’ open space providers;
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There is consistent spatial data collection and management across the region; &
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Members of the public are well informed about the Wellington regional open space network.
The strategy is being implemented through voluntary participation of the open space provider organisations across the region. A three year action plan (2009-2012) was developed to identify actions for open space providers.
As a result of the action plan, a workshop of open space providers/managers was held in February to identify the priority workstreams for 2010 which would benefit from being handled at a regional level with TA’s working together on regional solutions. These workstreams are:
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Biodiversity: Currently if the public wish to learn about our region’s sites/areas of high biodiversity value, they have to visit the various websites of the different providers or read the relevant literature. This sub-group, having identified the top 50 biodiversity sites in the region (those with high biodiversity value and good access), is establishing a regional portal for this information.
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Walking tracks information portal: A regional portal of recreational information for walking tracks is being investigated for the public to access information.
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Motorised access and conflicting uses in open spaces: The sub-group has identified the major issues in the region and developed a stocktake of existing tracks available to motorised users. The group has also developed a stocktake of regional rules, with a view to potentially aligning them and looking at establishing common solutions and consistent approaches to managing motorised recreation across the region. The group will look to explore ways of working with users in the region to arrive at solutions, and will also look at education of users and common approaches to management of the areas.
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Sports fields: This sub-group is exploring the quality of turfs in the region, the expectations around turf quality and the availability of codes. There are gaps across the region in what is provided and this workstream will look at how we can address these issues. The group has met with the Regional Sportsfields Managers Group to ensure there is no duplication of work programmes.
An Open Spaces Information Hub has been established. This hub provides information about and links to events and conferences, along with other websites and documents which provide additional information and resources on open space issues and parks management.
An email forum has been established which includes around 50 practitioners from across the region. As part of this forum, quarterly newsletters are sent out to members. These newsletters are also available on the Open Spaces Information Hub.
FORWARD WORK PLAN
The Wellington Regional Open Spaces Strategy and Action Plan will continue to be implemented through voluntary participation of the partner organisations named above. Other actions in the action plan will be started with a view to completing. The Action Plan ios currently being reviewed.
