Papakura District Council secures Hingaia Recreation Land

In one of its final major “legacy” projects, Papakura District Council has agreed to purchase land on the Hingaia Peninsula to ensure that the area’s growing population has ample open space for recreational use.

The agreement covers the purchase of 4.28 hectares (42,800 square metres) of farm land for conversion to recreation uses. The land, which is alongside the site of Hingaia’s proposed new primary school, was purchased for $4.425 million. It will be reclassified as a recreation reserve.

Papakura District Council Chief Executive Theresa Stratton says the land’s proximity to the proposed new primary school creates a community hub and – subject to agreement with the new school’s board of trustees – provides opportunities for shared use of council and school land.

“This is an exciting first step toward providing open space and recreational areas for the growing community at Hingaia. Creating the space itself will take some time but the end result will be a fantastic area for the use of the people of the district.”

The site identified at 205 Hingaia Road is seen as well suited to its proposed new use. It was selected using criteria developed in the Papakura Open Space Strategy in 2003, and its suitability confirmed through a subsequent needs analysis.

“This new acquisition fits with the overall plan for development of the Hingaia Peninsula and our intention to secure open space for the new Hingaia community was signalled in recent planning for the area.”

Funding for the purchase was allocated in Progress Papakura, the 2009-2019 Long-Term Council Community Plan and it has been endorsed by the Auckland Transition Authority.

With the purchase confirmed, the next step will be to develop a reserve management plan in consultation with the Papakura community. This will take place in 2012 and development of the fields is expected to start in 2015.