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Open Space and Coastal Access |
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Strategy
This page explains:
Go straight to the Open Space and Coastal Access Strategy Issues Discussion Document section What is Open Space? For the purpose of this strategy, ‘open space’ means areas of land or water to which the public has a level of free physical or visual access. This includes ‘green spaces’ such as parks, reserves, transport corridors (footpaths, walking tracks, cycle lanes), urban spaces, streetscapes, greenbelt areas, and blue spaces such as harbour, coast, streams and rivers. Open space can serve a variety of purposes:
The focus of this strategy is primarily on land owned by Council. However, it is recognised that land in other public ownership, such as the Department of Conservation estate, Historic Places Trust and some privately owned open space (such as golf courses) also makes a considerable contribution to an open space network. What is Coastal Access? For the purposes of the Open Space and Coastal Access Strategy the term “Coastal Access” refers to the physical means for the public to reach the foreshore (whether by vehicle or on foot). Why Is Council Preparing the Open Space and Coastal Access Strategy?Council’s Far North Future Plan 2006/2016, which is the Council’s Long Term Council Community Plan prepared under the Local Government Act 2002 that identifies key aims, objectives and priorities for the Far North, as the Council sees them, for the next ten years, identifies as a priority the development of an Open Space Strategy.
The Far North Future Plan sets out in a diagram how Council’s provision of parks and reserves together with the District Plan objectives, policies and methods for reserves work to achieve environmental outcomes. The diagram also illustrates that it is not only Council that has a role to play in relation to open spaces and coastal access, but also that of other agencies, such as Government departments and ministries, the regional council.
Click here to follow a link to the Far North Future Plan 2006/2016 What Will the Strategy Do?The Open Space and Coastal Access Strategy is intended to advance the Council's aim for the environment identified in the Far North Future Plan. The ways in which the Open Space and Coastal Access Strategy will advance this aim includes the following: Council’s Aim for the Environment – Clean & Healthy / Protect natural character of coastline / protect native bush & Wildlife / Sustainable Management 
What Won’t the Strategy Do?The Open Space and Coastal Access Strategy will not provide all of the answers for all of the current and future issues that may exist for open space and coastal access. For example, the Open Space and Coastal Access Strategy is:
Summary of Process for Preparation of the Open Space and Coastal Access StrategyThe Open Space and Coastal Access Strategy will be developed over the course of this year. The Strategy has been endorsed by Council (December 2007) and the Community Boards have approved the consultation plan (Click here for more information about Consultation)
ConsultationThe Open Space and Coastal Access Strategy will be developed with extensive inputs from the community. The Strategy is intended to identify the aims and priorities for Council to meet the open space needs of the current and future generations and these can best be identified through input from the community itself. The Summary of Process for Preparation of the Open Space and Coastal Access Strategy identifies the points in the development of the Strategy when consultation will take place. The consultation involves the following key elements: Workshop with Community Boards
Stakeholder/ Interested Participants WorkshopsA series of community workshops were held as follows: Eastern Ward
Western Ward
Northern Ward
The issues and ideas developed during the community workshops form a part of the picture we have been able to develop of the concerns that the community has with open space and coastal access, and the development of an Open Space and Coastal Access Strategy will identify the strategic approach for overcoming these issues. While attendance at the workshops was generally good, we realise that some people may not have been able to attend and would still like to tell us about open space and coastal access issues that should be addressed in the development of the Open Space and Coastal Access Strategy. For this reason, feedback and comment on the issues identified in the Open Space and Coastal Access Strategy Issues Discussion Document is sought. Click here to go to more information about how to make feedback on the Issues Discussion Document. Consultation with Iwi
Consultation for with Open Space agencies and organisationsThe identification of issues related to open space and coastal access will involve meetings with other agencies that are also involved in the provision and development of open space in the Far North, including the Department of Conservation, Northland Regional Council, and Historic Places Trust. Questionnaire
A summary of the results of the questionnaire is available in the Open Space and Coastal Access Strategy Issues Discussion Document. Click here to go to more information about the Issues Discussion Document. Written Feedback
The Open Space and Coastal Access Strategy will identify policies and key actions for open space and coastal access for the Far North. These policies and key actions will then need to be carried out through a range of other possible processes and steps. The exact nature of what will need to happen to implement, or to give effect to the Strategy and the policies and key actions it identifies, will not be known until after the Strategy has been developed. Possible processes and steps may involve any or all of the following:
Click here to follow a link to the Far North Future Plan 2006/2016 When and how you can make an input to the StrategyTo date inputs to the strategy have been sought from the community through a series of community workshops, held in March and April 2008, and through a questionnaire. You can now make an input to the Strategy by giving us your feedback by 30 August 2008 on the issues that have been identified in the Issues Discussion Document for the Strategy. The issues that have been identified will then be addressed as we develop the Open Space and Coastal Access Strategy. Click here to go to more information about the Open Space and Coastal Access Strategy Issues Discussion Document. Once we have received feedback about the issues we should be addressing for open space and access to the coast in the Far North, we will develop a draft Open Space and Coastal Access Strategy and then seek comment from the community. Open Space and Coastal Access Strategy Issues Discussion DocumentFollowing consultation through a series of community workshops in each of the Wards of the district, meetings with schools and interest groups (e.g. Age Concern), meetings with regional bodies (Department of Conservation, Northland Regional Council, Historic Places Trust) and a community questionnaire, an Issues Discussion Document has been prepared. This Document sets out the issues for open space and coastal access throughout the district from other policies, legislation, population change; and the comments made in the community workshops and questionnaire. An Executive Summary of the Open Space and Coastal Access Issues Discussion Document is available, which concisely summarises the issues identified in the community workshops. To make it easy to access the full Open Space and Coastal Access Issues Discussion Document here we have broken it down into 4 parts as follows: Part 1 – contains the Table of Contents for the Discussion Document, the Executive Summary, Introduction and Section 1. Part 2 – contains Section 2 and part of Section 3 of the Discussion Document. Part 3 – contains the rest of Section 3 of the Discussion Document. Part 4 – Appendices 1 and 2 to the Discussion Document. Download Documents
How to make feedback on the Open Space and Coastal Access Strategy Issues Discussion DocumentThe issues and ideas developed during the community workshops and identified from the questionnaire for the Open Space and Coastal Access Strategy form a part of the picture we have been able to develop of the concerns that the community has with open space and coastal access, and this will help us in developing the strategies to address these issues in the Open Space and Coastal Access Strategy. While attendance at the workshops was generally good, we realise that some people may not have been able to attend and would still like to tell us about open space and coastal access issues that should be addressed in the development of the Open Space and Coastal Access Strategy. For this reason, feedback and comment on the issues identified in the Open Space and Coastal Access Strategy Issues Discussion Document is sought. We have developed a feedback form so that you can let us know whether all of the issues related to open space and access to the coast in your area have been identified Issues Discussion Document. Click here to go to more information about the Open Space and Coastal Access Strategy Issues Discussion Document. The Issues Discussion Document tells you what the community has identified to us as open space and coastal access issues, for each of the Wards of the district (Eastern, Western, and Northern). The feedback form uses the concise summary of these issues and asks whether you agree that the issue is relevant to your area, and to tell us about any issues relevant for open space or access to the coast that have been left out. Please complete the feedback form and return it to Council no later than 30 August 2008 by:
Feedback Form
For More Information
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Council is preparing an “Open Space and Coastal Access Strategy”, which will be a long-term plan (10 years +) setting out what the aims and priorities are for reserves and other open spaces. This will include an overview of where, when and how reserves and other open spaces, including access to the coastline, will be provided by Council.
