Information on Far North open spaces a team effort

The local knowledge and experience of Far North community members has proved invaluable for a Council project to map the district’s open spaces.

At the end of 2019, the Far North District Council asked for community feedback about public spaces across the district. The Council was consolidating its information about parks, reserves, playgrounds and other open spaces to create a digital map for the district.

Kerikeri business, Vision Consulting Engineers and Planners, played a key role in this project, creating an information layer for the digital map using Council records and national databases.

The information layer required further corroboration and additional detail, so the Council invited the community to explore the new map and provide feedback based on their knowledge and personal experiences.

Manager – Strategy Development, Roger Ackers, says the Council is grateful to everyone who took the time to look over the map and make comments. “We hope the map has revealed some new open spaces for people to enjoy.”

He says the feedback has helped the Council add details about areas where information was incomplete, as well as provide suggestions about how to make information about open spaces more accessible and useful for locals and visitors. “The community also contributed local history and photos that will be of great value to future reserve management plans.”

The Council will continue to improve its information based on feedback and ideas people have shared. Please visit the Have Your Say page on the FNDC website www.fndc.govt.nz and contribute to the Discover your open spaces online survey and discussion forum.

The next step for the Strategy and Planning team is to develop a strategy and process for managing Council-owned open spaces in the future.