Korean B-boys headline Barry Curtis park opening

One of New Zealand’s largest new urban parks, Barry Curtis Park, will be officially opened on 5 April with a huge line-up of entertainment.

At 94 hectares, the park will be bigger than the Auckland Domain when it is complete. The park will be at the heart of the new town of Flat Bush, which is expected to be home to more than 40,000 people by 2020.

From 5 April the majority of the northern section of the park will be open to the public. The area includes a festival lawn and other space for events, a pedestrian promenade known as the cultural axis, a number of picnic areas and walkways, a walking and running route that will ultimately run around the perimeter of the whole park, wetlands and native plantings along streams.

The opening event, which is called DiverzCity, runs from 1pm to 5pm and celebrates the range of cultures that make Flat Bush and Manukau unique.

Headliners at the event are Korea’s world famous break-dance group Gambler Crew and local crew Sweet and Sour (SAS), winners of the varsity section at the World Hip Hop Championships.

The Gambler Crew came together in 2002 and have gone on to perform all over the world. They have won many major titles, including the 2004 Battle of the Year and in 2006 become the first non-American crew to win the United States B-Boy Hodown.

SAS have become one of New Zealand’s most high profile urban dance crews, featuring on many of the hottest R&B and hip hop videos for superstars like Scribe. Their innovative and ground breaking moves are influencing many of today’s emerging dance crew routines. Find out more at www.sasdancecrew.com

Gambler Crew will also be running a workshop at Otara Music and Arts Centre (OMAC) before DiverzCity. Their trip to New Zealand is sponsored by the Asia:New Zealand Foundation.

DiverzCity will feature 15 acts on two stages from 1pm to 5pm, ethnic food and a cultural market. Also, Manukau Parks' rangers have organised Ranger Walk and Talk tours of the park on the day. St Pauls Church, which neighbours the park, will have jazz and a café in the church hall and a marquee with entertainment. The church will be celebrating Palm Sunday by creating a palm grove where people can leave messages on trees.

On the same day across the road from Barry Curtis Park, the Buddhist Temple will be holding the Buddha’s Day Multi-cultural Festival from 10am to 5pm.

Before the entertainment begins the Auckland Cross Country Association will be holding a cross-country fun-run in Barry Curtis Park. The association is planning to use the park as a venue when it hosts national cross-country events.

Parking is available at Stancombe Road and Sancta Maria College on Chapel Road.

 

About Barry Curtis Park
The 94 hectare Barry Curtis Park will be at the heart of Flat Bush, which is expected to be home to more than 40,000 people by 2020. The park will be closely linked with Flat Bush’s town centre, with the western part of the town centre surrounded by the park.

Off Chapel Road in Flat Bush, the park’s key features include:

- Multi-sports complex, premier sports fields and training facilities
- Cultural lawn and an amphitheatre for large scale events
- Large theme playground
- Picnic area with covered facilities
- Wetlands with ponds and boardwalks
- An education centre
- Neighbourhood parks with community focused playgrounds and facilities
- Signature areas with characteristic tree plantings, sculptures and recreation areas.

The large park is part of Flat Bush’s abundance of open space, which also includes 45km of protected natural gully and stream areas. This network of park-like areas, known as green fingers, link Barry Curtis Park to the residential areas of Flat Bush. Most houses are only five minutes walk away from a green finger.

The vision of the park is to create ‘a regionally significant park that reflects the people and cultures of Manukau’.

The other stages of Barry Curtis Park, including sports fields, will open over the next eight years.

About Flat Bush
Flat Bush is New Zealand’s largest and most comprehensively planned new town, taking shape on 1700 hectares in the south east of Manukau. It will be home to at least 40,000 people by 2020, a similar population to Nelson.
Not just another collection of subdivisions, Flat Bush will have a strong focus on people and the environment, large amounts of open space and high urban design standards.
While most of Flat Bush is being developed by the private sector, Manukau City Council is playing a strong role in planning and creating the town.
The new town has a unique focus on environmental sustainability, for example natural waterways and gullies are being retained to create a 45km green network throughout Flat Bush. As well as providing a slice of nature only five minutes walk from most households, they are also important in managing stormwater and providing for wildlife and native bush.
The heart and soul of Flat Bush, a new 20 hectare town centre, will be integrated with the new 94 hectare Barry Curtis Park, and built around a traditional main street concept. It will have a wide diversity of shops, cafes, offices, community facilities and apartments, bringing vitality, interest and character.
Council company Tomorrow’s Manukau Properties Limited (TMPL) owns the town centre land and has an agreement with Melview Developments to complete the town centre design and develop it.
Flat Bush will also have five smaller neighbourhood centres and a mixture of housing densities. Seven new state schools will be built, as well as the Baverstock Oaks primary school which opened in 2005.
The council’s work on Flat Bush won the Gold award for Environmentally Sustainable Project at the 2007 International Awards for Liveable Communities.