Earnslaw Park Proposal

Community feedback on a proposal to upgrade Earnslaw Park is now being sought, Queenstown Lakes District Council community services general manager Paul Wilson said.

“The plan had been to undertake turf refurbishment and landscaping, in addition to the desperately needed upgrade of the Earnslaw Park toilets but it became clear this should be done in the context of a wider look at this important public space,” Mr Wilson said.

The park was extremely important to the community and enjoyed high use for events and as a recreational space.

“We have developed a draft concept, that would allow us to undertake any future development of the park within the context of a wider plan,” he said.

At this point the Council wanted to share the concept plans with the community to gauge feedback.

“The plans posed a couple of important questions, such as do we retain or remove the existing willows, which in turn affect the quality of the turf. What should we do with the moa statue?” Mr Wilson said.

The proposal needed to practically reflect the area’s multiple uses.

“We’ve considered things like seating, shade options, lighting and the importance of the promenade space,” Mr Wilson said.

The other issue to consider is the challenge of maintaining the large grassed area.

“At the moment the grassed area is patchy at best, due to a number of factors, so we have looked at ensuring we establish a rich grassed area whilst acknowledging other uses such as events and market days,” Mr Wilson said.

The plan also included a toilet upgrade to be constructed later in the year at the same site as the existing toilets.

The proposed plan was available at Council’s Gorge Road office or online at www.qldc.govt.nz. The Council would like to receive comments by Wednesday 25 July, 2012 in order to give feedback to the community services committee at the end of the month. Feedback can be sent to services@qldc.govt.nz.