Questions and answers

Park or reserve management plans are a statutory requirement under the Reserves Act 1977. 

To date we have developed management plans for a number of individual Council parks in Selwyn. The Selwyn District Parks Management Plan will be Selwyn’s first overarching plan that covers a large number of the district’s parks. Some of the existing management plans will be reviewed and incorporated while other existing parks will continue to have their own individual plan (see Table 3 and Table 2 in Appendix 1 of the consultation document). 

The Selwyn District Parks Management Plan, once developed, will be a high-level policy document rather than a detailed operational plan. The plan’s purpose is to help the Council make consistent and quality day-to-day decisions about how our parks are used and managed, as well as what needs to be considered when developing and enhancing our parks in the future. The latter is especially important considering our district’s population is rapidly growing, as well as other factors such as climate change. 

The new plan will also be a one-stop reference point with more detailed information on some of the district’s more popular parks.

No, the new Selwyn District  Parks Management Plan will not include park maintenance methods and specifications, for example how often the grass is cut or the toilets are cleaned. 

Council sets levels of service through its Activity Management Plans, which are then implemented through our parks maintenance contract. 

The plan will also not be a tool to report maintenance issues such as damaged playground equipment.

Our district is experiencing increasing population growth. Given the challenges and opportunities that come with such growth, it’s important that our parks in Selwyn are managed in a way that meet the needs of our communities while also protecting their special character, be that historical, ecological or cultural. 

And it’s also something that we are legally required to do.

It’s your chance to have a say on what you want to see happen in our parks. We’re now in early stages of developing the plan so your feedback will help shape the draft plan which we will then formally consult on early next year.

We’ll use your feedback to develop the draft Selwyn District Park Management Plan. Your ideas and thoughts will guide more specific proposals that will be included in the formal consultation period scheduled for March-May 2022.