Media Release
15 May 2017

New parkland area to open at Cornwall Park

Visitors to Cornwall Park will soon be able to enjoy a flat and sunny new area of parkland due to the removal of a decommissioned Watercare water reservoir.

Michael Ayrton, Park Director, says the Cornwall Park Trust Board is grateful to Watercare for agreeing to return the site of the decommissioned reservoir off Bollard Ave on the Onehunga side of the park back into recreation land for the public of New Zealand to enjoy once again.

“We’re delighted to have just over one hectare of the park returned to public use. In the short term the site will be used as a place for people to enjoy and as grass for grazing. It will be a fantastic spot for picnicking.

“We hope to eventually turn the area into a Farm Centre where visitors to the park will be able to engage with the day-to-day farming operations we carry out like sheep shearing.”

Built in the 1940s to handle some of Auckland’s water supply, the reservoir has not been in use since the 1970s due to the addition of the Ardmore Water Treatment Plant to the city’s infrastructure.

Watercare Chief Executive Raveen Jaduram says the company is pleased to be giving something back to the people who visit Cornwall Park.

“As the reservoir has not been used for many years, it makes sense to pull the structure down and return the land to the park. Now the area where the reservoir once stood can be enjoyed by everyone who comes to the park.”

The process of pulling down the reservoir began in March this year and will finish in early June. Mr Ayrton said the exact completion date will be announced nearer the time.
There are currently four reservoirs in use at Cornwall Park.

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