Council purchase extends popular cliff top park
February 12, 2004

North Shore City Council has spent $950,000 to buy a cliff top Castor Bay property adjoining Kennedy Park.

The 812 square metre site is vacant land and for many years the public has used it as though it were part of the park.

The chairperson of the council's community services and parks committee, Margaret Miles, says building development on the land would be a major loss for the community.

"Any building on this site would have encroached significantly onto this popular city park, so we bought the land to ensure the public can continue to enjoy using it.

"Over a number of years this council has been carefully negotiating to acquire land for parks throughout the city, some to extend existing beloved reserves and to create new ones in areas where there is strong housing demand and need for recreational space," Councillor Miles says.

Four-hectare Kennedy Park with its panoramic harbour views, cliff top walkways and historic gun emplacements is a popular park. It was extended by 1038 square metres a few years ago when the council paid $400,000 for another Beach Rd property.

There is now approximately 2100 hectares of green open space within North Shore City, with more than 500 parks and reserves. In 2002 alone the North Shore City Council spent more than $28.3 million buying land for parks.

For more information on North Shore City parks, people are invited to visit the council's website www.northshorecity.govt.nz

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