Stanley Park

Stanley Park is considered an ideal location for much-needed social and community housing, and adding a playground and enhanced amenity at Stanley Park would provide for two needs – affordable housing in our town and improved recreation spaces for people of all ages and abilities.

Council has been engaging with immediate neighbours.

Social housing is in high demand in the district, with147 applicants requiring a total of 261 bedrooms in the South Waikato, according to the Ministry of Social Development Housing Register (December 2023).

A new road and footpath will be formed using the current Council-owned 20 Manaia Street site to increase the reserve’s street visibility and safety of users and provide improved access to the playground and the new homes.

Council will involve the community, whānau and most importantly, local children in the design of the playground to make sure it meets their needs and provides a fun, accessible space to play.

Council received 45 submissions on the proposal during formal consultation from 24 January to 23 February. Seven of the submissions were from organisations and one was from Council's iwi partner Raukawa. Three people spoke to their submissions at the Hearings and Deliberations meeting on 14 March.

Council's Reserve Management Plan sets out housing as one of the specific reasons that Council will consider selling open space. Currently, Stanley Park is under-utilised. It is a large park with no additional facilities. There are five other parks near to Stanley Park, that support Council’s Level of Service of 9ha of open space per 1,000 residents.

Council anticipates the decision from DOC could take several months.

In the meantime, please follow this link for an overview of the project.

This page will be updated as we work through this project.