The Dunedin City Council (DCC) is developing an Open Spaces Plan. This is a new umbrella plan that guides DCC’s other recreation plans i.e. playgrounds, tracks, facilities and sportsgrounds.
We’re creating the plan because we need to guide management and use of the city’s open spaces.
The plan looks at all our open spaces including sportsgrounds, parks, reserves (including the Octagon), outdoor adventure areas (e.g. Signal Hill, Bethunes Gully and Forrester Park), tracks, civic spaces, recreation links, historic or cultural open spaces (e.g. Queens Gardens, soldier’s monuments) and public gardens (excluding the Botanic Garden). Beaches are not in scope
We’re seeking the views of open space users and people interested in open spaces. We would like feedback on whether our open spaces should be improved and how, whether we need more or less open spaces and in which areas, how they should be managed and used and whether they are meeting the community’s recreational present and future needs.
Stakeholder feedback will help us write a draft Open Spaces Plan that will be published for wide public feedback. We think the plan priorities could include:
- maximising use and building connections so open spaces are highly accessible spaces for our community to live healthy, active and socially connected lives.
- developing open spaces so they meet the changing needs of our diverse community and provide for a variety of interesting experiences.
- protecting and conserving Dunedin’s environment, heritage and cultural landscape.
- restoring and adapting open spaces to create a healthy environment for long-term sustainable use, and a natural solution to help reduce the effects of climate change.
The DCC will be working on this project for the next year and will keep stakeholders informed about progress on the plan.