What happens in the park

How the district’s many parks and reserves are managed is under review. 

Parks are used by everyone, big and small. Photo: Dan Hutchinson

The Taupō District Council is reviewing its reserve management plans and is asking people to tell them how they use these public spaces. 

The survey link can be found at www.taupo.govt.nz/haveyoursay and people have until September 30 to have their say. 

Many of the current reserve management plans were developed years ago.  

Since then, communities have grown, recreation trends have changed, and some reserves are being used in different ways.  

The council says the review is an opportunity to make sure future management reflects how people use and value reserves today.  

“It is focused solely on ensuring reserves are managed well to benefit users and protect the environment, not about planning for selling off or otherwise removing reserves from community ownership and council management,” a council statement reads. 

The new District-Wide Reserves Management Plan will review the existing reserve management plans, then group them into one larger plan.  

The plan will guide how recreation reserves across the district are used in the future, balancing community use with protecting the environment.  

The council wants to know which reserves people use and what they do there, what they value about them and whether there’s anything in the current reserve management plans that they think needs updating.