Clare Harris and Alan Patterson
Waipā District Council is being asked to abandon plans to sell Arthur Patterson Reserve for the building of three or more houses and reinstall a slide and swing there.
Arthur Patterson Reserve
Submissions on the council’s plans to revoke reserve status on the 2100 square metre green space for disposal close later this month.
The reserve is named after a former Te Awamutu Borough Council member and deputy mayor who spent his honorarium on planting productive trees. Some of his walnut trees remain in the reserve.
“It sucks, major time,” said Eden Avenue resident Shana Sanderson of the council’s plans. “I would like to see the slide and swings reinstated.”
Arthur Patterson
Both of her school aged children play in the reserve regularly, and the family walk its dog there.
Another resident, Joel Impey, said the reserve was popular with dog walkers.
Te Awamutu-Kihikihi Community Board member Jill Taylor and Te Awamutu councillor Lou Brown met residents after the council’s projects specialist Andrew Don brought the plans for disposal to the board.
Taylor is asking for the slide and swing to be reinstated.
“Residents wish they had not been removed, and they should be replaced so the children in the area can use again,” Taylor said.
“Even plant some more fruit trees for the locals. It is not a huge area and not satisfactory to build on without a huge cost in infrastructure.”
Brown said the council should take a second look at the proposal to sell.
Access to the reserve, which has no services such as electricity or water, is about four metres wide.
Patterson, who died in 1993, served 26 years as a councillor on Te Awamutu Borough Council, the last 12 as deputy mayor. He was involved in Te Awamutu Rotary Club, Te Awamutu Chamber of Commerce, Te Awamutu Competitions Society and Waipa District Scout Association.
Clare Harris and Alan Patterson object to Waipā District Council’s plans for the reserve named after their late father Arthur. Photo: Chris Gardner
Arthur Patterson Reserve
His daughter Clare Harris, of Te Awamutu, has written to the council objecting to its plans. She also supports the reinstatement of a slide and swings.
“Dad would be disappointed at losing the trees,” Harris said.
“Residents want it to stay. They use it quite a lot. They have to retain it.”
Her brother Alan Patterson, who also lives in the town, also objects to the redevelopment.
“Dad would be disappointed that nearly all of the trees that he planted around town have gone,” Patterson said. “That’s what he thought his legacy would be.”
The siblings have written to the council objecting to the reserve’s disposal after hearing about the plan from a friend who had attended a council meeting.
“They never approached us, just iwi,” Harris said.
Clare Harris and Alan Patterson object to Waipā District Council’s plans for the reserve named after their late father Arthur. Photo: Chris Gardner
