Memorial Park is an area our community would like to see embraced and cherished for many years to come.

Memorial Park in Te Awamutu features a large collection of heritage memorials, play areas, walkways and natural springs, framed by a collection of mature trees, our community has enjoyed picnicking and spending quiet time here for over 50 years.

We reached out to the community last year to understand their aspirations for Te Awamutu’s premier park, and we received a passionate response. They told us they wanted:

• To retain and restore all original memorial features
• Improved park maintenance programme
• The Mangaohoi and Mangapiko streams and puna (natural springs) restored
• A gathering place where the streams meet where people can learn about the area and its connections
• New wayfinding and educational signage, and
• An improved track network

What’s happening now?

We're proposing a lot of changes to the original plan based on your feedback. These include:

• Keeping heritage features as they are
• Keeping the Mutu Street entrance
• Restoring the water to Peace Fountain
• Developing an improved maintenance plan
• Replacing the Mangaohoi Stream bridge
• Creating a new accessible track through the fernery, connecting with the pergola walkway
• Extending the stone wall along Mutu Street
• Improving the water quality of the pond with wetland planting and by reducing the overall size
• Restoring all waterways with riparian planting
• Creating a new main entrance at Racecourse Road
• Adding lighting to improve safety
• Adding a new mara hupara playground on opposite side of the stream to existing playground
• Signage wayfinding
• Park furniture
• and a new accessible pathway

We're still to adopt a final concept plan for Memorial Park, however we are keen to ensure that key aspects of the plan can be progressed in partnership with mana whenua, the Te Awamutu & District Memorial RSA and local community members to ensure the park remains a place our community enjoys visiting and is proud of.

What's happened up to this point?

Staff have undertaken a detailed analysis of the feedback and had subsequent discussions with mana whenua and the RSA.  

Staff are recommending a number of changes to the draft plan; including:

• Amphitheatre and historic relief wall panel - Retain the amphitheatre and historic relief wall panel in its current location and expose the natural springs (puna)
• Peace fountain – Retain the peace fountain and use town supply and solar pump to reticulate water
• Mangahoe Lane car access – Retain one-way car access and create a dedicated bike lane
• Te Awamutu and District War Memorial Park Gateway – Retain the Te Awamutu and District War Memorial Park Gateway at Mangahoe Lane and develop an entrance where Pioneer Walkway connects to the park (refer legend 17 on the main map of draft plan below).
• Pergola – Retain the pergola and develop an accessibility-friendly walking track through the fernery to the playground and middle bridge
• Pond – expose the puna, naturalise the watercourse from the puna to the pond, enable wetland planting, extend the current grassed area, retain some open water pond amenity (approximately one third of its current size) and improve the track network (refer to the artistic impression of the pond area)
• Play provision – When the existing playground is due to be replaced, develop a new standard playground slightly north-west of the existing site and create a new māra hūpara play trail on the other side of the stream.

These changes were reported to Te Awamutu Community Board on 9 March 2021 and will be presented to Council’s Strategic Policy and Planning Committee on 6 April 2021.

Artistic impression of what the new pond concept could look like with the proposed changes

You told us...

The proposed changes to Memorial Park in Te Awamutu received the most community feedback of all the big issues facing Waipā, and required a broad discussion during deliberations.

Following a second round of community consultation, it’s clear that the park is important to the community and the feedback strongly highlighted the desire to increase maintenance and make some necessary improvements to the park, rather than leave it as it is or implement the full Memorial Park Concept Plan.

Therefore Council landed somewhere between Option 1 – status quo, and Option 2 – fund the full implementation of the Memorial Park Concept Plan.

Council will remove some of the proposed features outlined, which will bring the project costs down to $5,075,500, which will be funded by asset sales.

The changes to the park will:

• Improve the water quality and surrounding habitat of the Mangaohoi and Mangapiko streams
• Improve wayfinding signage
• Improve the overall experience for visitors to the park
• Enable better maintenance of the park

When considering changes to the park and the final design plan, consideration was given to the feedback and needs of stakeholders, including the RSA and mana whenua as well community feedback.

A key change that wasn’t deemed necessary from the community’s perspective to upgrade the playground will still go ahead due to the age and safety of some equipment.

Work will begin on a Heritage Management and Maintenance Plan in 2021/22 which will cover off the stone work along the front of the park.

The next steps in progressing the plan for Memorial Park will be to get stakeholders together again to ensure everyone is on the same page with what is proposed before work begins.