Walmsley and Underwood Park, Totara Park and North Shore Memorial Park have joined seven other Auckland Council parks in being recognised among the best green spaces in the world in the annual Green Flag Awards.
The Green Flag Award scheme is an international quality mark for parks and green spaces, which assesses parks on criteria such as quality of services, safety, maintenance, community involvement and sustainability.
Auckland Council parks have consistently been awarded Green Flags since 2016, setting a standard for excellence in public parks and providing quality outdoor spaces across Tāmaki Makaurau.
Auckland Council’s General Manager for Parks and Community Facilities, Taryn Crewe said she was pleased to see Auckland yet again being commended.
“We know the significant contribution that public parks make to our general well-being, so it’s fantastic to see that our green spaces are consistently judged as some of the best in the world,” said Ms Crewe.
“Our staff and contractors work hard to create parks for all Aucklanders to enjoy, and it’s a credit to their dedication and enthusiasm that three new parks have been awarded this year.”
One of the 2023 inaugural winners is Walmsley and Underwood Park – a recent Council project that has helped to naturalise the park’s stream, returning it back to its natural state of a flowing river, and as a result, providing flood prevention benefits, ecological habitat for plants and animals, and recreational spaces for the community to enjoy.
This integrated blue-green approach to parks development is expected to be increasingly important and seen more frequently across Auckland in response to climate change.
Albert-Eden-Puketāpapa Ward Councillor, Julie Fairey, worked on the project for several years during her time on the Puketāpapa Local Board.
“The local board worked closely with mana whenua and the local community, and across council departments, to create beautiful parks that are great places to be in, as well as reducing neighbourhood flooding and increasing biodiversity,” she said.
The prestigious Green Flag award has been awarded to the following 10 Auckland parks:
- Ambury Regional Park (Māngere Bridge)
- Auckland Domain (Grafton)
- Long Bay Regional Park (Long Bay)
- North Shore Memorial Park (Schnapper Rock)
- Parrs Park (Glen Eden)
- Sanders Reserve (Paremoremo)
- Tāwharanui Regional Park (Tāwharanui Peninsula)
- Tōtara Park (Manurewa)
- Walmsley and Underwood Park (Mount Roskill)
- Waikumete Cemetery (Glen Eden).
Arataki Regional Park and Tui Glen Park were unable to be judged due to impacts from storm events.
