Bowenvale park proposed

Press, 1 April 1980, Page 12

Bowenvale park proposed

The Heathcote County Council should designate l4oha in Bowenvale in the hopes that the United Council will take it over as a regional “countryside park,” Lite county council's district scheme review hearings have been told. Bowenvale, from the narrow valley at its base to the Summit Road, could be the beginning of a new regional park concept for Canterbury said a former Heathcote councillor (Mrs M. Taylor). The county was reasonably served for local reserves, it had some of the “most visually pleasing landscape'’ in Canterbury, and was adjacent to a major population centre, she said. “People with present-day mobility do not recognise I

/ man-made , boundaries in| j looking for recreation and; j will readily use facilities' - paid for by others,” said' ■ Mrs Taylor. ’ While the acquisition of. : the 140 ha was beyond the,' > resources of the County, the;. Canterbury United Council' - could legally • buy it and : administer it for the recrea- : tional benefit of thfe region. ; I Mrs Taylor suggested that ' ready access for city resi- f Hdents to a rural environment ' would help them meet needs. • imposed , by the stress of 1 • modern urban living. J She .said this type of park I would be different from the 1 [ remote and scenic National s ■ Parks and from the urban parks. It would provide < playing fields- or botanical c (attractions. (

i j Bowenvale would be effec litive for the countryside pari I because of its defined natutiral boundaries; It had t feeling of remoteness, it was .accessible to public anc Mother forms of transport, (and it could serve as’ ar (“outdoor classroom for study of living things in ‘'" : r natural habitat," .she said. ■

,rs Taylor said Heathcote should take the initiative: in an area where, Canterbury lagged. If the; United Council declined the regional parks function, the Lands and Survey Department should step in, she suggested. Mrs Taylor said the council should reconsider the designated uses and proposed zoning of the 140 ha in

Bowenvale. A zoning for a. k] future regional park ’would t-j “promote the: concept in the a broadest possible way.” J ; ’.. She also said that - if the s*l council was advocating .more.. c > I residential development on n | the hills, it .was important r other areas be conserved for 1 recreation. ’ : ■: e i •;