Stonefields Residents Association committee member Mike Crooks made an oral submission on 3 June 2021 on behalf of the Association in support of the proposed swapping of 25 Barbarich Drive for 50 Tihi Street.

The Barbarich Drive site is a piece of vacant land owned by the Council on the corner of College Road and Ngahue Drive, currently planned as a reserve. The land at 50 Tihi Street includes the walking track (formerly known as the Goldsbury Track) that connects Stonefields residents to the Heritage Trail at Tihi Street on the Maungarei/Mt Wellington side of the suburb.

This is what the Council has said about the proposed land exchange of part of 25 Barbarich Drive for 50 Tihi Street, Stonefields:

We are proposing to exchange 2970 square metres of land at 25 Barbarich Drive with 19,425 square metres of land at 50 Tihi Street, Stonefields.

What this land exchange would mean

• Acquiring 50 Tihi Street could benefit the local community by:
• ensuring public access to the existing walking path connected to the Stonefields Heritage Trail
• protecting Stonefields’ cultural and natural heritage
• enlarging and enhancing the reserve on Maungarei/Mount Wellington.

Here is Mike’s submission on behalf of the SRA, given before the independent commissioner appointed by the Council to hear public submissions.

The land swap has attracted both support and objections from the public. The SRA supports it, with conditions, as the best available way to secure permanent walking/cycling access to the Heritage Trail from within Stonefields from its southern (Mt Wellington) side.