Future recreational use of A F Thomas Park

This consultation closed on Sunday 23 November 2025.

Thank you to everyone who shared feedback on the future recreational use of A F Thomas Park. We received more than 5,000 submissions from individuals, organisations and community groups, and also ran a deliberative forum with 40 residents as part of the consultation.

A summary of consultation feedback [PDF 6.6MB] and the deliberative forum’s recommendations report [PDF 1.2MB] are now available. These inputs will help to inform the Kaipātiki Local Board’s decision on the park’s future recreation and open space outcomes, which is scheduled for its 25 March 2026 business meeting, following three public workshops in February.

What happens next?

The Kaipātiki Local Board will work through public feedback alongside technical reports including:

• A golf needs assessment
• Sport and recreation assessment
• Parks service assessment
• Current findings from detailed site investigations and design developments of the Ngā Wairau blue-green flood resilience project.

The board will consider this information and recommendations across three public workshops in February, before making a decision at its business meeting on 25 March. This decision will set the direction for future recreation and open space outcomes at A F Thomas Park, in alignment with the development of the blue‑green flood storage wetland and dry detention areas.

These meetings are open to the public. Related material and reports will be available from https://aucklandcouncil.resolve.red/portal/

All meetings will be held at the Kaipātiki Local Board Offices, 90 Bentley Avenue, Glenfield, commencing at 10.00am on:

• Wednesday 11 February – Workshop Two: Inputs discussion
• Wednesday 25 February – Workshop Three: Recommendation discussion
• Wednesday 25 March – Business meeting: Decision

Deliberative Forum

As part of the wider engagement on the future recreational use of A F Thomas Park, the project team, along with an independent facilitator, hosted a deliberative forum over three weekends during November.

This involved a representative group of community members who were recruited to participate by a third-party agency. The forum participants reflected the age, gender and ethnic demographics of the North Shore and Albany Wards. At the end of the forum the participants produced a consensus-based report with recommendations to the Kaipātiki Local Board on how they should proceed with decision-making.

The forum members' report is available to read here.

The board has committed to giving the deliberative forum report serious and respectful consideration, alongside all other consultation feedback and technical advice. Taken together, this information will inform the board’s public decision on the future use of A F Thomas Park.

What is deliberative democracy?

Deliberative democracy invites ordinary members of the community into detailed discussions about complex issues or decisions that affect them.

In deliberative forums, a demographically representative panel of community members come together to build their understanding about an issue, weigh up the evidence, identify possible options and deliberate on the priorities. This work helps the forum participants make recommendations that councils or governments can use to inform and support their decision making.

The decision-makers agree in advance that they will listen to, and carefully consider, the suggestions of the panel when they make their decision.

For more information on this process you can email the project team at AFThomasPark@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz.