Council steps in to save Levin Adventure Park

Published on November 11, 2020

LevinAdventurePark.

The children of Horowhenua will be able to continue enjoying the district’s favourite playground after a decision by Horowhenua District Council at its meeting of 11 November to take over the expiring park lease, subject to Crown agency agreement.

Councillors opted to take over the lease, which is currently held by the Levin Adventure Park Charitable Trust and expires on 21 February 2021, to safeguard the park’s immediate future.

The Levin Adventure Park is on Crown land and is currently leased to The Levin Adventure Park Charitable Trust (LAPT) for a 10-year period. Crown agent Colliers has offered a new three-year lease to the LAPT, but it contains a number of new provisions, including a six-month break period clause that allows the Crown to terminate the lease at any time, with six months’ notice. The leaseholder would then be required to remove all improvements to the site, such as buildings and playground equipment, at its own cost.

The new provisions are because the seven acres of land the park is on have been land-banked for Treaty settlements.

In a letter to Horowhenua District Council Chief Executive David Clapperton, LAPT trustees said they had unanimously agreed not to renew the lease under the new provisions and suggested that Council take it over.

The popular children’s train would be maintained by a new volunteer group to be established by current trustees, the letter said.

Mayor Bernie Wanden said Council recognised the importance of the Levin Adventure Park to locals and visitors alike.

“The Adventure Park is one of most popular parks in the district for families to bring their kids to play, as well as being an ideal site for events and festivals, such as our upcoming Christmas Carnival. It’s a great recreational asset for our community.

“It’s also a key visitor attraction for Levin, an overnight camping spot for self-contained motorhomes, and a popular place for people travelling through the district to stop, and families and friends to meet.”

Council has been maintaining the park since 2009, and currently funds the cost of maintenance, insurance, rates and rent. The LAPT currently acts as a guardian or kaitiaki for park, promoting it and fundraising for additional development, as well as running and maintaining the children’s train.

Background

The Levin Adventure Park was established on the site of the old Levin School by Helen and Collis Blake. The Blakes created the LAPT in May 2001, obtained a lease from the Crown and began transforming the derelict site in the centre of Levin into an Adventure Playground for the benefit of the Levin community.

Initially the LAPT was solely responsible for the operation and maintenance of the park, with Council contributing funding towards improvements and running costs. Initial funding of $28,000 per annum had increased to $54,000 by 2007 as the park grew along with the associated operational costs.

In November 2007, Collis and Helen Blake publicly ‘gifted’ the park to the community of Levin and in February 2008 both formally resigned as trustees. New trustees joined the LAPT and, in a submission to the Council’s 2008/09 Annual Plan, requested Council take over the responsibility and all associated costs related to the maintenance of the park.

The Levin Adventure Park Charitable Trust is the current lessee of the seven-acre site, which is land banked for Treaty settlement purposes. The current lease between LAPT and the Crown is a ten plus ten year lease, which expires on 21 February 2021. The new lease presented to the LAPT for consideration provides a lease tenure of three plus three years. It includes a break right clause which requires the lessee to remove all improvements and vacate the site within six months of receiving notification.

LAPT trustees met with Council Officers mid-October 2020 to notify Council that they were not intending to continue lease negotiations with the Crown and, further, that the LAPT was intending to dissolve the Trust. They also confirmed that despite the above, they wished to continue running the children’s train.

 

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