21 Aug 2020

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Redevelopment of Lancaster Park into community sports fields is moving forward and the next step will be to level the area and plant it with grass.

Demolition of the quake-damaged park was completed under budget earlier this year and the site has been handed over to Christchurch City Council’s Parks Unit.

 At a meeting next Thursday, the Sustainability and Community Resilience Committee will decide whether the Council should go out for tender for the remediation project to finish the site clean-up and complete earthworks, including levelling and planting grass. 

The land can then be developed into fields for community club level sports games. 

The committee will consider a report on the redevelopment noting that community engagement will be needed to progress landscape designs for the park, in collaboration with the Waikura/Linwood-Central-Heathcote Community Board.

Council Head of Parks Andrew Rutledge says the Lancaster Park Spatial Plan, adopted by the Council last September, was developed in response to community need for more recreational areas and sports grounds in the area.

“The plan includes sports fields for winter sporting codes such as rugby and football, and cricket grounds for summer use.

“There are also public open spaces in the plan, as well as landscaped areas to highlight the sporting and community history of the park, which first hosted sports games back in 1881.

“The memorial gates built on Stevens Street in 1924 to commemorate the sacrifice of Canterbury athletes during World War 1, are retained as an important heritage feature. But we’re still working on the details of the overall design and we’ll be gathering community input to make sure we get that right.”

Redevelopment of the park, now that the grandstands and buildings have been removed, is in three phases; earthworks – which could involve either breaking up and removing stadia foundations left following the demolition or leaving them in place - turf establishment and implementation of the spatial plan.

The final phase will include staff preparing a detailed landscaping plan in consultation with the community.

Funding for some of the developments signalled in the spatial plan, such as a playground and other community facilities, will be considered as part of the Council’s Long Term Plan 2021-31.