When completed, the Domain will be just over 26ha.

The extension is being done in stages. A 6ha increase in sports fields adjacent to Halswell On the Park subdivision is already complete. It has soccer fields, cricket wickets and a stormwater retention basin and swale system.

The second stage, a 5ha addition east of the old Pony Club site, will provide further sports fields, an area for netball courts and opportunities to extend existing facilities such as tennis and bowls. It will be developed over the next three to five years as Council funds are available. The proposed plan includes a stormwater retention basin, pathways, picnic areas, playground and a new toilet block, as well as a model railway proposal.

The 4ha previously occupied by the Halswell Pony Club, which has moved to Canterbury Park, will be reintegrated into the domain. “This area will have a passive recreation focus and the existing wilderness aspect in this part of the park will be retained,” says Parks and Waterways Area Advocate Rod Whearty.

The Canterbury Society Of Model Engineers proposes to build a model railway around part of the old pony club area. The club has outgrown its present site in Addington and plans to shift to the Domain over the next 10-15 years. Work on the first stage will start early next year.

“The Model Engineers’ proposal won’t restrict other park users as the tracks will be laid in open areas which will remain available to casual park users at all times, says Mr Whearty. “In New Zealand and overseas there are many examples where model railways are successfully integrated into passive recreation areas in local parks.”

The storm water retention basin will also be developed in the area of the old pony club. It will be sown in grass and dry for most of the time. “However there may be a small flow of water due to the presence of some small natural springs on the site,” says Rod Whearty. “The basin will only hold water for short periods following wet weather and a small swale will be constructed in the bottom of the basin to channel the base flow of water at other times.”

Feedback on this project is welcome.

Copies of the plan are on display in locations around the Halswell area and are available from the Sockburn Service Centre and Civic Offices.

• For more information contact Rod Whearty, Sockburn Service Centre, on 941-6510 or 025-895-365, or Dennis Preston, Senior Landscape Architect, on 941-8728.