Molley Green Reserve, a much-loved part of the local community, is receiving an upgrade. The plan is to enhance and enrich the existing amenities and infrastructure so that the communal green space can be used by everybody, all year round. 

These changes (part of Waikōwhai’s Stage 2 development) will reflect the important role the reserve plays in stormwater management, as well as its wider cultural significance to local iwi and Te Auaunga.

We’ve been working alongside the local community, Mana Whenua, Auckland Council’s Healthy Waters, Auckland Council Parks, Auckland Transport, Piritahi, Isthmus, and the Puketāpapa Local Board to ensure the upgrades create a space that’s functional, practical and beneficial to the community. 

Part of this will be ‘daylighting’ the reserve’s stream, which means it’ll be brought back to the surface and stormwater management will be improved. 



We’ve strived to keep the Waikōwhai residents at the heart of the project, so we’ve engaged with them often to hear their thoughts and ideas. 

We’ve held engagement events online and in-person to help us understand how the community uses the space, or why they don’t use it. 

We asked questions about what the community likes about the park, what they think needs improvement and what stories could be reflected in the park.

The first round of engagement took place between November 2021 and April 2022. This timeframe was limited to allow for the resource consent application process, and to work within the park delivery timeframes.

As Auckland was at various Covid-19 alert levels during this time, all engagement sessions were carried out online. 

We conducted an online public survey, a series of online community meetings, school aged engagement (where activity sheets were delivered to local schools), online design workshops, as well as consultations with Healthy Waters, Parks & Community Facilities, Auckland Transport, and Mana Whenua.

The feedback was then incorporated into the redesign of Molley Green, and a draft concept plan was submitted and approved by the Local Board.

Then, in October 2022, we informed the community about how their comments influenced the concept design. This was done through an in-person event at Molley Green Reserve, as all Covid restrictions had been lifted.

The event’s purpose was to share the draft concept plan with the community, show how their feedback has been incorporated, check that we have captured it correctly, and capture any additional feedback before a final plan was prepared. 

Renders of the concept plan were displayed to help the community understand the concept and see the changes. The event also included some community games, gardening and a sausage sizzle.



We created a scavenger hunt to encourage a full exploration of Molley Green and signposts with pens were set up to allow further ideas and feedback. We also spoke one on one with community members to get further insight into their space.

Community feedback included:

• Vehicle access – Ensure there’s vehicle access to the field for community events. 
• Kickabout space – Ensure the field stays dry throughout the year so everyone can enjoy the space, no matter the season. 
• Play equipment at Molley Green should accommodate younger and older kids (i.e. a 5 year old and 10 year old). Māra Hūpara opportunities will help with this.
• Safety in design – needs to be considered especially around the stream and viewing platforms.

Generally, there were no concerns to the suggested design but all feedback points will be thought through thoroughly to ensure the space is both practical and useful for the community. 

It was great to see that the community were happy with the changes and enjoyed the event.