Hall of fame golfer Dame Lydia Ko has voiced her support for a community campaign to ‘save’ Auckland’s Takapuna Golf Course.
In July, Auckland Council confirmed its plan to proceed with converting half of the 18-hole course into flood storage, rejecting the community’s proposal to maintain the entire course as “unfeasible.”
Since then Takapuna Golf Course, with substantial community backing and a petition with more than 10,000 signatures, had maintained its position that the full course could be saved.
The campaign had caught the attention of professional golfer Dame Lydia Ko.
Dame Lydia Ko said she spent a lot of time at the course during her junior golf days. (File photo)
Photo: Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire / PHOTOSPORT
“I recently heard that Takapuna Golf Course, where I had spent a lot of my junior golf days, is at a risk of disappearing as part of a flood mitigation plan,” she said in a statement on Thursday.
“Takapuna Golf Course is a wonderful place friends and families can enjoy and learn golf together. As a golfer, I believe we must preserve this precious asset we are fortunate to have today, so that future generations can enjoy it as well.”
Ko said she fully supported the current management team of the course in its newest plan, the “Shoal Bay Solution,” which proposed to redirect stormwater through a landscaped channel into an underground pipe system through to Shoal Bay.
Golfers at Takapuna Golf Course. (File photo)
Photo: Nick Monro
Auckland Council’s director of resilience and infrastructure, Barry Potter, noted council officials would have a planned meeting with Takapuna Golf Course on Friday.
“Last week we met with North Shore Takapuna Golf Ltd.’s technical advisors, with a brief follow up earlier this week with two of their advisors and we will be meeting with them again on Friday 15 August,” he said.
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