We adopted two new plans in 2025. This followed two rounds of community consultation which helped to shape the plans.
We’re creating new plans to guide how we manage Palmy's parks and reserves, and we’d love to hear your thoughts!
Whether you're passionate about community gardens, love local events, or just enjoy a walk in the park, let us know if you think anything specific should be covered in these plans.
We’re drafting two brand new plans
These plans will help make managing our parks and reserves simpler and more efficient.
By having all the rules together, it will be easier for everyone to understand how decisions are made. It will also be easier and more affordable to manage things like community and commercial leases, licences, and activities.
The General Policy Reserve Management Plan will cover all parks and reserves
This plan sits across all parks and reserves in Palmerston North. Because of how diverse our parks are, it won't cover all aspects of how they're managed, but it will cover those things that can be managed in the same way, such as:
- rules for community gardens
- guidelines for hosting events in reserves
- whether commercial activities (like food trucks) are allowed
- restricted recreational activities (like flying drones or riding motorbikes).
The Omnibus Reserve Management Plan groups similar parks together so they can be managed in the same way
This plan focuses on specific types of reserves. It is for:
- neighbourhood reserves
- sportsgrounds
- walkways (except the Manawatū River Shared Pathway and He Ara Kotahi).
We’re also reviewing and updating the Kahuterawa Outdoor Recreation Plan
This plan, covering Kahuterawa Reserve, Arapuke Forest Park, and the Sledge Track, is almost 20 years old. We want to ensure it still works well for visitors, nearby residents, and the wider community.
It covers outdoor activities like:
- mountain biking, hunting, walking, swimming, and trail biking
- picnicking, fishing
- managing water, biodiversity, pests, and landscaping.
Next steps
This first round of feedback closed at 5pm on Sunday 24 November. Thank you to everyone who provided feedback. We used what you told us to draft the plans.
We're still working on the omnibus plan, but the general plan and the plan for Kahuterawa went out for public feedback in August 2025, and have now been adopted.
Kahuterawa Outdoor Recreation Plan
General Policy Reserve Management Plan