Norman Kirk Park

So, I'm here at Norman Kirk Park, which is pretty cool, especially considering what it used to be. It's on the east side of Kaiapoi, and it's actually built on what they call "red zone" land. Before the big Canterbury earthquakes in 2010 and 2011, this whole area was a residential neighborhood. Can you imagine? Now, it's got a dog park, a nature reserve, sports fields, and even a BMX track.

The park is named after Norman Kirk, who was a big deal around here. He was the mayor of Kaiapoi from 1953 to 1957. Then he went on to become a Member of Parliament in 1957, and later the Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party in 1964. He even became Prime Minister in 1972, holding that title until he passed away suddenly in 1974. This park actually gets its name from an older spot, Kirk Street Reserve, which was a small playground that was in another red zone area. That old reserve isn't even a reserve anymore; the land went to the Waimakariri District Council.

The park is really close to the center of Kaiapoi, less than a kilometer away. Looking at the boundaries, it's surrounded by Feldwick Drive to the north, and then more of that regeneration area, Cass Street, and Jollie Street to the east. To the south is Charles Street, and then to the west, it's Charles Street again, more regeneration land, Cass Street, and Feldwick Drive. It's wild to think that streets like Day Place, Cherry Vale Lane, Cookson Lane, and Beswick Street used to be right here, and they've all been removed to make space for this park. Parts of other streets like Gray Crescent and Cass Street were also removed.

After the earthquakes, the damage was so bad that the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority decided this land wasn't suitable for rebuilding, so it became a residential red zone. Most landowners agreed to sell their properties to the Crown. They demolished the houses, cleared the rubble, and smoothed it out with topsoil. For a while, it was just an "involuntary park" with old trees and damaged roads until about October 2018. The community had a big say in what this park would become, suggesting things like dog parks, playgrounds, and nature reserves. The Crown officially returned this land to local control in June 2018, selling it to the Waimakariri District Council for just a dollar. They started removing the old roads and infrastructure in October 2018, and then construction began on the sports fields and storm water area. Norman Kirk Park got its name officially on September 20, 2019. It's pretty cool how this space transformed.