Have your say!

As many of you know, access to sports fields is the biggest challenge we currently face as a club. Our playing membership has grown from 600 members in 2008 to 1,800 in 2024. Shepherds Park is no longer sufficient to meet our needs and our access to alternative venues is very limited.

There is no artificial turf in the Kaipaiki Local Board area, meaning players have to travel 25mins to train at schools and Harbour Stadium, which the club also has to pay for.
Auckland Council and the Kaipatiki Local Board are requesting that people Have Their Say on the Annual Plan and local board priorities.

We are asking for 5 minutes of your time to make an online submission to request that Council and the Local Board make funding available with immediate effect for:

1. Lighting of fields 3-4 at Shepherds Park.

2. Development of an artificial turf in the Kaipatiki Local Board boundary.

For you interest attached below is the deputation Club President Will Taylor made to the Local Board a few weeks ago. This will provide you with additional context of the challenge the club is facing.

The development of new sports field assets is NOT currently a priority for the Kaipatiki Local Board. But please do not underestimate the power of our collective voice and the importance of this opportunity to advocate for our club and the football community.

We need your help today as the opportunity to Have Your Say closes on Friday 28th March at 11.59pm. 

Thank you to everyone in the Red & White Army for your support!

Submission Process

The first section of the submission uprocess relates to the Auckland Council Annual Plan, but our focus are the Local Board priorities for 2025/2026 (section 4b).

Key points for your consideration 

Please put these in your own words and highlight your own sports field experiences for a more powerful submission:

1. The NRF Facility Plan (2025) shows there is a shortfall in the floodlit sports field network equivalent to 28 artificial turfs to meet CURRENT (not future) football demand across Auckland.
2. The NRF Facility Plan (2025) shows there is a shortfall in the floodlit sports field network equivalent to 2 floodlit artificial turfs to meet CURRENT (not future) football demand in the Kaipatiki Local Board. 
3. Birkenhead United's playing membership has grown from 600 (2008) to 1,800 (2024), with a 50% increase in our Junior & Youth playing membership over the last 8 years.
4. Birkenhead United is the 5th largest of 400+ football clubs in New Zealand. The membership of Northern Rovers (also in Kaipatiki) is also in the top 20.
5. Birkenhead United has a waiting list of players in many junior grades as it does not have sufficient sports field capacity to meet community demand. Meaning our Tamariki are missing out on opportunities to play and connect.
6. Many teams are unable to train and play pre-season games in March due to Council renovation windows (meaning fields are closed), which increases the likelihood of early season injury. 
7. The volume of demand on Shepherds Park is increasingly leading to mid-season sports field closures, with no alternative venues available to transfer programs. Grass is a living asset and will die if not appropriately maintained. Council staff have accepted its current facility maintenance contracts do not deliver optimum outcomes, but these cannot be changed until 2027.
8. Council is reluctant to reallocate fields from other codes with declining sports field requirements and due to the Birkenhead United's location (surrounded by water), options to access fields are more limited than for other clubs across the city.
9. There is potential to fund an artificial turf through a combination of funding from the Sport & Recreation Facility Investment Fund (regional council funding), local board opex (perhaps in the form of a grant), Schools/MOE, the Birkenhead Licensing Trust and other community funders and community fundraising.
10. We would like to see:

• the lighting of fields 3-4 at Shepherds Park as a quick win. Consenting work completed for the FIFA Women's World Cup will provide a template for this work on the upper fields.
• Development of one or more artificial turfs in Kaipatiki, ideally in partnership with a school to maximise use of this valuable community asset and to share development, maintenance and future replacement costs. This approach will ensure the natural beauty of Shepherds Park is maintained for all the community to enjoy, and with the turf being based at a neutral venue, means it can be easily shared with other clubs and codes.

Thank you again for your support!