An intercept survey of Panmure Basin park visitors was conducted in April-May 2015, in order to improve Auckland Council’s Local and Sports Parks understanding of the experience of visitors within the park.

The survey results indicate that Panmure Basin is a popular park that is used by a range of visitors from surrounding areas (east, central and south Auckland). The majority of visitors drive to get to the park, however a significant minority also reported getting to the park on foot.

The park serves as a peaceful, quiet and green space for visitors to walk, run and exercise, as well as a space for some visitors to exercise their dogs. More than half of all visitors used the park at least once a week over the last 12 months, indicating that for many visitors Panmure Basin plays an important role in their day-to-day lives.

The level of overall satisfaction with the park is high, with 95 per cent of visitors reporting that they are somewhat or very satisfied with the park. Most visitors (89%) also rate the park as being important to their sense of well-being.
The survey shows that the use of public transport to access the park is extremely low, with only two per cent of visitors taking the bus and/or train on the day that they were surveyed.

Visitors provided mixed reactions to the possibility of making the park rubbish-free (removing rubbish bins and encouraging visitors to recycle their rubbish at home), with roughly equal numbers stating that this change would have a positive compared to a negative impact on their experience.

Half of all visitors estimated that they would use a café or food vendor (if one were to open in the park) at least fortnightly, indicating that such a service may be relatively well received by current visitors. Further investigation would be required to determine whether such a service would be profitable, however.
Although levels of overall satisfaction with the park are high, visitors’ responses indicate a number of possible areas for service improvement, including:

• Improving track and path lighting
• Addressing issues with uneven paths caused by tree roots
• Improving the cleaning of toilets to address issues related to smell, and further
  investigate the feasibility of upgrading current facilities.
• Encouraging more responsible litter and dog waste disposal by park visitors.

Auckland Council technical report, TR2015/017

June 2015