Plan blindsides residents

would go on the site currently occupied by Marlborough Girls’ and Bohally, and that Bohally would move to the current Marlborough Boys’ College site.

Les Mckay has lived next to College Park for nine years, and said the first he knew the park was part of the discussion was in a letter he received at the end of last year.

‘‘Nobody has approached us, they’ve just gone ahead and next thing you know there’s drilling going on,’’ Mckay said.

The letter, dated December 17, outlined that interim borehole testing of the site would be undertaken in January 2022, helping to inform master planning decisions.

Mckay said he was ‘‘disgusted’’ when he first saw the letter, saying ‘‘consultation sessions should’ve been reopened as soon as they thought, maybe, College Park’s included’’.

He said he had attended previous public meetings on the future of Blenheim’s two high schools and that ‘‘no-one ever raised the point of the [park] disappearing’’.

Mckay would like to see a ‘‘community session’’ held on the matter, saying ‘‘particularly get the residents of College Park involved first and then open it up to the public’’.

But some neighbours had not even received the letter; the Express found out when doorknocking last week.

Faye Humphries had a property with gate access to the sports field, and said she was ‘‘horrified’’ when she first received the news.

She thought parks were the ‘‘lungs of the town’’ and was worried they would no longer be able to use the park to exercise and watch sports.

Other neighbours, who did not want to be named, were also taken aback, thinking Bohally was going to be relocated to the main Boys’ College site.

However, ministry infrastructure and digital hautu¯ (leader) Scott Evans said College Park had ‘‘always been a potential site for the new intermediate’’.

College Park was ‘‘part of the current Marlborough Boys’ College site’’, Evans said.

‘‘Bohally Intermediate will be relocated to the current Marlborough Boys’ College site. There has been no change to this intention.’’

However, a press release from the ministry, also on December 17, said as the project moved into master planning ‘‘one factor that will be considered over coming months will be the future use of College Park . . . and whether the park may be a better suited site for Bohally Intermediate’s relocation than the college’s main location’’.