The plan attracted 19 submissions and the board will amend it before ratifying a final version. Submitters covered a wide range of subjects but a common thread from sports clubs was a request for extra land nearby to be earmarked for future sports grounds, to allow room for growth.
The park covers 32.5ha at present. Camping also came under the spotlight after the New Zealand Motor Caravan Association sought continued provision for motorhome parking at the reserve for its members.
Freedom camping is discouraged but the association has an agreement with the Central Otago District Council that association members with self-contained vehicles are allowed to park in the unformed car park near the skate park.
Board member Graeme Bell said he was ''not 100% happy about it,'' as they should use the camping grounds in the town.
Council parks and recreation manager Mathew Begg said the association kept a log of how much money its members spent while staying in an area. ''It's quite amazing how much they spend.''
Mr Bell said the area was described to him as looking like a ''gypsy lane'' when campers were there in summer, with boats and awnings and washing on the line.
The Cancer Society, Public Health South and the Southern Primary Health Organisation (PHO) asked the council to extend its smoke-free policy to include the park.
Southern PHO health promotion co-ordinator Sarah Berger said creating smoke-free environments was especially important in areas where young people congregated, as evidence indicated the more often young people were around smokers, the more likely they were to become smokers themselves.
Board chairwoman Clair Higginson said supporting the smoke-free policy was not the same as telling people they had to stop smoking.
Martin McPherson said as a ''born-again non-smoker'' he could vouch for the fact that a smoke-free policy and peer pressure worked in discouraging smokers.
Tim Cadogan said he was happy for the park to display smoke-free signs, but did not want to ''forbid'' people from smoking ''in such a huge open area like the rugby grounds''.
The Alexandra Basketball Club, a regular user of the Molyneux Stadium, sought an assurance the stadium would not be demolished unless there was a viable plan to replace it.
