Mt Wellington resident Michael Pepper used to walk his dog and meet new people at the park but the development has made it unusable.

An abandoned sculpture, sporadic construction, poor drainage and overgrown weeds are the results so far of an Auckland park's $1.5 million development.

As part of Auckland Council's long-term plan funds were allocated to develop Sir Woolf Fisher Park in Mt Wellington.

The 2.9ha park was set to have a concrete art installation, two sports fields, a new car park and toilet facilities.

But Mt Wellington resident Michael Pepper said current construction at the park had stalled, and given the public no value for money.

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Pepper said he used to walk his dog at the park and meet new people in his neighbourhood. But that had not been possible at the park for more than a year, he said.

The park had been fenced off to the public, and its new toilet facilities had been locked for the past few months, he said.

Sharp rocks, stagnant water and glass bottles hidden in weeds were also a concern, Pepper said.

"Before the development, the park was a well-used bit of grass," Pepper said.

"Now it's not usable and it doesn't look like $1.5 million worth of work."

Fellow Mt Wellington resident Claire Warin said Auckland Council's lack of communication and the time it took to develop the park were her main concerns.

In December 2015, she received a letter about the park being developed but nothing happened for months, she said.

"That was over two years ago," Warin said.

"For about 18 months we had two enormous piles of dirt blocking sun from our house and bursts of activity where nothing would happen for months and then suddenly we would have contractors working days in a row including weekends."

The park has a complicated history.

Originally, a Mt Wellington park named Fisher Park was gifted by Sir Woolf Fisher, co-founder of appliance manufacturing company Fisher & Paykel.

In 2005 the Department of Conservation revoked Fisher Park's reserve status and Auckland Council controversially sold it to Coca-Cola Amatil, which had a commercial site nearby.

Auckland Council then bought a site on Barrack Rd, which is now known as Sir Woolf Fisher Park.

Woolf Fisher Trust chairman and Sir Woolf Fisher's nephew Sir Noel Robinson said the council's lack of engagement and the pace of the park's development were a "disgrace".

He had attempted to get in contact with council at least four or five times, Robinson said.

The design was supposed to benefit the community but the lack of progress was disappointing, he said.

It was a tragedy because the development was almost complete, he said.

"It's been terrible," Robinson said.

Auckland Council's acting head of operational management and maintenance Simon Randall said it would take a year for turf to establish and some remedial works were needed around the cricket wicket.

Council was currently working with the contractor on a method and time frame to complete drainage work but the ground conditions needed to improve before that could be done, he said.

"It is expected that the park will be open for public use late November," Randall said.