104 | COMMUNITY Waipa District Council: Play Spaces Renewal Project Funding priority for playgrounds Skateparks are another key component of Waipa District Council’s desire to create vibrant communities. 021 687 841 fluhler@gmail.com fluhlercontracting Fluhler Contracting Ltd is a locally family owned landscape & siteworks company in the Waikato specialising in custom playground builds, hard landscaping & Earthworks. Proudly supporting Waipa District Council on another successful project. playgroundcreations.co.nz We create playgrounds to inspire and ignite the magic of play. We are passionate about design excellence, outstanding quality and exceptional play value. the magic of play Your project. Our passion. Let’s play! We’d love to chat 0800 273 283 There could be worse jobs working in Council than being involved in creating meaningful play and recreation spaces for constituents of all ages and fitness levels to enjoy. Brad Ward, Manager – Community Services, says it’s a very positive position, engaging with community and delivering outcomes that enhance community life as enacted through the district’s Long Term Plan. “It’s a great job, full of variety. The scope of my role covers leading all our reserve and asset planning, park operations, cemeteries services, libraries and museums. The role also supports our service delivery partners Go Waipa (who manage Te Awamutu Events Centre and Perry Aquatics Centre) and Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust. We identify projects to meet the communities growing needs and once funding has been committed in the LTP then part of my role is to see those projects come to fruition.” The Waipa District includes two major urban population centres, Cambridge and Te Awamutu and a score of smaller settlements, each with its own unique needs and situations. Brad says it can be challenging to enable each community to develop in the way they want. Playground funding in particular has been prioritised for Council funding and resourcing. “We’re a very fast growing district with new people coming into the area, bringing children and youth as well as an ageing population, each with their own needs. “We’re finding it increasingly common for grandparents to take the children to playgrounds, so we’ve been looking closely at how to provide engaging environments for older demographics while the children play.” Destination-size playgrounds, reflecting that often homes now are being built on smaller Sue Russell and smaller sections, are becoming more popular. Council is working with a number of property developers opening up new land for housing to ensure these areas provide adequate recreation facilities for a growing population to enjoy. Playgrounds are designed these days with a whole raft of thinking behind them. Not only providing physical challenge and sensory experiences but also creating spaces for social engagement. “And consideration is given more and more to ensuring those who may have been marginalised from fully enjoying playgrounds, such as those with accessibility challenges, are catered for.” There is also a lot of consideration given to health and safety while at the same time providing challenges for those using the equipment and space. Brad says Council has a dedicated person looking into compliance of their playgrounds and proactively maintaining these popular assets to eliminate or mitigate any risks for tamariki using the playgrounds. Ensuring playgrounds remain engaging and maximise play value is important to Council. “Our playground asset officer has his ear to the ground ensuring we understand what equipment is being used and what is less popular as communities change.” There’s also engagement with community groups that have a particular wish and are prepared to co-fund developments with Council, as is the case with Pirongia’s Rangimarie Reserve. Members of the Pironiga community wanted a new playground for young families, but there was no Council project for that work identified at the time. So the community fundraised and alongside Council budget, were able to implement a new playground in the centre of Pirongia. Skate parks are another key component of Council’s desire to create vibrant communities and meet Council’s Vision – Waipā Home of Champions: Building connected communities. “They are big projects for us as they will be in the ground for 50 years, so a lot of careful thought and planning goes into them. We have four new skate parks coming to Waipā – we engaged with specialist designers and worked with the communities they are located in to ensure they are really useable and relevant and will serve the community well.” Once funding has been secured and the project scope confirmed, Brad says the work is handed over to the Project Delivery Team who are responsible for seeing it delivered within time-frames set down and within budget. “As Te Tiriti partners, we are also looking more closely at ways to better serve our Māori community and mana wheuna aspirations. It is certainly not a one size fits all approach and its our responsibility to engage with target groups to ensure their voices are heard in the development stages. “A recent example of this is our recent concept designs for Lake Te Koo Utu and the Te Awamutu War Memorial Park, where through engagement, we will be including māra hūpara play areas in the future.” Working in the parks and recreation space is certainly a positive one Brad acknowledges. “It is a positive role and brings meaningful change to communities and adds value to how our citizens live and engage with their environment and with each other.” “They are big projects for us as they will be in the ground for 50 years, so a lot of careful thought and planning goes into them.”
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