Three-tonne wooden whale beaches at Gisborne reserve

The new three-tonne whale sculpture at Lysnar Reserve is proving popular with children. It was installed this week and replaces a swing that had reached the end of its natural lifespan.

A whale has beached at Ōkitu, but it’s not a tragic tale.

This whale is a three-tonne sculpture created and installed at Lysnar Reserve to replace a swing that reached the end of its natural lifespan and was removed.

A Gisborne District Council spokeswoman said the “reactive renewal” was a joint project with Ben Millward and his team at Cut Above Sawmilling and Woodworks, with guidance from mana whenua.

The sculpture “creates a new whale-inspired play element” and is carved from elm sourced in Ngātapa.

“The design encourages imagination, connection with te taiao [the natural world] and adds a unique natural play feature to our play space network,” the spokeswoman said.

“Despite a limited budget and timeframe we aimed to create something meaningful that reflects local stories.”

The sculpture was installed earlier this week “much to the delight and excitement of Wainui [Beach] School students”.

“Naming the whale is an idea that’s come up but is still under discussion and nothing has been confirmed.”

Millward said the sculpture was “a fair piece of wood” and the Wainui school kids enjoyed playing on it.

The company’s Facebook said the whale had been “a very cool project to be involved in”.

The council has prioritised the bulk of its limited two-year play space budget for phase 1 of an upgrade in Elgin.

The concept for Elgin is to go out for community consultation.

A small remaining budget is set aside for essential reactive renewals and maintenance across the play spaces network for the remaining two years to keep spaces safe and compliant.

The council spokeswoman said with an ageing play space network and limited funding, the council would be engaging with the community through the upcoming Long-Term Plan, and encouraging feedback and submissions.

“This process will be guided by the work we’ve undertaken through Tairāwhiti Play Study and our Future Play space Upgrade and Renewal Programme.”