Flaxmere Park named New Zealand's active park of the year

Judges said every part of the park is constantly in use and commended the community input in its development. Photo / Supplied

Flaxmere Park has been named New Zealand's active park of the year in the 2020 NZ Park Awards run by Recreation Aotearoa.

Hastings District Councillor for Flaxmere and Hastings Ambassador Henare O'Keefe said he "got pretty emotional" when he found out.

Getting the park to where it is at, has been 10 years in the making, he said.

"This park has brought our community together, they all come here, even in winter. It's no ordinary park, it goes deeper than that – it's like a mother and father of our community."

The judges were impressed with the range of physical and social opportunities at the park and the community input which went into the park's development.

"Every part of the park, from the cycleways to the splashpad, is constantly in use.

"The park shows the power of engaging your community in planning and delivering the space, ultimately ending up with a park for all," they said.

The park has a marked sports ground often used for games at the weekend and a ki-o-rahi field, which was the first public field in the country at the time it was installed.

The park is used by fitness enthusiasts, event-goers and families alike with an outdoor stage for community events, exercise equipment, a nine-hole disc golf course, a playground and a 5km asphalt track.

The track is used by 100 park runners every Saturday and solo runners, walkers and cyclists daily.

Hastings District Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said the award was a "wonderful acknowledgement" of the Flaxmere community whose ideas and vision had helped develop the park.

"I love seeing our whānau making the most of our beautiful parks and I'm very proud of the joint effort that both our residents and our parks team have put into Flaxmere Park."