New Hastings playground forced to close off section after damage

Cornwall Park Playground has only been open for a little over two weeks. Photo / Paul Taylor

Cornwall Park's new $1.7 million playground has been partially closed after reopening two weeks ago.

A Hastings District Council spokeswoman said part of the playground had been blocked off after anchor points on a climbing rope net had come loose.

The net area was closed for safety reasons, and the council was working with the playground's equipment supplier to repair the equipment.

The playground, which boasts one of the fastest slides in New Zealand, had opened on December 20 after a five-month upgrade.

It has 28 pieces of equipment and up to 85 play items, which means around 325 kids can play at the park any one time.

It also has five slides - adding up to 34m - and Australasia's only 10m-high acorn climbing tower.

Jason Winstanley and his family are visiting Hawke's Bay from Auckland and had heard about the new playground, and he took his children along.

"When we got there we noticed there were people from Health and Safety and they were telling people not to go on a certain portion of the playground because it was damaged," Winstanley said.

One of the anchor points holding the net came lose, forcing the council to close off the section due to safety concerns. Photo / Paul Taylor

He said it was a bit odd that it had already sustained damage after only being opened for a matter of weeks.

"The closure didn't put a dampener on the fun the kids were having, they loved it, there was so much there the closure didn't really make a difference but it did seem like the council were getting on to it fairly quickly."