St Heliers Church and Community Centre hosts an after-school programme. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Red tape has put an end to outdoor play at an Auckland centre's after-school programme, in a move which has left one parent irked and puzzled.
The ban comes with restrictions around noise that were agreed to with the upgrade of the St Heliers Church and Community Centre, which hosted an after-school Oscar programme before renovations began.
However, longtime neighbours say the sound of children playing has never been a problem.
The upgrade meant the programme was moved a 15-minute walk away to the Glendowie Community Centre, and parents expected they wouldn't be able to have their children back to the former site until an email came from centre operations manager Gill Blower this week.
The renovated St Heliers centre would soon be able to host a special group for up to 20 children, ideally for music lessons or a kids' club, but the outdoor play area was now out of bounds.
One parent told the Herald she was baffled at the new rules, which didn't apply to day-time preschool-aged care offered there.
"I was really confused ... we were told we could take our kids back, but not if they wanted to play outside - I don't usually define a child as an outdoor or an indoor child."
It would be more convenient for her 6-year-old son to join the new group but she refused to let him attend any programme where outside play was banned.
She hadn't thought the children there had been overly noisy, "but then I'm a parent so my acceptability levels may be a little higher than those of the elderly people who live around there".
The case follows controversy surrounding a flying fox next to Auckland's Stonefields housing estate, which had to be suspended because of the noise level-exceeding screams of delight from children who used it.
Auckland Council manager central resource consents Mark White said the centre redevelopment came with conditions relating to noise management, and a plan to address it, provided by the centre itself, proposed Oscar activities should be kept inside.
At the time the consent application was notified, a number of submitters also came forward with concerns around noise, he said.
When asked about any previous noise issues with neighbours, Ms Blower said there had been a small amount.
It had been part of the reason the programme was moved away from the site to Glendowie, she said.
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"To have 50 or 60 kids ... straight out of school and at the end of the day in such a dense residential area, can be annoying, I guess."
While she acknowledged the new offer wouldn't suit all parents of the 65 children presently based at Glendowie, she said the consent rules didn't leave any choice.
Neighbours said noise from the centre has never bothered them.
Maureen Erson lives just over the fence from where the childcare centre is run.
"The noise hasn't ever bothered me at all, I don't mind the sound of children playing," she said.
"I don't hear much at all from the church, I think children need to let off steam - it's certainly not bothering me."
There were a number of community events run there - including dances with music - but noise was never an issue.
"The after-school care is on the other side of the church from our place, but I wouldn't care either way," said one neighbour.
"It's really important and a really great community thing to have."
Some long-time neighbours of the St Heliers Community Centre, have expressed their sadness at the news they may no longer hear the happy sounds of children playing outside.
Pamela Williams and Graeme Stuckey, who have lived in the area for 20 years, said they were very close neighbours of the centre, where a ban on outdoor play, along with restrictions around noise had been agreed to as part of an upgrade of the St Heliers Church and Community Centre.
"We do not classify ourselves as 'elderly people who live around here' and would like the parents to know that we love hearing the happy sounds of the Oscar children playing outside after school."
The couple added they were baffled and saddened by the decision not to allow the children to play outside.
One mother said her six-year-old son now has to walk further, in the cold and rain, to get to his afterschool programme in Glendowie.
Ruth Leary said, following the ban on outdoor play at the after-school programme at the St Heliers site, it was her son's only option for playing outdoors after school.
However she said it was not an ideal location given the extra distance he had to walk and the lack of direct transport available.
But Ms Leary said, "after the kids have been sitting in a classroom all day, it is nice for them to get outside".
She said the ban on outdoor play, as a form of noise control, was "unbelievable" especially given the after-school programme only went till 5:45.
But even if Ms Leary wanted to take her son back to the site at St Heliers she was not sure if she could.
She said because the children were no longer allowed to play outside, the once 45 children limit had been reduced to only 20.
- additional reporting: Morgan Tait