Reopening of new-look Castlecliff basketball court showcases strength of suburb’s community

The first hoop being shot on the newly-repainted Castlecliff basketball court. Photo / Finn Williams

The reopening of Castlecliff Domain’s newly-repainted basketball court highlighted the importance and strength of the local community in a way some hoped to emulate around the city.

The relaunch of the court was marked by a ceremonial first shot as well as speeches from prominent people involved in the project before people enjoyed a day in the sun at the park.

Whanganui Mayor Andrew Tripe said the opening of the court was about more than just the space in itself.

“This basketball court is about the community and bringing our community together,” Tripe said.

He commended the people of Castlecliff for forging such a strong community and thanked those involved with the court project.

“I was here about a year ago and look at the difference from now till then.”

The development work in the suburb could be used as a blueprint for the types of relationships he wanted to see built between the council and suburbs around the city.

“We want our communities to be involved in community initiatives, where we pass on the mantle from the council to the community to build our communities together in partnership with local government,” he said.

“What we want to see in council is more of these projects, where we rely on the community to work with council to get things done.”

Whanganui MP Carl Bates said he had been at some of the meetings where the plans for the court were first formulated.

“I think it’s pretty cool when these things that happen in local committees turn out and result in things like this,” Bates said.

“I think it’s awesome when we bring that right down to suburb level and we have things happening across our community that reflect the creativity and inspiration of our communities and Whanganui.”

He hoped the work put in would inspire the community to look after the court and would inspire other work across the city.

The project started when local residents Abraham Momoisea and Eden Waitai presented to the Whanganui District Council to ask for funding to install lights and other upgrades at the Castlecliff Domain.

Progress Castlecliff started the Power Up the Park initiative to help make this happen.

Earlier this year, the project received $6850 from the council’s Public Art Fund for the painting of the court.

The design of the court, created by local artist Mike Marsh, was inspired by designs submitted by rangatahi of Castlecliff School, with the paint donated by local business Fleet Line Markers.

Momoisea and Waitai were presented with personalised basketballs for their work on the project.

“I just thought I’d do something for the kids,” Momoisea said on why the project started.

“It’s been about 20 years and nothing’s happened out here, so I thought it was about time something changed.”

He thanked everyone who had helped so far in making the work a reality.

Progress Castlecliff’s James Barron said while he was happy to see the court all painted up, the work at the park wasn’t done yet and getting lights installed was still on the cards.

“We’ve got permission from council to put power into the park, which is floodlighting on the court and on the bowl [skatepark],” Barron said.

The immediate next steps with the domain would be to reintroduce the graffiti boards next to the skatepark to allow local artists to express themselves.

Finn Williams is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. He joined the Chronicle in early 2022 and regularly covers stories about business, events and emergencies. He also enjoys writing opinion columns on whatever interests him.