Playtime for Turangi's kids

Children of Turangi rejoice - for you are about to be blessed with new playgrounds.

While the playgrounds on McLaren Park and Taupahi Rd are the two biggest and brightest in town, there are several smaller neighbourhood playgrounds located on council reserves throughout Turangi and it's these ones that are in line for a facelift.

No one knows for sure how old the equipment in some of the neighbourhood playgrounds is, but it is outdated, outmoded and situated in rather depressing reserves livened up only by some grass and the graffiti along the fencelines.

Turangi-Tongariro Community Board chairman Gary Keepa says the equipment in the playgrounds must be approaching at least 30 years old, as it was all in place when he first arrived in Turangi in 1984.

While the equipment has always been kept in reasonable repair, the Taupo District Council is preparing to remove some of the old swings and replace them with new ones, add some new features such as spinning bowls and ride-on bouncers, repaint the climb-on metal giraffes, and remove some old and unsafe items, such as see-saws and jungle gyms, all together.

But it is also keen to hear people's comments and suggestions on what they want to see.

Council district offices manager Greg Hadley says the first priorities for the upgrades will be the neighbourhood playgrounds between Ohuanga Rd and Raukura St and between Patikura Pl and Meri Gr.

In November, it will be the turn of the playground at the end of Paekiri St and Rangipoia Pl, which many children pass through on their way to and from Tongariro School each day.

That playground will have a new feature, a basket swing which can accommodate up to four youngsters and which has proved very popular at other playgrounds. Greg is also considering installing some climbing equipment such as the revamped giraffes and climbing nets that will suit older children.

The hard plastic matting from under some of the swing sets at neighbourhood playgrounds has already been removed for safety reasons and replaced by extra bark. In addition, all the old bark in the playgrounds will be dug out and replaced with a new supply.

As part of the upgrades, the fences bordering the neighbourhood reserves will be repainted and the reserves given a general tidy up, and the untidy white boundary fences replaced with timber post and rail fences.

The upgrades were triggered by a council safety and asset inspection of the playground equipment. The money is coming from the council's parks and reserves renewals budget and is not part of the $250,000 allocated for town centre upgrades in Turangi and Mangakino.

Greg says while the Paekiri St playground will cater for the schoolchildren, the smaller playgrounds sited on neighbourhood reserves and walkways around the town will focus more on "mum and the kids" users.

"We can put in something quite special for them and put in a bench seat down one end so they [adults] have somewhere to sit while the kids play."

Greg says while Turangi has many small neighbourhood reserves with play areas, it is more effective to upgrade a few properly at first, especially given that most are only a few hundred metres away from each other.

"I'm keen to get some of this stuff in the ground within the next few weeks."

He thinks that with a bit of work some of Turangi's neighbourhood reserves can become "really cute little areas" and hopes that locals will also take care of them.

The McLaren Park play area, which had a popular new rope climbing frame added in the past year, will be repaired where needed and left as it is for the time being while discussions continue around a proposed adventure playground nearby.

Both Gary and Greg are keen to hear people's feedback on the proposed neighbourhood playground upgrades.

To comment or contribute your ideas, you can contact the Taupo District Council's Turangi office on 386 7017 or text the Turangi Chronicle on 021 241 4568 (insert the code TC at the start of your message). Text comments will be passed on to the council.