It's a sad sight for visitors - the pole of the felled Mosquito Pt swing lying on the ground.
"That's disappointing. It was quite fun, wasn't it?" Laura Sangster said.
Sangster was brought up in Whanganui and used to swim at the muddy Whanganui River beach 4km from the outskirtsof Aramoho. Visiting on December 31, she arrived at the swim spot with her husband and their sleeping baby.
Her husband, Ollie Sangster, said it was sad to see the swing down, and took a quick look at the brown river.
"I probably wouldn't swim in it today, with the colour of that water," he said.
For about six weeks last summer, the pole was anchored to this. Photo / Bevan Conley
The swing pole lies in the car park, with the place where it was once attached still looking viable. The sign that used to warn users to take care is gone.
Answers about the swing's future will have to wait until Whanganui District Council staff are back at work after their Christmas holiday, a council spokeswoman said.
There has been a rope swing of some kind on the lower reaches of the river for decades. Generations of people have swung out over the river and let go at the height of its arc, to fall into the water.
In 2015 Mosquito Pt was named one of the country's top 10 swimming holes in the AA's Directions magazine. And in 2016 it was voted the top swim spot in the Horizons Region and got a spruce-up from the regional council.
The pole of the former Mosquito Point swing lies in the parking area beside the Whanganui River. Photo / Bevan Conley
Whanganui District Council took over maintenance of the swing in the 1990s. It removed the wooden swing pole in July 2016 because it was rotting.
However, people wanted the swing back and Mayor Hamish McDouall and some of the councillors liked the idea and the thrill the swing provided to visitors. Council staff advised them not to put the swing back because the safety of users could not be guaranteed.
But the majority of councillors wanted to reinstate the swing and a fresh version, with a metal pole, was officially launched at a ceremony on December 3, 2018. National media reported on it and McDouall was filmed swinging out above the river.
A sign at Mosquito Point warns about logs, rocks and boats. Photo / Bevan Conley
On that day, while the film crew was present, a 10-year-old girl lost her grip and fell from the swing, breaking both arms and her nose.
Despite that, neither her father nor the mayor wanted the swing removed. Both said it was fun and it was the users' responsibility to stay safe.
A Whanganui District Council worker tests the swing after it was replaced in 2018. Photo / Bevan Conley
The swing was well used but there were more bones broken and the pole was taken down just six weeks later on January 17.
In April last year councillors discussed the swing again and were again advised by staff not to put it back. Councillors asked staff to find a way to make it safer, up to a total cost of $25,000, and to find out how liable the council would be for any injuries suffered by users.
