Whanganui ‘s Power up the Park project for Castlecliff Domain secures first funding

The idea of installing lights at the Castlecliff Domain skatepark to improve safety and attract more users has blossomed into bigger plans for the park. Photo / Bevan Conley

A project that will eventually bring light, art and Wi-Fi to the Castlecliff Domain has received funding of $6850.

Power up the Park is an initiative from charitable organisation Progress Castlecliff.

The money, from Whanganui District Council’s Public Art Fund, will go towards artwork at the domain’s basketball court.

Earlier this year, Castlecliff residents Abraham Momoisea and Eden Waitai presented a submission to the council’s annual plan via Zoom from the domain itself.

They asked for lights to be installed at the skatepark to improve safety and attract more users.

Progress Castlecliff committee member James Barron said a friend had helped the pair jumpstart their car after they used it to light up the park.

“That’s when I got involved.

“I’ve had the same ideas but I don’t have kids, I don’t skate and I don’t play basketball.”

Power Up The Park involved a number of different projects and it was about “joining the dots”, Barron said.

The council is already replacing the domain’s slide.

“If we can get power into the park, there are some things we’d like to do on top of that.

“One is Wi-Fi. Quite often, kids are there and the parents are back up at Rangiora St because they don’t have data on their phone.

“The toilets need lights in them, so it’s no problem to bring a USB connection in there and run a mesh network over the park and probably down past the surf club so you can be on the beach.”

Barron said the park got a lot of use but every time there was an event, food trucks used portable generators.

Ngā Ringaringa Waewae spokesman Jamie Waugh. Photo / Mike Tweed

“A lockbox with a couple of caravan points in it would solve that.”

The art project, which draws inspiration from the site-specific pieces of American organisation Project Backboard, will be undertaken by Whanganui artist Mike Marsh following community consultation.

Securing the funding would also allow for some experimentation with the skate bowl next door, Barron said.

If the court paint worked at the bowl, there could be the possibility of street art competitions in the future.

“When taken all together, it’s an exciting piece of work and complementary. ‘Power up the Park’ is just the label we’ve thought up to go over it.”

Consultation on the artwork and other park projects will take place at workshops run by community and hapū-led collective Ngā Ringaringa Waewae.

It is leading development at the North Mole carpark and for the Castlecliff section of the council’s coastal action plan.

Spokesman Jamie Waugh said it was awesome to see young people like Momoisea and Waitai leading the initiative.

“They have come and spoken at a few of our Progress Castlecliff meetings.

“It’s the next generation showing us how things can be done.”

Waugh said the Power up the Park vision would fit in with the ongoing Ngā Ringaringa Waewae wananga process.

There are nine planned focus groups with various sectors of the Castlecliff community.

The next will be held on August 1 with Progress Castlecliff committee members and affiliates at The Citadel cafe.

A drop-in centre for community feedback will be available from 2.30pm to 5.30pm every Wednesday from August 9 at 14 Rangiora St.

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.