Kia ora koutou,

Thank you for your patience as we worked towards a final design for the Willowbank Reserve play area, based on the key themes that came through the public consultation in June. You can see the final design here.

Just a reminder that the primary driver for the renewal is that the assets have reached the end of life stage, and are fully depreciated. The current play area is 18 years old and has non-compliance issues in relation to the current NZ Standards for playground equipment and surfacing.

The initial concept design came out of the early engagement Rima survey that was conducted in 2023, and we have then tried to accommodate additional requests where we can.
These include:

• In addition to the Dancing Snake swing, we have managed to get an extra swing seat within the layout. It will now have 1 infant seat, 2 belt seats, 1 inclusive seat that can be used by all users with all abilities, and 1 basket seat.
• Adjusting the layout to keep the toddler area more centralised.
• Adding a shop front to the equipment.
• Adding some monkey bars, that will connect to the tower.
• We have included more components to the tower, to add to its play value. This includes a multi-level talk tube,
• Adding sensory play panels.
• Adding musical items with a xylophone and cat’s tails musical chimes
• Adding more elements to the nature play section, including a ravine climber, large rope
• Adding a couple of posts with lugs for tying up dogs, on the edges of the play area.
• Adding 2 bike racks.
• Ensuring that the new picnic table is easily accessed in to the asphalt path.

There were some requests that we were not able to accommodate, largely to do with budget constraints, trade-offs with other equipment and the layout of the site.

Examples include:

• Adding a BBQ
• Adding a toilet
• Adding a ramp to the bridge
• Adding a fountain
• Adding a hamster wheel

I have passed on requests to improve the state of the Tawa Shared Path & the request for lighting along this path, to the relevant team.

We are aiming to start construction in late February 2025, when the site has had the summer to dry out, and have some autumn rains near the end of the build, for the new plants.