February opening for new playground

13 December 2017

Te Awamutu's new playground and bike park will be opened in the new year with a community party to celebrate.

Waipa District Council has confirmed the Pop n' Good bike park and upgraded playground near Selwyn Park will open in late-February.

Community facilities manager Bruce Airey admitted he was disappointed the new facility will not be completed by Christmas but council wanted to "do it once and do it right".

Our contractors are making excellent progress on the bike park, and have laid concrete for the bike skills track this week. We haven't got there as quickly as we would have liked but it will be worth waiting for. We're asking the community to be patient just a little longer."

The bike park area will remain fenced off over the Christmas period but the existing playground will be open for the public to use until Monday 8 January. From that point on, the playground will be closed.

Closing the playground until the construction is finished in February allows us to complete upgrades at the park including installing new play equipment and constructing brand new water play and under-5 play areas. We want to take advantage of fine summer weather and push it through as fast as possible," Airey said.

We appreciate the timing with the school holidays is not ideal, but there are still plenty of areas for the community to enjoy. We encourage people to use the playgrounds at Victoria Park or Memorial Park which is just five minutes' walk. Centennial Park is also a good option, with a skate park, basketball court and pump and scooter track.

A community party to officially open the park is being planned with details to be advised in the new year.

For more information and updates, visit waipadc.govt.nz/TA-playground

For more information, contact: Simone van Asbeck, 027 564 7622