Parkour course to be built in Te Awamutu

Youth in Te Awamutu will have something to smile about once a new parkour zone is built in Te Awamutu.

The designated parkour zone is one part of a wider refresh to the Centennial Park concept plan, which was presented to the Te Awamutu Community Board meeting on Tuesday.

Originally designed in 2015, the refreshed plan now includes a parkour course, skate park extension, new bike skills pump track, hang-out zone, play features and pathway upgrades.

The refresh followed community interest to see the old BMX track repurposed and to have existing and ageing skate elements renewed.

Waipā District Council’s community facilities team leader Brad Ward said the concept plan would meet a gap in play provision for youth across the district but implementation of some elements of the plan would be community-led.

“The 12-17 age bracket is often under-catered for with recreational areas and quality spaces to hang out so we’re really pleased to be able to create a park together with our community that is specifically designed for our young people with some really exciting new zones.”

One element of the plan that will be fully-funded by Council’s Centennial Park upgrade budget is the parkour course, which is expected to bring practitioners from across the Waikato to train. Work on building the new parkour course will start in the coming months.

“We’re particularly excited about the parkour zone as that’s a real emerging activity for our community. We’ll be bringing in expert Parkour practitioners to help design the course to make sure it provides that balance of features to ensure it caters for people of all ages and abilities to test and extend their mental and physical limits,” Ward added.

Parkour is an athletic activity based on creating and attempting movement challenges in the natural and built environments using a vocabulary of jumping, climbing, and acrobatic techniques.

The refreshed concept plan now encompasses the entire Centennial Park reserve on Rewi Street, including wetlands, stormwater swales and ponds and the Otawhao Pā site which will be recognised in consultation with Iwi.

The refreshed Centennial Park concept plan is available on the Council website at waipadc.govt.nz/our-council/strategy-and-planning/reservemanagementplans.