Children in Pirongia are about to get their own space to build and design dirt jumps safely, with Waipā District Council creating a new dedicated dirt jump zone.
For the past few years, enterprising Pirongia kids have been using part of the road verge on the corner of McClure and Belcher Streets to dig out humps and hollows for their bike jumps. While this has provided a lot of fun, it has started to create some issues, including damage to the stormwater swale and growing health and safety concerns.
The stormwater swale is designed to slow down, capture and filter water runoff to reduce the risk of flooding and improve water quality through soil infiltration.
Community Services manager Brad Ward said it's great to see young people staying active outdoors, and the council didn't want to stop their fun or creative ambitions.
“To ensure the tamariki and rangatahi continue to have a space to make their jumps without damaging infrastructure, we will be creating a dirt mound at the future Pirongia skatepark site where they can dig and shape their own."
Staff met with local youth to gauge their thoughts on a new dedicated dirt jump zone – and the response was overwhelmingly positive.
“The new space will be much safer, keeping kids away from the road. Parents can feel more at ease knowing their budding engineers aren't playing on the road near a busy intersection.”
The dirt for the new zone will come from council’s parks and reserves and should be in place before the upcoming school holidays.
When the skatepark development begins, the soil will be repurposed into the planned bund along the neighbouring properties that will be planted to help with privacy.
Once the soil is in place at the skatepark site council will tidy up and reinstate the road verge at McClure and Belcher Streets.
