Adventure equipment chosen for 'dream playground' at Waikirikiri

And the winner is . . . The Kaiti community overwhelmingly chose this option for the new Waikirikiri Park playground. Picture supplied

The Kaiti community has selected a new ‘‘dream playground’’ to be built at Waikirikiri Park following a six-month consultation process.

Initial ideas and input were provided through an online survey and ‘‘dream playground’’ exercises in schools alongside a consultation event.

The ideas were given to prospective designers and the chosen designer submitted three possible designs for the new playground.

Sport Gisborne Tairawhiti sport and operations general manager Kylie Turuwhenua-Tapsell, said the online voting survey was open for two weeks and reached 1474 people.

“We also visited Te Wharau School, Kaiti School and Te Kura Reo Rua o Waikirikiri.

“At each school, teachers brought their classrooms through our voting booth, where tamariki could view enlarged versions of each design and vote for their favourite.

“Following the school visits, we took the voting booth to JAB rugby at Waikirikiri Park, repeating the same process.

“One in 10 residents responded to the survey, which we see as a significant achievement.”

As a result of this process, nearly 70 percent of voters were under 20, 64 percent were Kaiti residents and 69 percent were under the age of 20.

The consultation focused on the preference of Kaiti residents and Kaiti youth.

Across all demographic breakdowns, option 3 was the preference among voters.

The results from all voters were, option 3, 53.9 percent; option 1, 37.2 percent; option 2, 8.9 percent.

“We’re trying to create a space that young people want to use and for which we feel a sense of ownership.

“By providing our tamariki with a platform to design their playground, they’ve come up with amazing ideas, input and solutions for the space,” said Mrs Turuwhenua-Tapsell,

“It’s a good reminder that young people have a lot to contribute to the development of their community, and we need to make opportunities to give them a voice.”

n Additional to the construction of the playground, the community has shown interest in creating artworks to tell some of the rich history of Waikirikiri Park.

Twenty-five community members have volunteered their time and skills to the project, which will aim to immortalise the stories of the playground’s original founders, the park’s history with local iwi and the social significance of the space to today’s residents.

Pou/whakairo/carvings and murals were the most demanded art forms in the recent community survey.