The president of the Onerahi Playcentre says hundreds of fish hooks planted in a playground is one of several unpleasant incidents since a skatepark was opened there only weeks ago.
The fish hooks were discovered after a boy got one stuck in his foot on Wednesday afternoon. Local community members and Whangarei District staff picked up hundreds of hooks believed to have been deliberately laced throughout the bark under the play equipment.
Playcentre president Sandy Hatherell, who also manages a before-school programme in the community building adjacent to Sherwood Park, said many children in the neighbourhood used the playground and park every day.
Ms Hatherell said it was unfortunate that a facility designed to benefit local children was attracting an undesirable element. There had been a rise in bad behaviour, litter and even people urinating among trees at the park since the upgraded skateboard ramp was re-opened last month, she said.
She believed Whangarei District Council had not "thought through" the upgrade project. While it had attracted people back to the park, no extra lighting had been installed, the nearest public toilets were at the shopping centre along the road, there was no security camera and sometimes no rubbish bin at the park because bins were regularly vandalised.
