Unsafe play gear pulled from Hamilton parks

The council will review its playground programme. Photo / Thinkstock

Broken, unsafe or unused playground equipment has been removed from four Hamilton parks and a wooden playground was in such disrepair it was closed this month.

Dominion Park in Nawton was closed last week as a result of ongoing vandalism in the past two years.

A steel climbing frame from Steele Park in Hamilton East, a pirate ship at Deanwell Park in Melville and a timber fitness trail and climbing frame and a slide from Fairfield Park in Fairfield have been removed in the past year.

The closure of Dominion Park takes the total number of playgrounds in the city to 86 including three destination playgrounds at Tauhara Park, Claudelands and Hamilton Lake - despite the 2010/11 annual report published last month stating there are 91, down from 95 the previous year.

Hamilton City Council parks and gardens manager Sally Sheedy said there was a "minor discrepancy" in the annual report caused by a former staff member misinterpreting the figures.

The city council will review its playground programme, including funding and equipment replacement, this month as part of its capital programme work for its 10-year Long Term Plan where it is making savings to fix a serious financial problem.

Hamilton councillor Pippa Mahood said Steele Park desperately needed upgrading.

"There's a lot of kids who use that and all they have is a couple of swings, a see-saw and a climbing frame which was broken. It's been neglected for at least two decades and should be brought up to standard."

Councillor Martin Gallagher supported more partnerships between schools and the council to give the community better access to playgrounds.

Meanwhile, two new playgrounds at the Te Awa o Kaitipaki Reserve and Pine Ave in Bader opened this year.

A Hamilton West mother of two pre-schoolers, Jo Mannering, who last year successfully advocated for the new Pine Ave playground, said there were some "manky" playgrounds that people would avoid.

Ms Sheedy said misuse or vandalism was the main reason for playground equipment being broken.

The council regularly inspected playgrounds and removed equipment if it could not be repaired.

She said removing a piece of equipment did not necessarily mean the whole playground would be closed.

As part of its regular inspections of the parks, the council is monitoring several with rusting equipment.