The Orewa Central Reserve is getting new playground equipment.

A new spinner, balance tightrope circuit and aeroskate is being built at the playground. 

It will take about two weeks for the work to be complete then the little ones can enjoy playing on the new equipment.

The building of a new playground at the Whenua-roa/D'Oyly Reserve in Stanmore Bay is set to start soon and is expected to be completed in three months' time.

This playground was designed by ‘experts’ - local children from a nearby school. 

The playground had broken equipment and was in dire need of renovation. 

Families use this playground on the way to and from Stanmore Bay School. 

Due to the terrible state of the playground equipment, the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board stepped in and called the experts for help - local children! 

Several year-five and six students from Stanmore Bay School helped design the new playground last year and promise it will be bigger and better than ever before. 

The new playground is designed for those up to 12 years old and comes complete with a play area for Taonga Takaro - a traditional Maori game where players jump as high as they can while catching an opponent landing in the same space as themselves. 

The area is also large enough for social and creative play. 

The other features include swings and a rocker; a roll runner and planets, a climbing unit with slides, platforms and ropes; a wavy monkey bar, spider glider and tunnel net; balancing logs, a planted maze and landscaping. 

The old playground’s spinner and netball hoop will be relocated to another part of the playground.

Construction on the $280,000 project is due to start shortly. It will take about three months to complete.

This park is also making history as it will be the first park to have bilingual signage installed with dual Māori and English names - Whenua-roa / D’Oyly Reserve. 

Whenua-roa is a traditional name for this area meaning a ‘long stretch of land’.

As part of Auckland Council’s Te Kete Rukuruku programme, launched five years ago, the local board has adopted Māori names to sit alongside the English names, for 21 parks and more parks will be included later this year. 

Other signage will be changed over time to reflect the dual names, but only as it gets old and is due for replacement.

The programme sees local boards partnering with iwi to share Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland’s unique Māori stories by adding names and the meaning behind them to local sites.