A popular seaside playground at Waihī Beach featuring artwork by local tamariki has won a national award for being an “exceptional playspace”.

The Island View Reserve playground at Waihī Beach was named Playspace of the Year (within a $500,000 budget), at Recreation Aotearoa’s Parks Awards.

The award recognises intentional development, innovative design, mana whenua acknowledgment, accessibility, and inclusivity.

"Winning this award shows how much our community has achieved together. It's wonderful to see the playground acknowledged as a special place for our tamariki to play and learn about their culture and environment,” says Western Bay of Plenty District Council reserves and facilities manager Peter Watson.

Completed in late 2021, and formally opened in 2022, the playground includes drawings, poems and sculptures designed and created by tamariki from Waihī Beach School and the local Kōhanga Reo.

Ensuring local tamariki felt connected to the playground was an important goal from the start, says Peter.

“Community leaders and kaumātua facilitated story telling to inspire tamariki and their ideas were either physically included or interpreted into the design.

“By involving them from the outset, we knew it would create a meaningful space for them and their parents to visit. We saw this happen as soon as the construction fence came down -within 15 minutes, the bike rack, car park, and playground were full.”

The involvement of tangata whenua was crucial to the project’s success, with te reo and Māori place names used in the playground and the site’s connection with Tuhua highlighted.

The entire school met on site to learn the whakapapa of the site, and hapu representatives shared the significant elements of Te Ao Māori with a local pākehā artist to create a tuatara sculpture which is displayed at the playground.

“Island View Reserve has a strong cultural presence and oral history, so it was important that the design was respectful, had a low environmental impact and blended well with the natural beach and dune surroundings,” says Peter.

A large log that washed up at another reserve during a storm was added to the playground design as a “contribution from Tangaroa”, and boardwalk timber from a walkway upgrade around Mauao was recycled and decorated with copper nail pictures of local kaimoana.

“We wanted to create a play space with materials that felt unique and specific to Waihī Beach,” says Peter.

Western Bay of Plenty District Council was joined in their success by their neighbouring peers, with Tauranga City Council and Bay of Plenty Regional Council also being recognised at the awards.

Tauranga City Council won the Healthy Park of the Year Award for ‘Recloaking Mauao while, Bay of Plenty Regional Council received a Merit Award for Pāpāmoa Hills Cultural Heritage Park in the same category, and Josh Clark, Natural Environment Advisor from Tauranga City Council, was named Parks Person of the Year.

"We're proud to share this success with our fellow councils, showcasing the dedication to enhancing our region's parks and natural spaces," says Peter.