The Hāwea Community Association (HCA) wants to know what people consider makes a good playground, as it goes about addressing a shortage of playgrounds in the Hāwea area.

The association has formed a committee to help get the playgrounds project off the ground.

“We’re looking for easy wins, so there are two sites that are currently looking quite good,” HCA chair Cherilyn Walthew told the Wanaka App.

“The team is currently sorting out the feasibility of the sites then will go out to the community. We need to know what people think makes a good playground.”

Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) parks and reserves officer Diana Manson will work with the committee.

“We’re really pleased to have her on board,” Cherilyn said.

This Hāwea Flat reserve is a potential site for a new playground. PHOTO: Wanaka App

The HCA playground committee has identified a space at Sentinel Park for a playground, and they have also recognised a need for a playground in Hāwea Flat, which is also a growing community with young families. While there are a couple of playgrounds at Hāwea Flat School, they are not available for public use during school hours, and parents would like a playground within walking distance.

Some residents have indicated they would like to see a reserve on the corner of Loach Road and Long Grass Place developed for a playground, she said.

Cherilyn said the QLDC’s previous policy did not encourage developers to put playgrounds in new subdivisions: Lake Hāwea subdivisions Timsfield and Sentinel Park don’t have playgrounds, despite there being a high number of young families living there.

The council’s Long-Term Plan 2021-2031 was “quite disappointing” in that no money was allocated for playgrounds, Cherilyn said.

“We’ve expressed our disappointment with that,” she said, and added that while the HCA may not achieve anything on the playground project within the next ten years it will “plug away with it anyway”.