It’s time to play ball on the shore with the upgrade of the court at Normanton Reserve in Glenfield complete and ready for action.
Kaipātiki Local Board officially opened the court on 20 March with a community day where local ballers joined board members to test out the court, which has been repositioned with a new surface and upgraded hoops.
“Basketball has been growing in popularity and the local board is well aware of the need for quality basketball facilities in our parks,” says local board chairperson John Gillon.
“We’ve been busy upgrading full-courts and half-courts across the area, including at Lysander Reserve, Manuka Reserve, Marlborough Park, and now Normanton Reserve.
“Harbour Basketball has advised that there are now around 290 local school teams on the North Shore, so this court will definitely be as popular as the others have proven to be," he says.
Deputy chairperson Danielle Grant says Normanton Reserve has been receiving a lot of love from the local board and there is more to come.
“Over recent years we’ve installed nature play climbing equipment on the hill, upgraded the learn-to-ride path, built a new skate dot feature, and installed lighting along the path.”
“We also continue to work with the council’s Healthy Waters team on daylighting the stream in the reserve and more play spaces are planned.”
Meanwhile, the damaged basketball hoop at Marlborough Park will be replaced with a different design soon.
Keeping Kaipātiki parks in tip-top shape
Meanwhile, it is all happening in local parks across Kaipātiki, with upgrades to several parks and park facilities completed or about to kick off.
In addition to the now completed Normanton Reserve works, new shade sails are now in place in Monarch Park in Hillcrest, and work is underway to upgrade the playgrounds at Jean Sampson Reserve at Northcote Point and Elliott Reserve in Bayview.
“As a board, we have put a real emphasis on making sure our playgrounds are modern and fun, but we realise that our parks are not just for play, but also for quiet contemplation,” says John Gillon.
“We also continue to invest in our SunSmart programme to ensure there is plenty of shade over our playgrounds to keep our tamariki safe.”
At Jean Sampson Reserve the playground will be upgraded and fenced to create a fun play space with a focus on toddlers. Kids will be able to enjoy slides, tunnel, sandpit, climbing and imaginative play. New picnic tables are going in and the and the current swing is being upgraded to include a basket swing.
The good news is while the fire truck that was installed in memory of a local child being moved during the works, it will return to take pride of place in the upgraded play space.
We are starting construction works in March 2021 and it is likely to take eight weeks, depending on the weather and ground conditions.
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