- Devonport-Takapuna is set to become a more playful place with the adoption of the 2025 Play Plan
- The Plan will guide future investment in the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board area
- It encourages low-cost, low-maintenance initiatives that make the most of local resources and partnerships
The Devonport-Takapuna Local board now has a forward-thinking new plan in place to rethink how the community uses its parks, reserves, and public spaces.
The newly adopted 2025 Devonport-Takapuna Play Plan lays out a strategic framework for fostering more inclusive, imaginative, and accessible play opportunities from Devonport up to Sunnynook and Castor Bay.
The Plan provides the board with a roadmap for its future investment in play opportunities that go beyond traditional playgrounds to enhance the type of play spaces available, even with limited funds.
“Our approach in this plan is that the wellbeing and social connection opportunities for everyone can improve by playing, regardless of their age. We are considering wider access to all age groups, nature play options, less plastic and more natural play features, group facilities for families, and the benefits of playing on the way to a destination,” explains board chair Melissa Powell.
“Thank you to Jacquelyn Collins, Auckland Council Play Portfolio Lead for leading this project and encouraging us to expand our approach to play to benefit all our community. We look forward to delivering more and exciting play opportunities in the near future.”
The plan offers a wide range of options for the local board to incorporate wider play opportunities, such as:
- Playful street art
- Playful installations
- On-site adventurous nature spaces (pruning or modifying a felled or fallen tree to use as a natural play element)
- Working with existing community partners (libraries, community centres) to deliver more play-oriented activities
- Beach activation programme
- Sidelines Play Box (Local board-branded sports boxes gifted to local sports clubs)
- StoryWalks
Now that the plan is adopted, the next step for the board is to determine which play components to incorporate into their work programme, a document that helps the board plan its budgets for the year ahead to deliver real world projects to benefit the Devonport-Takapuna community.
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