Families lament loss of playground chimes

The sound of music reverberating across Whangarei’s Hatea River is no more, after many gripes from residents — and children and parents are lamenting the loss.

The popular chime musical instruments have been removed from the new Town Basin playground just three months after it opened.

The $1 million-plus Whangarei District Council (WDC) six-month redevelopment project was complete at the end of January.

Designed to cater for a range of ages and abilities, the playground features inground trampolines, a climbing circuit, combo swings, tunnel slide, turntable, a two-storey slide tower and several play features involving sound with bongo drums, talking tubes and other music makers — all with new safety matting and under shade sails. The original climbing spiderweb frame remains.

But two sets of musical chimes, which appealed to all ages, including babies,

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We decided the best thing to do would be to remove the chimes. Spencer Jellyman

WDC parks technical officer

have been removed after complaints from nearby residents and workers.

WDC parks technical officer Spencer Jellyman said although kids and parents enjoyed the chimes’ music, their sound carried a lot further than the council expected when they were installed.

“This has been bothering people who have had to listen to them all day. After multiple complaints about the chimes from around the Town Basin and as far away as the hillside properties over on Riverside, we decided the best thing to do would be to remove the chimes until we find an alternative that is still fun for children, but does not annoy people who live and work in the area all day.”

Parents at the playground this week were disappointed. Emma Whitburn stops in several times a week while walking the Ha¯tea Loop with 11-monthold Kupe. “He’s quite young but they were one of his favourite things.

“He just liked hitting them and making music and I could actually just take his pram up to them but we went there [on Wednesday] they are gone.”

Hamish Higgins goes to the park with 1-year-old Zhejiin Te Namu at least every fortnight and had read about the disappearance of the chimes that day.

“I think it’s pretty stink. We liked

them,” he said. “Residents need to suck it up. I’m sure the rich houses over there are sound-proof with double-glazing anyway,” he said.

Social media was also abuzz with comments from disappointed parents and caregivers. One called it the “best modern playground setup I’ve seen. I was attracted to the beautiful sounds of the musical instruments, kids play at day, vandals play at night”.

The latter comment was prompted by another discussion about lighting concerns at the park, with some parents commenting it was pitch-black after 6pm. However, many responded that kids should be at home by 6pm, a sentiment Jellyman agreed with.

“This is a children’s playground intended for use mainly during daylight hours,” he said.

“As noted, the noises [chimes, but also sounds of play] from the playground echo in the Town Basin, Riverside and surrounds, so we have removed the chimes. If the playground is lit all night, there is the potential for it to be misused by adults — probably under the influence — creating unwelcome noise, potential vandalism and light spill.”

A third issue raised was fencing around the water-side playground, which sparked much debate.

Said one: “I feel like it’s a harbour and we have lots of natural waterways around New Zealand. We can’t fence them all. Next thing, it would be fencing off the beach from the ocean.”

Jellyman said, “Feedback from the public was an important part of the redesign of the playground. One of the concerns raised was the closeness of the playground to the carpark, and its openness to the water. People often asked about fencing the area off.

“Our research indicated that the best way to keep children safe is to create a situation where caregivers need to be present and alert, keeping an eye out for and interacting with their children. Fencing can provide a false sense of security, especially given that children can quickly follow other people through gates when it is busy.

“For that reason, there is no fence, but we redesigned the playground with a mound that creates a physical barrier between it and the carpark.

“The shared path/seating was also realigned to act as a natural barrier for children between the water and the play area.”