New park welcomed
A new playground in Steele Park marks the first step towards redevelopment of the city’s most historic suburb.
The park, aptly named Steele Park Playground, is the first project under the Hamilton East Neighbourhood Plan. But a Hamilton city councillor says the suburb is thriving how it is.
Hamilton East Ward councillor Garry Mallett voted against the Hamilton East Neighbourhood Plan when it was approved for consultation in July 2016.
He says Hamilton East is already thriving, as long as council keeps its ‘‘sticky fingers’’ out of it.
‘‘Council tends to stuff a lot things up … fortunately, council has been light-handed there up until now.’’
He said although the new playground was a positive, with all initiatives comes a minus and a plus.
The minus for the Hamilton East Neighbourhood Plan was the cost, especially with council’s major funding constraints, he said.
He can also foresee future issues with the proposed Avenue of Trees.
‘‘Those trees are absolutely stunning but, man alive, are they problematic. The roots play havoc with our roading and footpaths. There is a cost to the beauty,’’ Mallett said.
Hamilton East is one of the city’s oldest suburbs. Its Grey St was originally planned to be the main street of Hamilton.
Hamilton City Council admits that although Hamilton East backs on to the river, access from Grey St is poor and is a lost opportunity.
But the work is planned to meet those challenges.
Parks and open spaces manager Sally Sheedy said that, during public consultation, people made it clear they felt a new playground for the area was needed.
And two residents who work in Hamilton East agree, saying the playground’s addition would attract a more family-friendly audience.
Patricia Harrison works at Duck Island Icecream, adjacent to Steele Park.
She envisions people stopping off at the business and going on to use the playground, especially in the summer time.
‘‘Already a lot of people eat their icecream in the park and sit on the grass, so I think it makes sense to have a playground there,’’ she said.
‘‘It’s great they’re making it quite family-focused because there are definitely a lot of families in this area.
‘‘It is a really wholesome way to revitalise this area.’’
Brooke Hill, who works across the road at Grey Street Kitchen, said Hamilton East was becoming more cultured.
Ideally, a stronger connection to Waikato River would benefit the suburb, she said.
The plan’s four themes aimed to stimulate positive change for Hamilton East: Hamilton East Village, connections, living heritage and active places.
Sheedy said Steele Park Playground is located at the northwestern corner of the park, replacing ageing equipment on the southwestern corner.
The design incorporates shade from existing trees, and is walking distance to the public toilets.
New equipment has been installed, along with a fence around most of the playground to ensure the safety of children enjoying it, Sheedy said.
The Hamilton East Community Trust has taken the lead and organised an opening event on June 4 at 11am, coinciding with market day. Tomek Pietkiewicz is the guy behind Hamilton’s new dating scene – speed dating that is.
The 28-year-old started his speed dating business earlier this year and has big plans to expand across the country.
Failure on Tinder and watching Millionaire Matchmaker on Bravo led to the business’s conception.
‘‘Hamilton is not the most active city for going out and doing stuff,’’ he said.
‘‘I had a gut feeling it was going to work out.’’
He put the idea out on Facebook and ‘‘away you go’’.
The first event saw about 70 singles meet, mix and mingle. The second event had about 90 men and women, aged between 25 and 45, show up.
Punters have three minutes with each partner.
If at the end of the three minutes there is a connection, you write down their allocated number on a sheet of paper.
If both individuals write down each other’s numbers, then you are emailed their contact details.
The success is down to Hamilton’s single scene being quite strong, he said.
‘‘From what I’ve heard and seen, Tinder takes a bit of time, speed dating you’ve only got three minutes.
‘‘It’s a much more efficient way to get to know someone and get a vibe for what they’re like.
‘‘Tinder just takes too long and there’s no guarantee that you’re going to meet someone.’’
Pietkiewicz, who has a Bach- elor of Business Analysis from Waikato University, plans to grow the business through Facebook and word of mouth. He is looking for investors to join to expand to other parts of New Zealand.
‘‘Dating itself is a massive industry. There are matchmakers across the world yet it’s not so prolific as an industry in New Zealand. So yeah, it’s a massive opportunity.’’
He hopes that it will one day be ‘‘trendy in the Tron’’ for there to be a speed dating event happening every day.