Play plan goes ahead in leaps and bounds
Hamilton residents might soon be a much more active and funloving bunch, thanks to a new council strategy being developed and implemented – sometimes literally – in leaps and bounds.
The ‘‘Play Strategy’’, as the Hamilton City Council has dubbed it, is now being led by Dr Damien Puddle, the chief executive of the New Zealand Parkour Association.
Puddle – who was employed by the council in the newly established role of ‘‘local play advocate’’ in December – introduced himself to councillors at last Thursday’s meeting of the community committee by setting them a challenge: To build a duck out of random pieces of Lego within a few minutes.
The object of the exercise was ‘‘just the joy of playing and participating’’.
It was an ethos he hoped to extend throughout the city.
The strategy’s vision was that Hamilton become ‘‘a great place for everyone to play’’ and Puddle’s role – which is funded by Sport New Zealand via Sport Waikato – was to facilitate and create opportunities for spontaneous recreation.
It was adopted by the council in April 2019, and it won the outstanding research, policy and planning award from Recreation Aotearoa in November that year.
It has both internal and external goals. One of the outcomes was to reimagine Hamilton as an urban playground, with a connected and accessible network of play opportunities available throughout the city.
These could come in the form of places for adults and school students alike to stop and have fun while on their way to and from work and school.
One such place where they could do this was a Hillcrest Stadium playground, where children were using the pump track area as a place for incidental play. It was a hoped these habits would eventually ‘‘shift the dial’’ towards students walking, cycling and scootering to school, rather than taking a car.
Another goal, which has already been partially achieved, was a culture change within the council itself. This had manifested in things like more innovative and creative ideas for infrastructure – as seen in the design of a courtyard area for the Chartwell Library, that incorporates fun elements like outdoor reading areas and moveable seating.
A similar approach had been taken with the renewal of the Innes Common exercise and parkour area. Completed in 2019, the area was now a training space that could challenge both those experienced in parkour and toddlers alike to find physical challenges to complete.
In setting the duck-building challenge at the community committee meeting, Puddle confounded some of the politicians.
‘‘There is no right or wrong answer,’’ he told them. ‘‘If it’s a duck to you, then it’s a duck.’’
Some of the councillors had a more difficult experience with the duck than others.
‘‘Mine looks like it’s been hit by a car,’’ grumbled committee chairman Mark Bunting. ‘‘It’s the worst duck in the world.’’
Puddle said he had presented that challenge to council staff as his introduction to them. ‘‘I have had 51 ducks created so far, and zero of those ducks have been identical to each other.’’