The Houghton Bay Play Area is due for an upgrade. Three proposed design options were put forward for community consultation. The project is now under evaluation and review. An update will be shared once the final design has been confirmed.

Thank you for your patience as we worked towards a final design for the Houghton Bay play area based on the predominant themes that came through public consultation. Option 3, the community-led design, was the favourite among the three designs presented.

The new final design renders and an additional concept of what the entrance will look like with the Houghton Bay School students' artwork panels added to the fencing can be seen in the documents panel.

We had 252 submitters:

56 submissions or 22% supporting option 1

87 submissions or 35% supported option 2

93 submissions or 37% supported option 3

16 submissions did not have a preference, preferred a combination of designs or did not support the renewal (5 submissions).

The primary driver for the renewal is that the assets have reached their end of life. They are fully depreciated and the current play area is over 20 years old.

We have tried to accommodate additional requests where we can, including:

• Added a hard surface connection to the existing picnic table
• A bilingual communication board for illustrations to help people with limited language skills express themselves
• Adding a monkey bar set off the tower
• Adding an inclusive swing seat
• Retaining the bowl spinner
• Adding a braille panel.

There were some requests that we were not able to accommodate, largely to do with budget constraints, the layout of the site, and what we would expect for a neighbourhood category of play area.

Examples include:

• Adding more carparks
• Adding exercise equipment
• Adding a splashpad
• Adding a toilet
• Adding lighting.

Construction has started and we anticipate that the playground will be open towards the end of June, weather dependent.

Houghton Bay is a neighbourhood play area that is a handy place for a quick play, with play opportunities for at least one age group. It is designed to service the local neighbourhood within an approximate 600–metre walking distance.

We're renewing these play areas to make them an even better place to play. You can read more about Wellington City Council’s strategic vision and planning for play areas in Wellington in the Play Spaces Policy (2017).

For any other queries, email playgrounds@wcc.govt.nz.