New Palmerston North walkway offers play opportunities for the community

A partnership between us, Palmerston North City Council and Sport Manawatū has transformed the Wharenui Walkway between Rangiora Avenue and Wharenui Terrace into a colourful, inviting space filled with play opportunities.

The walkway has always been an essential asset for the community. Many tamariki and whānau walk along daily as it’s the connecting link between the Roslyn community and Terrace End School. It also crosses a new Kāinga Ora social housing development of 14 homes.

From left to right: Whitney Le Comte (Sport Manawatū), Manumea Durie (Palmerston North City Council) and Lusia Luamanu (Kāinga Ora).

Manumea Durie, Play Advisor at Palmerston North City Council, spotted an opportunity to enhance the walkway and worked with Sport Manawatū on how it could provide play opportunities for all ages, abilities and backgrounds.

“Play is for everyone and it’s an amazing way to bring people together and make a space feel more vibrant, safe and welcoming,” says Manumea. “We also know that play has a huge impact on someone’s mental, physical and emotional health.”

Whitney Le Comte, Tamariki Advisor at Sport Manawatū, utilised the existing relationships with Terrace End School to ask students to come up with suggestions about which play elements they wanted to see on the walkway. The tamariki submitted various ideas, including lots of colour and positive affirmations.

“We gave the ideas to a local artist who used the student’s themes alongside some classic play-on-the-way designs to create the walkway,” says Whitney. “It was important that the tamariki got to see some of their ideas within the playful activation in their community for a sense of belonging.”

Kāinga Ora Senior Housing Support Manager Lusia Luamanu, who supports Kāinga Ora customers to live well in their homes, says the walkway is a great opportunity to connect (new) customers with the wider community.

“It is wonderful to see so many people enjoying the new walkway. Kids especially seem to enjoy running, jumping, hopping, and skipping, which are so important for developing their fitness, coordination, endurance, and strength,” ends Whitney.

Watch a short video of the new Wharenui walkway(external link).