Brooklands Park

Good to know

• HistoryThe Bowl of Brooklands was conceived by Eric Handbury, New Plymouth's first public relations officer, after he discovered the natural amphitheatre at Brooklands in 1957. Construction began on 17 August 1957 using volunteer labour from surveyors, architects, carpenters, electricians and plumbers; 13,000 stakes were driven into the ground for seating and 25 volunteers hoisted the soundshell arch into place. It opened on 25 February 1958 with the Festival of the Pines, featuring Irish tenor Patrick O'Hagen, the National Orchestra, ballet and theatre — drawing 45,000 people over seven days. The stage appears to float on the lake, making it one of New Zealand's most distinctive outdoor concert venues.

  Source: terangiaoaonunui.pukeariki.com

• HistoryBrooklands Zoo opened on 27 February 1965, after being constructed almost entirely by volunteers from the New Plymouth Jaycees chapter. The club conceived the zoo idea in 1959; 65 of the chapter's 70 members contributed 1,411 volunteer hours to build it. Ronald Brooker, the chapter chairman who championed the project, died suddenly in January 1965 before the opening — his widow unveiled the name plaque. The zoo opened with 130 birds across 14 species and two monkeys borrowed from Wellington Zoo. It sits directly adjacent to the playground on the Brooklands Park Drive side.

  Source: pukekura-history.co.nz

• HistoryThe Brooklands playground area has Jaycees origins: the paddling pool (Barclay Pool) was constructed by the New Plymouth Jaycees in 1960 and featured a Don Driver 'Cats' sculpture on a drinking fountain. The pool was removed in 2003 and its footprint incorporated into the playground; the original sculpture was refurbished and is now part of the Govett-Brewster collection. A replica was installed during the 2013 playground revamp. The current playground footprint also includes the site of the original peafowl enclosure, demolished in 2000.

  Source: pukekura-history.co.nz

• HistoryDon Driver's original Cats sculpture came off the paddling-pool fountain when the pool was removed in 2003 and went into a museum collection; a cast replica made in 2012 was installed the following year when the playground reopened.

  Source: pukekura-history.co.nz

• CultureWOMAD Aotearoa has been held at the Bowl of Brooklands since 2003, making New Plymouth the smallest city in the world to host a WOMAD festival — the next smallest host city is Adelaide at roughly one million people. The festival began as a biennial event and became annual from 2007. The 2023 edition marked the 20th anniversary of WOMAD at Brooklands Park.

  Source: rnz.co.nz

• Handy to knowThe playground's current layout dates to a 2013 redesign, with the official reopening held in October 2013.

  Source: pukekura-history.co.nz

• RecognitionPukekura Park (which encompasses Brooklands Park) holds a 5-Star Garden of National Significance designation from the New Zealand Gardens Trust and the international Green Flag award for park excellence. Brooklands Park was gifted to the combined reserve in 1934 along with the neighbouring remnant lowland forest at Maranui Gully. The reserve expanded from 15 hectares at founding to 52 hectares today.

  Source: rnz.co.nz

• LatestThe New Plymouth District Council has investigated expanding the Bowl of Brooklands' current 15,000-person capacity to 25,000 by re-sculpting hillside terraces, relocating the driveway and potentially covering the iconic lake. The Seekers drew 17,500 to the Bowl in 1968 — still its largest single-show attendance. The Friends of Pukekura Park (130 members) opposed the expansion proposal, citing risks to the park's heritage character.

  Source: rnz.co.nz