Mair Park

Mair Park is a small riverside playground on Rurumoki Street in Regent, where a multi-play structure with a slide and swings including an infant swing sit beneath established trees on the banks of the Hatea River. Open grassed flats between the car park and the river add informal run around room for older children, alongside equipment suited to toddlers and early primary age visitors.

Equipment

The play area centres on a multi-play structure with a slide, set on a bark surface, alongside a swing set that includes an infant swing.

Access and Inclusion

The playground surface is bark. An infant swing and a slide suitable for use with adult assistance suit toddlers and pre schoolers, while the open grass flats nearby give older children room to run.

History and Cultural

Parihaka, the forested ridge rising directly above the playground, is an ancestral maunga of Te Parawhau hapu of Ngapuhi, and in the late 18th century was the site of battles for control of what may have been one of the largest fortified pa in the country. For most of the 20th century the mountain was known incorrectly as Parahaki; the Geographic Board restored the name Parihaka in 2005 after decades of advocacy by kaumatua, and a 2016 ceremony on the summit blessed a carved kohatu affirming the mountain's mana.

Practical Info

Mair Park is entered from Rurumoki Street in Regent, with street parking on Rurumoki Street. Public toilets are on site, and established trees give some shade over the play equipment and spectators. The Hatea River path begins here and runs downstream toward the Town Basin, linking Mair Park into Whangarei's wider walkway network. A side route along Whareora Road normally leads to AH Reed Memorial Kauri Park, though that park was closed in April 2026 after kauri dieback disease was detected in one of its trees. Whangarei District Council operates a smokefree policy covering the playground.