Packe Street Park & Community Gardens

Packe Street Park is a community garden reserve in Edgeware, Christchurch, and its only playground equipment is a three-seat swing set, so come for a quiet swing among fruit trees rather than a big play session. Locals created the park around 30 years ago, and it was one of the first community green spaces in the city.¹

Equipment

The council register lists a single metal swing set with two standard seats and one infant seat.² In the photos the frame is painted red with a blue top bar and stands on loose chip inside timber edging. It suits babies and under-fives best. Older kids will run out of things to do quickly, although the open lawns leave room for a ball game.

History and Cultural

An old walnut tree presides over the site, and the old pear and apple trees are survivors from the backyards of houses that once stood here.¹ Volunteers look after natives, vegetable plots, herbs and flowers, while the council looks after the open grass and the swings.¹ Reviewers mention how many fruit trees there are and the shared vege garden, and in the photos daylilies, fruit trees and cabbage trees crowd the beds around the lawns.

Practical Info

There is a picnic table and a bench, and the garden's listing describes the site as partly wheelchair accessible.¹ The park sits mid-block behind houses, entered from Packe Street, with parking on the street. For more equipment, Champion Reserve Playground is about 400 m away and St Albans Park Playground South is a similar walk.