Selwyn Park

Selwyn Park is a big, open neighbourhood green among the houses off Victory Street in Welcome Bay, Tauranga, and its playground is the small square of equipment out on the lawn just east of the tennis courts. Families mostly come for the space: room to kick a ball and run off energy, with a compact playground for the little ones when they tire of that.¹²

Equipment

The council register lists five pieces, set together in one square bed: a modular play unit, two spring rockers (one shaped like a whale), a line of 12 stepping posts and a yellow log roll tumbler.¹ It suits toddlers and under-fives best. No swings are listed, and there is not much here to stretch a confident eight-year-old. The main unit has been around a long while (the register records 1985), and one Google reviewer felt the whole playground needs a lot of TLC.¹

Practical Info

The play area is not fenced, but it sits well back from the surrounding streets in the middle of the grass, with the courts on one side and houses backing onto the reserve.² There is little shade over the equipment itself, only a few trees nearby. The park has a council public toilet,³ two seats beside the playground, a picnic table on the upper grass and three bike stands.⁴ Parking is off Victory Street, and Selwyn Ridge School is a short stroll away.

If your crew wants swings, Pelorus Street Reserve about 500 m south has a swing as well as its own play unit.⁵ Johnson Reserve, a similar distance away, was picked for natural play equipment in the council's Welcome Bay park upgrades, and its bush and wetland tracks run through to Victory Street, about a 40 minute walk from James Cook Drive.⁶⁷