Silvana Park

Silvana Park is a small Flat Bush playground in east Auckland, set in a wooded green belt where a single flying fox runs down a grassy clearing ringed by tall pines and native trees. Auckland Council lists it as a public playground under the Howick Local Board, recorded as Silvana Park/Norwood Estate Park.¹

Equipment

The flying fox is the reason to come, and one Google reviewer named it as the thing they loved. Check before you promise it to the kids, though. A photo in our gallery shows one end post with its cable removed and a council sign reading "This facility is currently closed for maintenance", and another reviewer was disappointed to find the flying fox gone. The only other play pieces are two clusters of timber stepping posts set in the grass, good for hopping and balancing. Nothing else shows in the photos or aerial imagery: no swings, slide or toddler equipment.

Practical Info

Everything sits on open lawn with no fencing and grass underfoot rather than safety surfacing. Mature trees wrap the clearing, so there is shade around the edges, and paths loop through the reserve. The aerial shows no toilet block or car park, so park on the surrounding residential streets, and keep little ones away from the main road along the reserve's eastern edge. If the flying fox here is still out of action, Mission Heights Playground, about 600 m away, has its own flying fox plus swings and a slide.