Tahapa Reserve West

Tahapa Reserve West is a small gully playground in Meadowbank, Auckland, opening straight off the Te Ara Ki Uta Ki Tai shared path, so it works as a pit stop on a family scooter or bike ride as well as a neighbourhood play space. The reserve covers just 0.81 hectares and is reached by a path from 63 Tahapa Crescent or directly from the shared path.¹

Equipment

Everything sits around a loop of concrete path. From the air you can pick out a slide built into the planted bank, landing on a blue safety-surfaced pad, then a swing frame and a smaller frame on its own pad, both on loose surfacing, with a basketball half court just below. It is a compact set that best suits under-fives and early primary ages; older kids will mostly be after the hoop.

Practical Info

There are benches along the path and open lawn across the lower reserve for running about. We found no sign of toilets or a fence. Trees and native planting screen the play area from the surrounding houses, which one reviewer raises as a personal safety worry when visiting alone, and another reported broken glass near the small swing. Locals who knew the reserve before its upgrade say the new path, playground and court have transformed it.

Park on Tahapa Crescent, or come by train: Meadowbank station is a short level walk away.¹ The shared path itself is 4 m wide, separated from traffic, and lit with CCTV,² which makes the reserve an easy stop between Glen Innes and Ōrākei Basin. For a second playground, Bonnie Brae Reserve and Kupe Reserve are both within about 650 m.

History and Cultural

The reserve was set aside in the 1947 Tahapa housing subdivision. It lies in one of two deep gullies beside the railway that were once ringed by Chinese market gardens and have since been partly filled to make the Tahapa reserves.¹