Walter Park Playground

Walter Park in Mairehau, Christchurch, is mostly sky and grass: a wide sports field with a cricket block and soccer goals, ringed by mature trees. Its small playground tucks into the tree line on the park's southern road edge, a simple old-school set for a quick swing while older kids kick a ball on the field.

Equipment

The council register lists five pieces: a swing set with two standard seats and one infant seat, a freestanding fibreglass slide, two metal see-saws and a set of monkey bars.¹ They stand on a timber-edged woodchip pit of about 236 square metres.² Council photos from 2008 show the curved ladder-style monkey bars and see-saws with half-buried tyres as bumpers, and a more recent photo shows the blue swing frame and slide still in place.

It suits babies to early primary: the infant seat, see-saws and slide work for under-fives, and the monkey bars give school-age kids a stretch. There is no climbing fort or separate toddler area, and one reviewer wishes the playground were bigger.

Practical Info

The play area is not fenced and sits just off the street, with cars parked behind the swings, so keep runners in sight. The big trees around it give real shade, which one grandparent singles out. Buller's Stream runs through the park on its way to the Lower Dudley Creek diversion,³ and in April 2025 the Shirley Community Trust ran a muddy "Going on a Bear Hunt" family walk from the playground through grass, water and trees.⁴ The council suggests parking on Hills Road or Kellys Road.⁴ One reviewer reports the park toilets are consistently shut, so don't count on them. For more equipment, Mahars Playground and Fortune Playground are each just over half a kilometre away.