Happy New Year
Happy New Year to you all. I hope you’ve started on your New Year’s resolutions and enjoyed some rest and relaxation. I’ve been loving spending time with my family and taking advantage of the many excellent recreational activities available so close to home, like the beach and the Levin Adventure Park.
Every time we visit this park, we are reminded of what a fantastic attraction and huge asset it is to Levin. This facility was the brain child of Collis and Helen Blake who seven years ago (almost to the day) started constructing a park for children.
It was fitting at the Council’s recent civic honours awards that the Blakes handed the running of the Park over to the Horowhenua District Council (HDC), which plans to continue operating it in some form of Trust.
The park has transformed what was an unsightly area of our town. For those that can recall back to 2001, then the park was an old school site that had become an eye saw with derelict buildings that were the subject of arson attacks. Weeds were rampant and the land was in limbo with its future in doubt due to potential Treaty of Waitangi claims.
The Blake family approached the Office of Treaty settlements to gain approval for the park’s concept. Once granted, they proceeded to start building the equipment. Much of the time, labour and goods were donated by community groups and individuals (much like the Halliwell Hockey Pavillion).
I remember the argy bargy we had around the HDC table in 2002/2003 when the Blakes approached Council for funding support. After proving its worth, Council has supported the park and recognises its economic development and tourism potential. The adventure park attracts a huge amount of passing traffic because of word of mouth and its attractiveness from SH1 – it has no big advertising budgets.
The Blakes had a dream and went about planning an adventure park for all ages to enjoy. They visited all playgrounds between New Plymouth to Napier down to Wellington and realised for this park to be successful it needed to be free for users.
They have dabbled with some cost recovery with coin operated BBQs and the mini putt train but petty vandalism ended up costing more in repairs to damages than the few dollars collected.
It’s a shame that every week it seems something is targeted at the park with senseless vandalism. I caught some young fellas one day burning their hot cigarettes through the trampoline cover. The caretaker does a fantastic job in sometimes frustrating conditions.
I take my hat off to the whole Blake family for their vision, drive and generosity. I would think there would be little change from a million dollars today to build this park commercially. The Blake family deserves much of the credit and now the Council and community have very big shoes to fill. Thank you Collis and Helen Blake.