Maclean Park upgrade

Our vision for Maclean Park is a destination for all; a place to meet, play, relax and connect with Kāpiti Island, our heritage and environment.

Maclean Park is a located in a 3-hectare reserve between Marine Parade and the coastal foredune at Paraparaumu Beach. It’s an intergenerational destination park that is a point of pride for our district.

Next steps | Skatepark | Future stages | Iwi partners | Related links

Next steps

We’re investing in the next stage of the Maclean Park development plan[PDF 1.08 MB]. We've budgeted $3 million in our Annual Plan 2023/24 for this project. We’ll:

upgrade the toilets to provide modern accessible facilities, including more toilets and new showers, and
improve the skate park in consultation with our community.

Our vision for the upgraded skatepark is that it caters for riders of all skill levels, with some separation of learners and expert users. It should include some sunshade and shelters and will have almost the same footprint as the current skatepark.

We'll need to remove a phoenix palm and a pohutukawa tree to make space for the new amenity block. We’ll replace the two trees with other native trees within Maclean Park and we'll make the remaining pohutukawa trees part of the new landscape plan.

We're still finalising the design of the new amenity block, but it will be fully accessible and include new toilets and showers. At this stage, construction of the amenity block is programmed to begin in mid-2024.

Skatepark

Thanks to everyone who has contributed ideas and thoughts for our skatepark refresh.

The first round of Maclean Park skatepark user engagement closed in August 2022, and we talked with the community on the concept design during summer 2022/23. We received lots of very valuable ideas through our online survey, pop-up days at Maclean Park and our workshop with key user groups.

Due to the available space and funding, we won’t be able to include all the ideas we received this time. All ideas will, however, be considered for other skatepark upgrades across Kāpiti.

We received 184 responses to our online survey. Key findings from the summary report include:

the most preferred features for the skatepark upgrade were a flow bowl, a smaller bowl, and plaza-style street area
catering for all skill levels and disciplines, as well as having the skatepark lit for use at night, were ranked as the most important factors for the skatepark.
The pyramid and rail, and the large bank and quarter pipe at the northern entrance were ranked as the most preferred existing features to retain
Lighting was ranked as the most important non-skating feature, closely followed by seating and shade
Staying active and healthy, as well as having a space to hang out with friends were the main reasons respondents reported for using the skatepark
Respondents reported the main benefits of upgrading the skatepark would be improving people’s overall experience at Maclean Park, attracting new and more frequent users, and growing users’ skills and confidence.

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People also told us they have concerns about safety and some requested security cameras at the park. We'll keep talking with park users and the wider community about safety issues and investigate possible solutions in parallel with the skatepark upgrade.

Specialist skatepark designers RICH Landscapes completed a concept design[PDF 7.57 MB] based on ideas we've heard from the community and through workshops with users. Some ideas we haven't been able to include in this design (such as a full pump track and wooden half-pipe), and we'll carry these ideas into future skatepark upgrades elsewhere in the district – Waikanae skatepark will be next in a couple of years.

The Stage 2 upgrade of Maclean Park also includes building a new fully accessible amenity block with more toilets and new showers.

Indicative timeline

August–October 2022 – concept design

December 2022–January 2023 – community engagement on concept design

February–August 2023 – detailed design

mid-2024 – construction and re-opening

Future stages

Further planned additions to Maclean Park include:

creating an older persons' recreation area to provide opportunities for senior members of the community to meet up, improve fitness, and to support intergenerational families who visit the park together. We’ll engage our community to confirm details of the area closer to its design stage
installing an all-seasons water play plaza, a water feature providing interactive water-based play opportunities which would operate all year round (a splashpad doesn't operate through the winter months).

The development plan:

provides for safer water play through the introduction of the all-seasons water plaza
uses water to enhance the aesthetic experience of the park, including constructed and natural features
contributes to improved knowledge, water quality and natural values of the Tikotu Stream and the restoration of its estuary
improves land to sea and sea to land linkages.

At the southern end, we'd like to better connect the park to the shops and make it work better for events, markets and other uses.

Iwi partners

Artists impression of Maclean Park redevelopment looking northwest

The Maclean Park Management Plan was prepared in partnership with Te Āti Awa as mana whenua and the site is also recognised as site of significance by Ngāti Toa. Through a series of information sessions, meetings and onsite workshops we developed a plan that expresses the values of both our iwi partners as well as the wider community.

Maclean Park is located in an area of great historical significance to the people of Te Ātiawa and Ngāti Toa Rangatira. The wider area was originally occupied by the settlement know as Te Uruhi Pā, which was located in the vicinity of Te Uruhi Lake and the Tikotu Stream which flowed from the lake out to sea.