Winton Road Reserve playground upgrade

Status

We’ll start building the new playground from Monday 17 February 2025.

We plan to finish construction and reopen the playground by mid-2025 (subject to weather conditions).

Works will take place Monday to Friday from 7 am to 4 pm (excluding public holidays).

How this may impact you during construction

During works:

The playground and outdoor shelter will be closed.
You may hear construction noise on weekdays between 7 am and 4 pm (excluding public holidays).
Pedestrian access to the walking routes and shared pathways will remain open.
Builder vehicles will access the site from the current park maintenance access point on Winton Road.
The Food Forest Ashburton will be turned into a nature play space.

Nearby playgrounds

While the new playground is under construction, we encourage you to visit:

Dorothy Laver Reserve East playground

Location: 9 Saxby Road Ashburton
Distance: 15-minute walk or 4-minute drive (1.5 km away)
Find out what facilities are available on our Dorothy Laver Reserve East page.

Markham Reserve playground

Location: 80 Victory Boulevard, Ashburton
Distance: 23-minute walk or 4-minute drive (2 km away)
Find out what facilities are available on our Markham Reserve page.

About the upgrade

This playground upgrade aims to:

improve accessibility
offer a range of play experiences for children
increase nature play opportunities
better meet the needs of children, families, parents, grandparents and caregivers, now and into the future.

Key features of the new playground include:

a combination play unit with platforms, slides and climbing suitable for younger and older children, and play opportunities underneath
a climbing stalk
an accessible carousel
a triple swing frame, including a face-to-face swing
logs and boulders for seating and play
a nature play area with a learning circle, tree signs and cubby play
a track glide and monkey bars
a seesaw and rocker
a natural theme throughout the play space, including wooden elements, leaf designs and curved poles.

Other features to be included in the wider playground space include:

improved seating overlooking the playground
2 picnic table settings
a formalised footpath from Winton Road to the playground and outdoor shelter area
stepping stones around the nature play area.

Community consultation

We invited our community to share feedback to help guide the design for the new playground. We received feedback over 2 rounds of consultation in late-2023 and early-2024. Thank you to everyone who had their say. You can find out what our community told us and view the final design on our Winton Road Reserve playground upgrade page on Your Say.

Timeline

Date	Project stage	Progress update
November to December 2023	First stage of community consultation	78 community members shared their local knowledge, special memories, stories and ideas to help us develop the draft design.
March to April 2024	Second stage of community consultation	46 community members shared their feedback the draft design, to further refine and finalise the design.
September 2024	Final design released	We shared the final design for the new playground, which incorporates our community’s feedback.
December 2024 to January 2025	Tree maintenance works	We will be conducting tree maintenance works in preparation for the playground upgrade.
17 February 2025	Construction starts	We'll start to build the new playground.
From mid-2025 (subject to weather conditions)	Construction complete, playground reopens	We'll keep our community informed when construction timelines are confirmed.