Play Advocacy

The Rotorua Lakes Council’s Play Advocate will work with planners, urban designers and council leaders to ensure children are at the centre of planning and that spaces that will encourage play are built into urban design, housing developments and community spaces. A play role that is dedicated to improving play outcomes within and across local government organisations (councils), to ensure an integrated approach to play is adopted and actioned within councils.

In 2022, Sport Bay of Plenty used the Neighbourhood Play System Blueprint, an approach to urban play design that places tamariki/children at the centre of the process, to evaluate opportunities for improving play in school and the community.

Students at two Rotorua schools provided their assessments of opportunities to play in their neighbourhoods and highlighted safety concerns and limited access to parks and green spaces.

In response, Sport Bay of Plenty recommended a range of measures, such as identifying safe routes to school, providing access to school grounds after hours and commissioning murals.

The blueprint serves as a potential method for identifying and providing play opportunities and spaces in Rotorua neighbourhoods.

An initial task for our local Play Advocate will be evaluating the state of play in Rotorua by connecting with council staff, external groups, and communities to build a comprehensive picture of play and better understand where and how tamariki and rangatahi are playing and what barriers they face.

Part of this will include interviewing elected members about their understanding of play and create a council-wide awareness campaign.

The overall aim of the role will be to ensure that all relevant council policies recognise play as a legal and rights-based imperative.