A new and improved Maketu Playground – fitted with the latest in playground attractions – is now complete and ready for action.

The 23 year old playground, situated on Maketu Park Road Reserve has been under construction since January 2014 following a request from the Maketu community for an upgrade.

One aspect of the newly renovated Maketu Playground.

The $150,000 project, jointly funded by Council, the Maketu Community Board, and a $25,000 grant from First Sovereign Trust Ltd, has seen an entire overhaul of the old playground completed in two stages.

What awaits children now is the first and only 'sand play' playground in the Bay of Plenty, complete with state-of-the-art additions such as child-sized diggers, a multi-activity sand-play module, a Pirates Climbing Rope Tower, an Orex Spinner, slides and a surfboard.

There is also curved central seating, and a 2-bay swing set with a basket swing 'flying saucer'.

Council's reserves and facilities project and assets manager Scott Parker says the sand-play idea – meaning the floor of the playground is all sand – came from a seminar he attended in Wellington.

"I'm really thrilled about the uptake of the new equipment, particularly the sand play area – the diggers and other equipment is built to last and proving very popular with the kids.

"Maketu is the only playground in the district with a sand-pit – but don't tell everyone because they'll all want one."

Despite Maketu being beside the beach, Scott says, there is no suitable sandy area for families to play.

"We saw this upgrade as an opportunity to introduce a good sized sand pit with some quality sand play activities.

"The Community Board was very supportive of this 'point of difference' initiative. We couldn't have completed it without their input and funding necessary to complete it. I think we now have a playground that caters to a wide range of ages.

"We hope the Maketu community will get much joy from the new playground."