Popular portable pump track moves to Nightcaps
Tunatuna the Murihiku made a big statement at its first home in Bluff, with local tamariki and rangitahi clocking up 25,000 laps of the 57m track on their bikes, scooters and skateboards.
Tunatuna the Murihiku portable pump track was launched in July to offer an alternative way of play and recreation for all ages.
It’s made a big statement at its first home in Bluff, with local tamariki and rangitahi clocking up 25,000 laps of the 57m track on their bikes, scooters and skateboards.
Bluff Community Board member Tammi Topi said: “It has been a great opportunity for the Bluff community to host Tunatuna and utilise a vacant facility to accommodate the cooler winter season.
“The joy we have seen it bring to so many tamariki and whānau has been amazing, as well as the positive stories shared.
“This experience will be extremely helpful as we look to get a permanent skills track. Ngā mihi nui to all the sponsors and kaimahi involved. This is what true collaboration looks like.”
Now it’s Nightcaps’ turn to host the popular track. A community event will be held to recognise the pump track launch at its new location at McGregor Park, Nightcaps on September 23. Starting at 11.30am.
There’ll be free entertainment, free bike checks, prizes and hangi by Te Oruanui Marae.
A portable track, Tunatuna is on a 12-month tour around Southland. It is being set up in several different locations to test the potential impact of a pump track in local Southland communities.
The main purpose of the track is to bring communities together through active recreation, creating a temporary community hub in areas where they’re lacking. Feedback from parents and the community has been overwhelmingly positive. Facebook comments mention that many tamariki are using Tunatuna every day it’s open, being active in a fun and engaging way.
Track users are also giving something new a try. As well as being a cool, fun, and exciting thing to do, riding Tunatuna has been a safe place for tamariki and rangatahi to practice and increase their confidence on bikes, scooters and skateboards, so they’re more likely to use active transport going forward.
The goal is to change people’s thinking, and instead of automatically using the family car to get from A to B, encouraging the use of active transport as a real and practical option.
Cycling Southland Major Events and Pathways Manager Glen Thomson said the pump track had provided some valuable insights.
“Kids don’t need coached on how to use it, it’s just get on and go, and the kids gain a lot of confidence that way. It’s opened people’s eyes to what those kids think is fun to do in Bluff. The weather on the day it arrived couldn’t have been much worse, but we stuck together, got it going, and it’s a fantastic group of people that has kept Tunatuna rolling.”
The collaborative nature of the initiative has been an important part of Tunatuna’s early success. This is the result of 12 months of collaborative effort between community organisations, councils and funders.
The portable pump track is owned and maintained by Cycling Southland, with support from the Southland Mountain Bike Club, the Southland BMX Club, and the Southland Triathlon and Multisport Club. A range of community organisations and funders are involved, including the Community Trust South, ILT Foundation, Waka Kotahi, Tū Manawa Active Aotearoa (administered by Active Southland), Invercargill City Council, Southland District Council and Gore District Council. Active Southland’s Healthy Families Invercargill team, through their Active Transport Innovator, are coordinating the project.
Each community the track travels to have their own specific community groups involved, for example - in Bluff the initiative has been supported by Awarua Whānau Services and the local runaka.