McKenzie Park has been part of the furniture in Wilberforce for years — the kind of place parents default to without really thinking about it, because it’s close, it’s shaded, and the kids know it. That familiarity is exactly why the old equipment had started to show its age, and why its replacement matters more than a simple swap of steel and rubber.
The new set-up is built around range. A climbing unit for the kids who want a challenge, a slide and a large single swing for the classic playground staples, and then a ground-level mini trampoline and a spinner that give younger children — the ones not quite ready to climb — something to do that doesn’t leave them standing on the sidelines.
Council has pitched it as usable for ages 0 to 12, which in practice means a toddler and their older sibling can both find something worth doing in the same visit.
There’s also been work done around the edges of the park, changes meant to make the whole space more comfortable and safer to be in, not just the equipment itself. It’s the kind of detail that doesn’t show up in a photo of a new slide but ends up mattering to whoever’s sitting on a bench for an hour while the kids play.
Mayor Les Sheather and Councillor Paul Veigel were there to open it officially on Thursday, 23 July 2026. Sheather called it “a wonderful outcome for a much-loved, local park in Wilberforce,” adding that “the works have made the park safer and more accessible and include a mix of traditional and modern park activities for the kids of Wilberforce to enjoy for many years to come.”
Behind the ribbon-cutting is a set of principles council leans on for these projects — Can I Get There, Can I Play, Can I Stay and Can I Connect. Stripped of the jargon, it’s really just a checklist for whether a park works: can people reach it, is there something to do once they’re there, is it comfortable enough to stick around, and does it give neighbours a reason to talk to each other.
For a park like McKenzie, tucked into Turnball Avenue, that last point might be the one that counts most — it’s not a destination park people drive across town for, it’s the one at the end of the street.
