Kids Build Bike Park, Council Tears It Down, Then Listens

A group of South New Brighton kids spent their Easter holidays doing something rare in 2026: building their own outdoor playground with dirt, shovels, and imagination.

On unused red zone land near Estuary Road in Christchurch, children created bike jumps and tracks from scratch. They knocked on neighbors' doors inviting friends out, texted updates about new features, and spent entire days in the sun testing their designs.

Then they went back to school on April 30, and the council flattened it all.

Workers filled the holes and removed makeshift furniture after receiving safety complaints. The kids came home to find their creation gone.

Nineteen-year-old Myah Harlick watched her younger brother's reaction. "They spent the whole school holidays down here in the sun, just texting each other or knocking on doors, saying 'Come to the jumps!'" she told Stuff NZ. Now he mostly stays home on devices.

Beth Lenihan's 12-year-old had told her he'd barely be home all holidays because of the jumps. Kids from different schools and neighborhoods were playing together, she said, doing exactly what adults say young people should do more of.

When her sons came home disappointed, Lenihan suggested rebuilding. They refused. "We're not even going to bother now because they're going to take them down again," they told her.

The Ripple Effect

The story caught the attention of neighbors who called the jumps "harmless." Retiree Stu Taylor, walking his dogs past the site, shrugged. "Kids do these sort of things all the time."

But resident Carolyn Ash noticed something else: the council arrived with a digger at 9am on a school day, seemingly to avoid the children. "These weren't kids causing trouble," she said. "They'd put time and effort into building something themselves."

Emma Skinley, whose two boys loved the park, saw value beyond the riding itself. Her kids were being creative, designing tracks, and solving problems as they figured out what worked.

Christchurch City Council's Rupert Bool explained the structures posed safety hazards and the council had no way to contact the builders. But he also revealed something hopeful: the council has no problem with homemade parks in red zones if people talk to them first.

A new official pump track is planned for South New Brighton Reserve. The council has even worked with children to create an informal bike track in another suburb when they were consulted.

The message from officials is simple: talk to us first, and we'll find a way to say yes.