Parents and students are “deeply frustrated” a school playground in the Bay of Islands has been closed for most of the year after asbestos was discovered.
Traces of asbestos and building material containing the carcinogen were found in soil under the playground and netball courts at Ōpua School during routine drainage works earlier this year.
Parent Molly Randell, whose two children aged 10 and 7 attend the school, said many parents and their children were frustrated at the closure, which has seen the entire play area cordoned off since April.
“It was supposed to be quick and easy drainage work, but asbestos was found and work came to a halt,” Randell said.
“A third of the playground is cordoned off; the netball team has no court to practise on, and the caretaker can’t access his shed.
“It’s just a shambles. Because it’s just been winter, some days it has been too wet to use the field.
“Where are these kids expected to go?”.
The primary school currently has a roll of up to 120 students, aged 5 to 13 years.
Randell said there had been “no timeline or guidance” from the Ministry of Education around when remedial work would begin and finish.
School principal Sandy Blackburn did not wish to comment and directed the Northern Advocate to the Ministry of Education.
In the latest school newsletter, the school said it shared the community’s “deep frustration with the delay and the complete lack of progress ... we have received no further communication or updates from the Ministry of Education as to when our funding application will be processed, when approval might be granted, or when physical work can finally begin”.
“Please be assured that student safety and wellbeing remain our top priority and we will not compromise on safety standards just to speed up the process.”
The school thanked the community for their patience and understanding and said it would “continue to advocate strongly with the ministry to resolve this as a priority”.
Ministry of Education school property services general manager Sandra Orr said the area had been “securely covered and fenced off”.
A licensed removalist would safely remove the contaminated material, and the space would be refilled and re-laid with concrete courts during the 2026 summer holidays, she said.
Orr said funding would be allocated for the remaining scope of works, which were to be completed in the Christmas holidays to cause minimal disruption.
“There is very minimal risk to students and staff,” Orr said.
“There are several other outside play spaces for students to use.”
Orr said the exact source of the asbestos and timeframe it has been there was unknown.
Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with finance, roading, and social issues.