Such costs for a high-profile play space in the central city "speak to a local government culture divorced from value for public funds", Cr Lee Vandervis said.
Cr Vandervis asked the Dunedin City Council under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act for invoices relating to the $600,0000 playground.
They showed the 12m seesaw cost about $135,000 and more than $60,000 of this was for its design.
The 7m seesaw cost under $80,000, including a design cost of $10,500, and a wheelchair-accessible seesaw cost under $30,000.
Shade canopies cost more than $258,000, including $51,800 for their design.
Cr Vandervis said he believed systems for council contracting should be reviewed, and what was also required was "severely limiting future council spending decisions".
The play area was part of an upgrade of the central city retail area focused on George St, including replacement of underground pipes, that cost more than $100 million.
A spokesman for the council said the two largest seesaws installed in George St were not off-the-shelf items.
"They are custom-designed for the space, and their size and location mean they have more complex internal mechanisms than a standard seesaw to ensure they can be operated safely and can cope with regular and sometimes robust use," he said.
"The same is true of the shade canopies, which also needed to be designed and built to a much higher specification than would be the case for residential or private use."
They had to be designed to cope with potential misuse and this added complexity and cost, the spokesman said.
Lead contractor Isaac Construction chipped in $250,000 for the playground cost.
Cr Vandervis said neither playground detail nor budget were supplied by council staff at the time of decision-making.
Cr Steve Walker said it was easy in hindsight to "overly dissect what should or shouldn’t have been done".
"The vast majority of feedback I’ve received around the George St upgrade is overwhelmingly positive, and our focus should remain on making sure we support initiatives that continue to make this the most desirable and vibrant main street in Aotearoa."
