Play

Did you know:

Blue Mountains City Council currently manages 105 parks across the Blue Mountains.

56 parks have traditional style play equipment, some of which is rapidly reaching the end of service life.

There are also natural area track head parks, civic spaces and road side spaces that are maintained like parks for town and highway presentation.

Things to think about:

What suited families in the 1960’s or even the 1990’s does not necessarily meet the needs of families today and Council is aiming to bring park experiences into line with the current thinking in children’s play.

Experts in child development advise Council to supply a range of types of play for each of the major developmental needs, which are ‘Move the Body' play, ‘Kinetic’ play, ‘Social’ play, ‘Explorative’ play and ‘Imaginative’ or 'Inventive' play

Proposed Change/s:

A service hierarchy will direct and prioritise investment.
The highest level of investment is for the four identified District parks. The aim is to increase levels of quality and service within the resources available. This includes providing all abilities playgrounds for a range of ages covering all the play type needs, as well as some play accessibility for children with a disability.
The next level of 'Local' parks investment will service each of the five planning areas.
Neighbourhood Parks will have some decreased level of investment, and will be designed as an overall range of supply, where each park will meet at one or two of the identified childhood play need themes.
There is a real opportunity to create a more nature based style of design in our parks, using natural materials and clever landscape design to create spaces that are more in sync with the Blue Mountains lifestyle and environmental values.

More information:

Consultation has concluded