Community Playground Reference Group
In August 2015, the City removed approximately 20% of its playground equipment in public open spaces as it had either reached the end of its life cycle, or was found to be non-compliant. On 24 September 2015, Council endorsed to replace the playground equipment at six parks across the City with the funding allocated for playground equipment renewal in the 2015/16 Budget identified as high priority in the Public Open Space Strategy as part of a phased approach. The six parks included:
- Mahomets Beach
- Glendinning Park
- Muir Park
- Spalding Park
- Pages Beach
- Rundle Park
The community’s passion for playgrounds and letters sent to the City by Year Five students at Geraldton Primary School asking when playground equipment was going to be replaced sparked the creation of a reference group to assist the City in the selection of playground equipment to be installed in six parks.
In November 2015, the City invited school teachers, students, parents, child educators and community groups to take part in a playground reference group. The role of the group was to:
- Share their knowledge and experience of playground equipment to help set the foundations for decisions making around playground equipment in the future
- Help the City balance community aspirations and the available budget in regard to the replacement of playground equipment
- Help the City choose playground equipment from the options provided by the suppliers in this first instance
In late November and early December the group met twice to determine what makes a great playground, what kind of play equipment missing in Geraldton, and to choose playground equipment appropriate to each of the six parks.
Read the project report here
