The draft Play Wollongong strategy is a framework that will guide how Council will plan, deliver and manage play spaces for children aged 0-12 years, across the Wollongong local government area over the next 10 years.
Council is committed to addressing the Wollongong 2022 Community Goal ‘We are a healthy community in a liveable city’.
Many of our existing play spaces are well located and offer valuable play experiences, but others are in poor condition, are poorly located and/or offer limited play opportunities. We need a strategic approach that ensures we provide quality play spaces for children that meet the ongoing needs and expectations of our community.
How was the draft Play Wollongong strategy developed?
The draft strategy has been developed with lots of help and feedback from our community over the past two years. This includes the input provided through the development of the Community Strategic Plan, Wollongong 2022, the 2012 Community Survey, Council’s Securing Our Future Project and recent engagement activities undertaken with primary school children and professionals in children’s development. We’d like to thank everyone who has provided input so far, especially the local children.
What is the difference between a playground and a play space?
We recognise that play can occur at any place, at any time and does not require the formal designation of a site or the type of equipment historically placed in public parks and referred to as ‘playgrounds’.
Play spaces are places where children are able to engage in play activities.
How many play spaces are in the Wollongong local government area?
We currently have 155 play spaces stretching from Helensburgh to Windang. These range from local level play spaces to regional key recreation destination play spaces.
We have 10 regional level play spaces, 16 district, 44 neighbourhood and 85 local level play spaces.
What about play spaces for older children/young people?
The draft strategy focuses specifically on 0 to 12 year olds, however we recognise that people of all ages engage in play and we envisage that in the future we’ll consider developing strategies around play opportunities for other age groups such as young people and older persons.
What is the next step for the draft Play Wollongong strategy?
The draft strategy is on public exhibition until 30th April 2014. We will then review the feedback received during the exhibition period and amend the draft strategy as required.
It is anticipated that the community feedback and any proposed changes to the draft strategy will be outlined in a report back to Council in late May – early June. Council will then decide whether to adopt Play Wollongong.