City provides polished plan for play

CHILDREN will have access to nine renewed playgrounds located across the City of Greater Geelong as early as next month as part of the city’s Play Strategy.

Eight local playgrounds and one district playground will be assessed by Council from March 12 and then improved in April.

The renewal process involves replacing defected equipment, installing new equipment or new seats, planting trees to provide shade or replacing whole playgrounds.

The city is urging residents to provide recommendations during the strategy’s community engagement phase, which ends on March 12.

Geelong Mayor Trent Sullivan said the renewals, which will be consulted with designers later this month, were a necessary step towards meeting the needs of local children in the community.

“We understand the importance of providing playgrounds that are easily accessible to neighbouring residents, giving children an environment that is both fun and challenging,” Cr Sullivan said.

“At the same time, we need to ensure that the equipment is safe for use, free from defects and meets current Australian standards.”

The nine playgrounds being assessed include:

Breamlea Recreational Reserve, Breamlea – District Playground
Malbec Loop Reserve, Waurn Ponds – Local Playground
Malcolm Reserve, Clifton Springs – Local Playground
Francis Reserve, Belmont – Local Playground
Moolap Reserve, Moolap – Local Playground
Gwyther Reserve, Highton – Local Playground
Lubeck Reserve, Leopold – Local Playground
Pevensey Park, Central Geelong – (fort replacement only)
Barwon Valley Fun Park, Belmont – (climbing sphere replacement only)

The city manages and maintains 380 public play spaces, in addition to 62 supervised early childhood centre-based play spaces.

Deputy mayor Anthony Aitken said it was important to make appropriate play opportunities and spaces available to the growing number of children in the region.

“I urge residents to have their say on this playground renewal process by identifying the areas they use and answering a few simple questions to help the city understand how it can best meet community needs.

For more information about the upgrades or to have your say, head to yoursay.geelongaustralia.com.au/playgroundrenewal2023