Creating Better Parks – Brimbank Open Space and Playground Policy and Plan

Brimbank City Council adopted Creating Better Parks Open Space and Playground Policy & Plan (CBP) in 2008 with the aim of transforming the park network. CBP established a comprehensive framework that guided Council in developing one of the best park networks in Melbourne. To date 88 parks have been upgraded at a cost of around $20m and the community is now actively engaged in a park network that has established a strong sense of community belonging and pride. By establishing a hierarchy of quality destinations across the municipality, a generation of children, families and adults now use the park network far more than they did prior to 2008. CBP has received industry recognition from awards by the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects in 2008 and 2009; Parks and Leisure Australia in 2012 and the Planning Institute of Australia in 2015. As it is now eight years since it was adopted, Council sought to understand how the community felt with the investment to date and what the community saw as possible gaps or new ideas for the coming years. Council has also identified that there are some opportunities for new functions within the transformed park network. Council is committed to implementing the remaining upgrades but sought to understand community attitudes towards the investment to date and to understand if there are any gaps in the current delivery of CBP which could potentially be addressed in coming years. This review is based on Council’s recognition of the need to reposition CBP and the feedback from an online survey resulting in 239 responses, which far exceeded Council’s expectation. The overall community sentiment contained in the survey is a great testimony to the improved liveability of this municipality through having a quality public realm.