Playground Strategy

The purpose of the Playground Strategy is to guide the provision and management of playground facilities in the City of Casey to meet the present and future needs of Casey residents. Play provides important social, developmental and lifestyle benefits for people of all ages. Local government is a key provider of public play opportunities through the development of open space and playgrounds. There are 258 playgrounds in the City of Casey and significantly more will be developed as the City continues to grow. The high proportion of children and young people throughout the communities of the City of Casey highlights the need for high quality play and leisure opportunities. The Playground Strategy has been prepared to guide Council’s forward planning for the provision of playgrounds throughout the City of Casey in response to community aspirations and needs. Principles that underpin the provision of playgrounds focus on the areas of: o Accessibility, by ensuring access for a diverse range of abilities; o Locations, within walkable distances from households for local playground provision and within walking/cycling distances for district playgrounds; o Site selection, giving consideration to open space settings and highly visible sites; o Quality, ensuring good access to quality play opportunities as a priority over abundance; o Diversity, providing variety and adventurous play environments to cater for a range of interests; o Equity, providing a good distribution of quality playgrounds for all residents; o Safety, in the development, management and maintenance of playgrounds; o Integrated play, that caters for all age ranges from young children to older adults; o Partnerships, that may be supported where community benefit is clearly demonstrated; o Sustainability, ensuring that playgrounds can be maintained in the long term; and o Amenities, providing supporting infrastructure in playgrounds, guided by the Open Space Strategy. Policy statements have been developed that outline Council’s position in relation to playground provision. Some examples of the key directions in this approach include: o Local playgrounds in residential areas providing walkable access within 500m of households; o District playgrounds in residential areas to provide access within 2km of households; o Two regional playgrounds in the north and south of the municipality; o Design frameworks for playgrounds will be implemented to offer variety and diversity in the presentation and play value of playgrounds; and o Natural shade will be a priority with the planting of appropriate species of shade trees.