Council's vision for play
Our diverse range of play spaces are accessible and well-designed and encourage active, social living across the city for residents and visitors of all ages.
Play is the way that children learn about the world and their role in it. It can be physical, social, cognitive, imaginative, and creative – sometimes all at once. The value of rich play opportunities, particularly in early childhood in terms of acquiring skills, knowledge and self-awareness is immeasurable. The benefits of children’s play include:
- Play creates physically and emotionally healthy children
- Play balances risk-taking and safety
- Play connects children with their community
- Play supports children’s learning
- Play gives children time and space to relax and just ‘be’ The City of Warrnambool currently provides 60 play spaces throughout the municipality.
The City of Warrnambool’s Play Space Strategy provides a clear direction for the design, planning, provision, management, maintenance and renewal of play spaces over the next 10 years, taking into consideration community needs, play trends, growth areas, existing distribution of play spaces, play value and resource availability.
Renewal of Playspace
Different types of equipment and play opportunities have a different lifespan, depending upon the type of material they are constructed of, their exposure to weather and coastal conditions (rust and rot are two major issues in Warrnambool play spaces), the quality of material used in construction and the amount of use the site receives. Wherever possible, it is recommended that rather than assuming equipment or opportunities need to be replaced in a certain year because that is how long they are reasonably expected to last, that an assessment is undertaken each year to identify ways in which to prolong the lifespan of items.
Coming Soon
Three new playgrounds for Warrnambool. Work to renew the playgrounds at Lyndoch avenue and Wesak drive has now begun, with the new equipment expected to be ready for action by early October. Work on the new Pecten avenue playground is expected to start at some point in October too once the other two playgrounds have been built, but the exact timing will depend on the ground drying out enough for the heavy machinery to access the site.
