Improving local parks in Ballarat

Neighbourhood parks are the heartbeat of Ballarat’s community and are visited on a daily basis by many.  

They are the smallest open spaces for Ballarat’s residents, designed for short regular use by residents living within 500 metres, and there are some 200 reserves in this category across Ballarat.

This annual rolling program aims to improve the neighbourhood parks that Ballarat’s residents frequent. Each year the City of Ballarat team design and implement changes for up to 10 reserves where the improvements are needed the most.  

The latest instalment of neighbourhood parks set for improvements are:  

Kowree Court Park, Sebastopol Drummond Street Reserve, Lake Wendouree Yarana Drive Park, Mount Helen   Victoria Street Reserve, Sebastopol Gregory Street Reserve, Soldiers Hill   Clover Street Reserve, Wendouree Marigold Street Reserve, Wendouree Rizal Park, Invermay  

Several factors are considered when choosing what park to upgrade, including:  

The age and condition of play equipment   Park conditions   Demographics of the suburbs, where the need is the highest  

Over the past two years of the Neighbourhood Parks program, there have been 18 reserves in the pipeline for engagement, design and construction.  

Parks recently completed or near complete include:  

The Horsham Crescent Park in Alfredton   The Hearn Road Park in Brown Hill   College Street Park, Wendouree   Cuthberts Road Reserve, Alfredton   Vale Street Park, Alfredton  

Improvements across some of these open spaces included park shelters and seating, circuit paths throughout the reserve, new playspaces and tree plantings.  

Concept plans are available for another seven parks, which can be viewed on the MySay, while the remainder of parks are in draft design, ready for a second phase of consultation.  

The community can now review the progress of all the parks via a new MySay page for the Neighbourhood Parks program. It offers a map and listings to see what stage each park is currently at, and to see the designs and construction updates.  

The page offers the community a one-stop-shop to find out more information, see designs and upcoming plans and ask questions of the City of Ballarat design team.  

City of Ballarat Councillor Ben Taylor said the annual program allows community collaboration to develop and implement improvements into local small parks.  

“Having input from our community members, those who use these parks on a daily basis is a great way to shape the parks and make them fit for purpose,” he said.  

“It’s great to know that a park that may be used for a lot of walking, could get a dedicated path throughout it, or a park that is used a lot by young families may have improved play equipment and seating for parents added.”  

The latest instalment of Neighbourhood Parks program is now open for community feedback via the City of Ballarat’s MySay page.