Welcome
February 2024 Update
Work is set to begin on the renewal of Sparrow Park with the playground and maze to close in early February 2024, for a period of up to eight weeks.
The renewal follows a period of community consultation, carried out through the early part of 2023, and will see the current playground equipment replaced with new equipment, a seat installed, and additional trees planted for shade.
A number of changes were made to the design based on common themes that came through in the 625 responses received.
Essential irrigation infrastructure to promote a lush, green space will be delayed to allow park visitors the opportunity to use the new playground unencumbered. These works will now be completed in May/June and will impact the green space at Sparrow Park. Half of the green space will be open at all times.
A breakdown of the existing playground infrastructure and the new infrastructure to go in from early February is as follows and images of the playground design can be found below:
| Existing playground infrastructure | New playground infrastructure |
| 3 x Slide Configuration | To be replaced with 1 x 1800mm spiral slide, 1 x 1500mm slide, 1 x 900mm slide |
| Maze | New timber maze taking up a similar footprint |
| Swings | To be banked together, 2 toddler, 2 standard, 1 basket swing |
| Shade Sails | No Change |
| Skate Park | No Change |
| Accessibility to swings, ramp entry, base of junior slide, all swings (new) | |
| Wheelchair spinner (new) | |
| Ramps | 2 solid ramps |
| Shop Counter | Shop counter |
| Tunnel | Tunnel |
| Bridge | 3 bridges (differing configurations) |
| Monkey bars | |
| Glider | |
| Senior Climbing Cube | |
| Rotunda | No change |
| Spring Rider Star | No change |
| Plastic Car | No change |
| Abacus | Abacus |
| Sandpit | No change |
| Under surfacing | No change except for improvements to accessible areas |
| Combination unit | Combination unit |
The playground will be fully immersed in earth tones theme constructed from powder-coated steel as shown in the image below and the maze will be constructed from timber.
Drainage issues brought up by the community fall outside of the playground scope of works however the relevant area of the City has been briefed on this matter.
Sparrow Park Playground Design
Community consultation report released
Thank you to everyone who provided feedback. We encourage you to read the community consultation report.
Sparrow Park is being renewed and we would love your feedback!
As part of the City's playground renewal program, and in line with the City's Play Strategy, we are renewing Sparrow Park.
Sparrow Park is a 'district' playground located in Geelong West (Weller Street) and has loads of activities for all age groups.
The park has ample open space for a range of recreational activities including an extensive playground with shade sails, junior skate/scooter area, basketball and netball facilities and large lawn area with rugby posts.
The park also has quality social and picnic facilities including a rotunda, BBQs, toilets and walking paths.
The majority of the play equipment is approximately 20 years old and is in need of renewal.
Please view the proposed playground design below and provide your feedback by completing a short online survey. Hard copies of the survey are available by contacting the officer listed in the 'Contact Us' section on the right hand side of this page.
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY PLAYGROUND RENEWAL?
When we are renewing our playgrounds we will make sure there is:
- somewhere to run;
- somewhere to swing;
- somewhere to slide; and
- somewhere to climb.
The current playground equipment will be replaced with new equipment, a seat will be installed and trees planted for shade. The surface around the play equipment will remain as soft fall (playground safe tan bark).
At Sparrow Park
The following changes/additions are proposed:
- installation of a multi-aged play unit with; platform deck, access ramp, wave bridge, abacus, driving panel, F1 racing panel, music panel, double slide, shop front, vertical hoop climber, balance disc walk plus many more features
- Senior Climbing Cube with; rock wall, rope ladder and bead ropes to name a few
- Swings; standard swing, toddler swing and nest swing
- Galaxy wheelchair carousel
- Rockers; motor bike, comet, surf boards plus a three seat rocker
To provide further context, it is proposed the following will remain at Sparrow Park:
- two shade sails
- sandpit
- junior skate/scooter area
- spring rider star (may move location within the playground)
- yellow car (may move location within the playground)
- other equipment may be retained subject to community feedback and if structurally sound
This renewal does not include changes to the basketball court, BBQ shelters and existing shade structures.
This renewal does not include any additional fixed shade structures, water play, an increase in playground size or change of playground hierarchy (i.e. this playground will remain a District playground - see Playground hierarchy below).
- There are currently over 380 public play spaces managed and maintained by the City of Greater Geelong and an additional 62 supervised early childhood centre-based play spaces.
- All City playgrounds are monitored regularly to ensure that they are free from defects and meet current Australian standards.
- Playgrounds are on a monitored playground upgrade schedule that is reassessed annually.
- Play spaces provide challenges and stimulating environments to allow users to explore their boundaries, provide opportunities for exploration, discovery and learning, and will encourage users to make decisions for themselves and have control of their play.
Play spaces can be categorized into a hierarchy of five different tiers, depending on its purpose, size, catchment and the opportunities available. The hierarchy is as follows:
- Local – smallest play space, located close to homes, providing a smaller range of play opportunities and amenities, with a catchment of 400m.
- although activities are offered they are not as extensive as those offered in district and regional play spaces;
- have open space for informal games;
- offer multi-activity play equipment including swings, slides and climbing elements.
- District - provide a wider range of play opportunities than local play spaces and cover a greater catchment area (up to 2 km). They are strategically located within larger reserves or sporting reserves and cater for a range of age groups.
- have open space for informal games;
- provide some all-abilities play elements;
- have amenities such as toilets and shelters.
- Sub-regional – a medium sized play space, providing a range of play opportunities and amenities; these Play Spaces will draw from a 5-10km radius. They will cater for all ages and abilities and be built as part of a larger open space or multi-use centre.
- Regional – largest play space, providing a broad range of play opportunities and amenities, with a catchment of 10km or more.
- State / National – play space of state or national significance, usually part of a precinct.
HAVE YOUR SAY
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