Wollondilly Shire Council partnered with the Touched By Olivia Foundation to create an exciting new inclusive playspace at Civic Park, Warragamba. The project is supported by the Federal and State Governments and through fundraising from the community.
The NSW State Government supported the initiative with grant funding of $350,000 as part of the accelerated Everyone Can Play grant program. Council’s vision is to provide a quality regional playspace that offers play opportunities for people of all abilities, promotes social inclusion, and encourages physical activity to enhance the wellbeing of our community and visitors.
How the project came about
During construction of Sydney’s Warragamba Dam in the late 1970’s, construction workers realised there were no local play facilities catering for young children with physical disabilities. In 1985 the ‘Kurung Muru’ play space was constructed to celebrate the 25th anniversary of construction of Warragamba Dam. This playspace was one of the first accessible playspaces in Australia, however it was later removed in 1998 by Sydney Water to make way for the extension of Production Avenue, Warragamba.
‘Kurung Muru’ was a fantastic facility for the local community and it was a major tourist attraction. At the time, ‘Kurung Muru’ offered a one-of-a-kind playspace, which allowed everyone the freedom to play in a safe and exciting environment.
Local resident Sandra Harlor was passionate about seeing the reinstatement of an inclusive playspace for the local community and worked hard to make this dream a reality, dedicating herself to the vision over the last decade. In 2013 Wollondilly Shire Council committed to creating a great new inclusive playspace for Warragamba.
The design
The plan had two key objectives: update the Warragamba Civic Park to be truly inclusive and attract tourism to the area. The design for a Livvi’s Place playspace was created in collaboration with local students and residents and reflects the needs and the heritage of the community as well as the Everyone Can Play Principles.
Key features of the Warragamba Civic Park design plan (PDF, 5 MB) include:
- accessible car parking located adjacent to the playspace
- easy to locate entry points from inside and outside the playspace
- appropriate groupings of play equipment for a range of ages
- consistent width and finish of orientation path
- all play elements are accessible from either the orientation path or circulation paths
- the playspace is scheduled to be open mid-2019.