Parks & Leisure Australia Journal

NZRA 2014 Award Winners

Providing for the Needs of a

Global City

Green Space and Social Inequality

Natural vs Synthetic Turf

& leisureparksA U S T R A L A S I A N

Volume 18.1 Autumn 2015

ISSN: 1446-5604

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ANZ Tennis Hot Shots (ANZTHS) is Tennis Australia’s official developmental program specially designed for primary aged kids. ANZTHS uses low-compression tennis balls, smaller courts and racquets, and is designed to get more kids playing tennis more often.

In the past 12 months over 750,000 children have experienced ANZTHS which provides a fun and friendly environment where families and kids can get involved in tennis, within their local community.

To find out more about ANZ Tennis Hot Shots or how you can arrange for courts to be developed in your local area visit hotshots.tennis.com.au

ANZTHS courts can be developed anywhere, including our parks, sporting facilities and schools!

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Autumn 2015 | AUSTRALASIAN PARKS AND LEISURE 3

Features

10 Australian-made Playgrounds

12 World Urban Parks

13 Tennis Australia and Local

Government

14 NZRA – Innovative Projects

Feature

16 NZRA – Integrated Planning

in Canterbury

18 NZRA – 2014 Award Winners

22 A Jumping Revolution

26 NZRA – Providing for the Needs

of a Global City

30 Reclaimed Landfi ll Sites

32 Changing Public Spaces in

Yarra Ranges

34 A Sustainable Future for the

Sunshine Coast

38 Helping Green Glen Eira Council

40 A Case for Synthetic Turf

44 Lake Macquarie Regional

Football Facility

47 Green Space and Social Inequality

Regulars

4 From the PLA President & CEO

6 From the NZRA Chair & CEO

8 Generate

46 Research Connections

47 PLA Advisory

50 Obituary - Tom Uren

CONTENTS

34

3226

22

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4 AUSTRALASIAN PARKS AND LEISURE | Autumn 2015

Region and wish him all the best in his future endeavours.

The PLA National Board is presently undertaking a Finance and Governance Health Check to ensure we are meeting standards and implementing best practice. We have engaged an external party for this review and the report will be presented to the board at their next meeting as we look at ways to further fi ne tune how we operate.

Recent work on rebranding with a new logo and the 50-Point Plan along with advocacy through the work of PLA Advisory has seen interest in the PLA brand grow and this is resulting in more attention from governments and industry partners.

A good representation is this new-look Journal through the partnership with Universal Magazines. This is in addition to growing our national partners. Green Life Group, Toro Australia and Jasstech Solutions join Forpark Australia and Tennis Australia as our principal national sponsors who we welcome on board.

These gains also generate change on how we operate and the systems we use, hence the ongoing review and improvements by the board. But it also means continually changing and evolving our culture as an organisation to meet the growing needs of our industry.

The national awards are always a highlight as the pinnacle of our industry and this year will be no diff erent with the best our industry has to off er being showcased at the National Awards of Excellence in Sydney (October 28, 2015). We look forward to seeing you there and good luck to all those who are submitting.

To echo our previous President’s message, we encourage you all to get involved with PLA so we can work together to build and advance our industry.

Kevin Lowe PLA National President

KEVIN LOWE PLA National President

FROM THE PLA PRESIDENT

As you might be aware there have been some changes recently to the PLA Presidency and National Board. Unfortunately,

Mark Casserly has resigned as National President and from the National Board, and as a result, I have stepped in as National President for the remainder of the year. I wish to thank Mark for his contribution as well as his ongoing work in the WA

professional body that is now recognised and heard on the world stage. This has been a long journey which has resulted in the organisation maturing to become more commercial in its outlook and more focussed on its strategic intent of servicing the sector in a professional manner.

Membership continues to grow and whilst the structure itself is being reviewed to be more inclusive of larger organisations and agencies, we cannot rest on our laurels and need to continuously review and improve what we are doing and how we are doing it. To this end, and as the President alluded to, we have recently sought external expert advice on our governance structure to assist both the National Offi ce and the Board to become more focussed in our eff orts.

In other news, PLA remains heavily involved and committed with the new World Urban Parks body with myself and the National President having involvement on the international joint

implementation committee and our own long-standing PLA member John Senior recently appointed as the Commissioner for Australia to the new Board. I have also been liaising with my New Zealand counterpart Andrew Leslie with regards to working with agencies that were members of Parks Forum about how both organisations can meet their needs in the coming years.

And last but defi nitely not least, is the continued work behind the scenes of national staff and the conference organising committee for Sydney ‘INSPIRE - Create the Future Together’, October 25 - 28, 2015. It’s shaping up to be a great event so please keep an eye on the website and your inbox for further information regarding speakers, content, technical tours and of course the great social networking opportunities.

Mark BandPLA Chief Executive Offi cer

MARK BAND PLA Chief Executive Offi cer

FROM THE PLA CEO

Welcome to the new look Journal which is another exciting step for PLA. As an organisation, PLA started

as a small group of dedicated curators of parks in Melbourne in the 1920’s and has since grown to become a peak

Parks and Leisure Australia would like to thank our National Partners:

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‘SkyPath’ shared walkway and cycleway on Auckland Harbour Bridge. Located close to the heart of New Zealand’s largest city, the bridge is the only ‘overland’ route between the CBD and the city’s North Shore, yet its current confi guration caters solely for motorised vehicles.

Interestingly, a 2-metre-wide walkway was proposed prior to the bridge’s construction in 1959, but the council of the day decided to omit the walkway in the fi nal design. Now, more than half a century later, a shared pathway seems likely to go ahead, after the SkyPath proposal received more than 11,000 public submissions in support and very few in opposition during the recent resource consent application process.

Having the foresight to eff ectively plan for future demand is a key skill for urban recreation planners, along with the ability to identify instances when a multi-million dollar infrastructure project might be better built elsewhere or avoided altogether. Perhaps the largest challenge of this type facing urban planners in the future, both in New Zealand and around the world, is forecasting for the impacts of climate change.

Councils in particular are beginning to grapple with the challenges involved in planning for rising sea levels and associated fl ooding.

The scientifi c community seems to be coming to a consensus on the science of climate change and its eff ects on sea levels. New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research is urging councils to start planning now and has developed a suite of useful information and case studies to assist planners with coastal adaptation to climate change.

Planning for climate change is a topic that will only grow in importance in coming years. Fortunately there is a growing body of knowledge and resources outlining potential impacts and strategies, along with an increasing number of experts who are willing to off er support. Among these is the peer review service off ered by NZRA – one which some councils may wish to make use of – if only to have a second group of experts to off er a considered opinion.

At NZRA we’re here to help.

Sarah BeamanNZRA Chair

The city hosted our 2014 National Conference at the end of last year, and provided delegates with the chance to visit areas of the rebuild and hear from presenters who are at the fore of some of Christchurch’s most innovative projects.

One such project is the Christchurch Adventure Park, which will be the world’s fi rst purpose built, year-round, chairlift accessed downhill mountain bike park and the largest bike park in the Southern Hemisphere. Co-Founder and Chairperson Fiona Sutton spoke about some of the challenges the project has faced and the process behind getting all the right people – users, central and local government – around the table.

The city also featured strongly in our NZRA Awards for 2014 with Active Children and Canterbury Student Representative Program picking up Merit awards in the Outstanding Community Recreation Program category.

This innovation has seen the city recognised internationally. In 2013,

Christchurch made Lonely Planet’s list of the world’s ‘Top 10 Cities’ and last year, The New York Times named it the world’s second best place to visit, behind Cape Town in South Africa. Both publications praised the city’s energy and ingenuity, and highlighted projects like Gap Filler – which you can read more about on page 14.

For Christchurch, the key will be maintaining this momentum and ensuring the rebuild continues to put the people of the city fi rst to create a vibrant, thriving, fi t-for-future city. For the rest of us, it will be identifying what we can take from the exciting things that are happening in the provision of sport and recreation facilities, events and programs in the city and looking at how we can apply it in our own backyards. I, for one, look forward to seeing how the changes in Christchurch will continue to impact urban and community planning in New Zealand for years to come.

Andrew LeslieNZRA CEO

SARAH BEAMANNZRA Chair

ANDREW LESLIENZRA CEO

FROM THE NZRA CHAIR

FROM THE NZRA CEO

Across New Zealand and Australia there are dozens of recreation projects that are put off for years, or even decades, before the

demand for them becomes so great that they fi nally go ahead. And so often, after the concrete has set, the ribbon is cut and we are all enjoying the benefi ts they provide, we ask ourselves, “Why wasn’t this done in the fi rst place”?

A prime example in recent months has been the $33 million proposal to build a

It’s easy to focus on everything that the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes have taken from Christchurch. Undoubtedly it’s a lot. However,

without minimising the physical and mental trauma they caused, the earthquakes also provided Christchurch with an opportunity to rebuild, both fi guratively and literally. And it’s an opportunity the city has embraced wholeheartedly.

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REDEFINING RECREATION & PLAYWORDS: REBECCA CRAY

As a young landscape architect hybridised with parks and recreation, I am constantly looking for new ways to integrate

play opportunities. Particularly within the local government sector, there is a growing trend for ever-increasing demands in a fi nancially constrained environment. We are being asked to support a wider range of recreational activities that we may not have seen or heard of before, and question our defi nition of what “play” or “recreation” means to our dynamic communities.

These changes and challenges got me thinking – how can we integrate and promote play opportunities already existing, but unseen and underutilised? With these increasing constraints our sector is perfectly aligned to take advantage of obstacles and turn them into opportunities.

Increasingly larger and urbanised areas of the world, such as New York, are already showing the need for their public spaces to provide for more functions,

with the invention and implementation of “Parklets” which add much needed green recreational space to small pockets of the cities streetscapes. These small and cost-eff ective set-ups can be initiated by local community or business groups and serve a variety of functions; they provide for play and recreational activities, provide shade and space to appreciate small outcrops of nature, allow seating to enjoy a coff ee or lunch, and allow a small breath or reminder of the real, simple, joys of being human.

Much the same way as New York is condensing and integrating park-like spaces and functions, we can use simple innovation to extend play and recreational opportunities within our increasingly urbanising and diverse cities. New York has proved with its “parklets” that recreation and play are no longer confi ned to vast expanses of landscaped space for which we would typically fi nd walkways, playgrounds, trees and gardens. With their obstacles in mind they demonstrate humble, yet impressive,

opportunities to redefi ne the “what, where and how” of play and recreation.

By taking the redefi ned concepts of recreation and play, we have created our own small and humble play opportunities within the comparatively small town of Rotorua, New Zealand. We are currently in the process of designing the retrofi tting of our existing CBD streets to form an amenity “wheel way” called the Green Corridor, which is designated for cyclists, mountain bikers, scooters, roller-bladers and mobility scooters. Aside from providing safe inner-city connections, the Green Corridor will link our two premier parks which fl ank each side of our CBD.

A seemingly simple component of the designated route for the Green Corridor is the existing 20-25 year old melia trees, which it had been proposed to remove to make way for the Green Corridor.

All tree-hugging jokes aside, I believe that this proposal demonstrates short-sightedness and lack of creative thinking.

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by the change in gradients and the quick grating “donk, donk, donk” sound you get when you ride over wooden decking. Simple, cost-eff ective and overall off ering a better integrated outcome that allows air and water to the tree roots and the overall enhancement to the amenity of the streetscape.

Particularly with natural features like trees, in a progressively urbanising population with increasing pressures for green space, clean air, carbon capture and also beautifi cation, trees are a perfect example of something which can be integrated into supporting other functions for the purposes of recreation or play. The “integration” multi-function capacity of this example is essentially providing blueprints or models for how we can do more with less. The more functions something has, the more intrinsic value it can be perceived to have, and more value equals more community ownership – that critical catch- phrase that local governments seem to eternally strive for.

If we tap into our can-do attitude with a long-term vision, this has obvious benefi ts in improving and strengthening our recreational opportunities. No longer are trees viewed as d-grade citizens in our predominantly man-made environment, but rather an essential reminder of what it means to be human: immortal, imperfect, yet somehow fi tting for the landscape we grow and produce from.

I use trees as an example because they are a readily available “everyday” item that are aff ordable, plentiful and quite easily attainable for most Australasian councils, however, resourcefulness and creative responses in light of the challenging and constant demands placed on parks and recreation staff is really what I’m advocating for.

I challenge you to consider the boundless possibilities for play in your everyday environment, as I truly believe that there is endless potential for improvement, integration and innovation in our sector. When our concept of play is redefi ned, and our imaginations are engaged, natural elements like trees off er us boundless opportunities for integrating and rediscovering new ways to play. When we take this can-do attitude we suddenly have the tools and the resources at hand to enlighten our communities to see our increasingly urban environments from a diff erent perspective – one that is functional, intriguing, and full of opportunity.

Either that or I’m just another young tree-hugging hippy.

Rebecca Cray is a Landscape Architect at the Rotorua Lakes Council in New Zealand, and has been on the Generate Steering Committee for just over a year.

What do the trees currently off er to the street or landscape in which they currently exist? How else could we integrate our proposed development with the existing environment? These were some questions I felt the “decision –makers” hadn’t considered, which got me thinking: how could we keep the trees and further celebrate them as a feature by incorporating play? From another perspective we were actually being off ered the opportunity to promote the tree’s presence and perhaps in the process gain public appreciation, and an invaluable component to developing and maintaining community pride of place and the need to maintain our recreational facilities. Particularly when we relate trees to the widening defi nition of what it means

to “play” we have the potential to capitalise on shade, scale, softening, way-fi nding, branches to climb, as well as having an incredible visual feature, other attributes that trees off er.

After much discussion and my own personal disbelief that this project could be determined on such narrow-sighted terms, I fought to keep them by promoting the trees’ potential “play” or recreation value in the context of the project. After all, I told the engineers it was a Green Corridor, not an “Ashphalt Corridor”.

So alongside a team of seemingly tree-allergic engineers, we have come up with a solution to put in wooden ramps which span the length of existing tree pits – providing a play or recreational feature

“ WHEN OUR CONCEPT OF PLAY IS REDEFINED, AND OUR IMAGINATIONS ARE ENGAGED, NATURAL ELEMENTS LIKE TREES OFFER US BOUNDLESS OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTEGRATING AND REDISCOVERING NEW WAYS TO PLAY”

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Matrices, basket swings, rope courses, these are not words that were used to describe our playgrounds when we

were kids and we certainly didn’t worry about having $20K worth of soft-fall under an entire play area. These days, putting a swing, slide and a set of monkey bars in a sand pit just doesn’t cut it as a “playground” anymore.

The Australian playground industry is estimated to be worth in excess of $100 million annually. As is similar in almost every market in Australia, year after year we are seeing more international organisations entering the market creating a highly competitive environment.

We’ve seen some incredible playground designs that could dazzle the ‘adult’ out of almost anyone but they come with an equally dazzling price tag.

Additionally, we are seeing badly replicated designs using materials that don’t always meet the Australian Standards or a short time after installation need to be replaced.

The selection of play equipment available is now bigger than ever and although the majority of play equipment looks similar, what is the diff erence?

AUSTRALIAN CLIMATE AND MATERIALS

With play equipment arriving on our shores from all over the world, there is a distinct

advantage for local manufacturers. They understand the Australian climate.

No matter where you live in Australia you know that conditions in this country are harsh. From one extreme to another depending on which part of the country you live in and sometimes from one day to the next.

Local manufacturers have known this for a long time and adapted their products and materials to cope in our hot, dry, windy, wet and everything-combined climate. The most basic standards for production of materials in Australia can be seen internationally as exceptionally high, simply because of all the variables that have to be considered to ensure the products last.

The question is, would a playground installed in Hyde Park in London withstand the Australian climate? It’s unlikely.As examples:• Many European timbers are not suitable

in sustained temperatures above 36 degrees. It cracks, splinters and splits in as little as 6 months.

• Plastics without UV stabilisers will need to be replaced in half the time of their expected life.

• There are also many composite materials that warp under the intense heat of our Australian sun, constantly expanding during the day and shrinking in the cool of the night.Using materials that are not suitable

for our environment can incur serious maintenance costs or alternatively result in costly and time consuming retro-fi ts.

As the saying goes ‘prevention is always better than the cure’.

VALUE-ADD OF BUYING LOCAL

Knowing products bought locally have been designed specifi cally for local conditions, being Australian-made also has additional benefi ts.

Everyone knows through local purchases you support our economy but what is the fl ow on aff ect and what are the fi gures? They are in fact fi gures not easy to come by.

Research published by the Industry Capability Network in 2008 shows that for every $1 million of new or retained manufacturing business in Australia, the following eff ects fl ow through the economy:• $333,900 worth of tax revenue generated• $985,000 worth of value-added

generated• $95,000 worth of welfare benefi ts saved• 10 full-time jobs created(Economic impacts of the manufacturing and services sectors 2008: www.icn.org.au

A playground is a signifi cant investment. Not only is it an asset to our community and our children, but it is also an asset to our children’ s children, and as such, deserves signifi cant consideration before purchase.

AUSTRALIAN MADE PLAYGROUNDS – HOW DO WE STACK UP?WORDS: SHAUN REYNOLDS, FORPARK AUSTRALIA STATE MANAGER

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Members of the International Federation of Park and Recreation Administration (IFPRA)

formally and overwhelmingly voted just prior to Christmas to approve the transition of the organisation into a new global body - World Urban Parks (WUP). The concept of the new body was the subject of an initial independent review, and over the past year to the consideration of an international Task Force of urban park sector representatives (not only from IFPRA) which then made recommendations about the detail for the change. This Task Force was chaired by John Senior and PLA were represented through its Chief Executive and President.

The new World Urban Parks organisation comes at a time when parks are not valued highly enough by decision makers. It’s absolutely necessary to have a strong advocacy as the world’s urban population will increase from 3.5 billion to over 7

billion within the next 40 – 50 years. The park space created in the new urban areas will impact the quality of life of hundreds of millions, billions, over hundreds of years. This is just one of the challenges and opportunities that WUP faces.

City liveability and sustainability are becoming increasingly signifi cant and establishing an urban parks organisation with an inclusive nature will ensure a clear focus and a conscious and complementary fi t with sister organisations around the world.

For WUP to succeed, professional associations, park organisations and individual professionals need to embrace the concept, support it, and create an exciting and welcoming organisation that will unite the industry globally. No other body exists for this purpose.

We all know the value of sharing knowledge, developing professional relationships and having a united voice across countries when we face common and global issues,

particularly in times of economic restraint. Now more than ever, investment in working with other organisations and individuals globally or across world regions makes sense, as population growth places greater pressures on open space, and communications technology and cheaper international travel brings us ever closer together.

Having a credible global body to advocate, share knowledge and best practice, commission international research, and facilitate professional development will provide both organisations and individuals with far wider opportunities.

A new exciting phase will be starting soon. As recommended, WUP is aiming to go live on April 1, 2015. An international Implementation Group has been formed to undertake a number of key fi nal decisions through February and March in order to bring WUP into being prior to the fi rst directors of WUP taking charge from April.

WORLD URBAN PARKS

CONGRATULATIONSCongratulations to John Senior for his recent appointment as IFPRA Commissioner for Australia. John held the position of Manager Parks Sector Partnerships at Parks Victoria for over 10 years, prior to his semi-retirement in mid-2012. John was also the National Director of PLA from 2000 to 2005 and is currently a member of IUCN’s World Commission on Protected Areas, as well as a member of both its ‘Healthy Parks Healthy People’ Taskforce and Cities & Protected Areas Specialist Group. He is currently managing the preparation of International Best Practice Guidelines for the ‘Healthy Parks Healthy People’ approach, on behalf of IUCN. For the past nine months John has been Chairing Ifpra’s International Task Force to progress the potential establishment of a new World Urban Parks organisation. His term of offi ce is for a period of three years and is eff ective immediately.

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STRENGTHENING TENNIS AUSTRALIA’S PARTNERSHIP

WITH LOCAL GOVERNMENTSWORDS: ADAM CHEYNE, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNITY PROJECTS MANAGER

Tennis Australia (TA) recognises the signifi cant role local governments play in the delivery of tennis in our local

communities, particularly as local governments own in excess of 80 per cent of tennis venues nationally and are a key investor in the development of community tennis venues.

It is with this recognition that TA is committed to more formally grow and strengthen its partnerships with all local governments nationally, ensuring tennis has the best opportunity to continue to grow and develop within our parklands and open spaces. Furthermore many of TA’s objectives, such as increasing participation and improving the health and social wellbeing within the community, are mirrored by local government.

Through signifi cant consultation with local governments around Australia in 2014, TA has developed the following four pillars to underpin the working relationship between Tennis and local government to ensure that tennis venues meet the shared objectives of the venue owners and the sport’s governing body.

ACCESSIBILITYAn accessible venue is one which is both physically and economically accessible and open to all members of the public. Physically, the tennis venue is unlocked and accessible during reasonable operating hours and preferably with a physical point of contact on site. Tennis venues on public land should be open to the community (including non-members of the club) to hire and use the facility on a casual or pay-for-play basis. The venue should off er programing and services that meet all the needs of the community and provide a range of tennis programming entry points.

COMMUNITY BENEFIT Community benefi t should be a fundamental purpose of any tennis venue. Community benefi t can be defi ned as any value that the public derives from the venue. What people perceive as community benefi t may diff er between various groups of the community, however, most people can agree that a tennis venue should provide a mix of the following: • Healthy and active lifestyle benefi ts • Social and inclusive tennis and

recreational activity

• Programming/services to meet the needs of the community, including ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Community Play and National Schools Partnership Program (NSPP) links

SUSTAINABILITYA sustainable tennis venue is fi nancially viable into the foreseeable future. A sustainable tennis venue successfully implements an asset maintenance and replacement plan and is not overly reliant on external sources of funding to meet its basic infrastructure needs. It derives funds from a range of activities, putting aside operational surpluses each year to service its sinking fund to cover asset replacement, maintenance and upgrades. The clubhouse, courts and surrounds are upheld to a good standard creating a vibrant, safe and welcoming facility.

ACCOUNTABILITY Accountability on venue operators means that they take appropriate responsibility for the asset, its ongoing sustainability and ensure that the future of the tennis venue is secured. They are more diligent in their business planning and reporting and undertake prudent fi nancial forecasting and modelling. The operational responsibilities to the venue are clear and measures are in place to meet the targets and goals set by LGAs to ensure that obligations are met. Tennis provides resources and templates for Councils, Clubs/Centres, and Coaches which can assist in this area.

It is TA’s goal to drive these four pillars to drive the future growth of our sport and provide clear focus for local governments to guide their strategy and policy direction as to how their community tennis venues will be managed and accessed for all to enjoy.

Throughout 2015, TA’s Places to Play team will be endeavouring to engage all local governments and workshop these four pillars to further understand how Tennis and LGAs can most eff ectively work together. TA is committed to delivering forums and off ering a range of support services towards the achievement of these joint objectives. Just recently, during the second week of the Australian Open, Tennis Victoria and TA held a Forum where over 41 local governments were represented, providing an interactive environment for local governments to share how we can further promote eff ective venue management and participation in community tennis, as well as learn about developments in the sport.

To learn more about what Tennis Australia is planning in the area of local government contact Adam Cheyne on 03 9914 4090 or email: [email protected]

TENNIS AUSTRALIA AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

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The recent New Zealand Recreation Association (NZRA) National Conference featured case studies and strategies on how to lead

and improve the industry from recreation professionals from New Zealand and around the world.

Innovative initiatives presented included Sport Beyond School, a pilot project at the University of Auckland helping young people continue with recreation and sport after leaving school; and Gap Filler, an initiative reinventing vacant spaces in the wake of the devastating Christchurch earthquakes of 2010 and 2011.

These projects achieved signifi cant results by re-inventing the way recreation opportunities are provided, and the methods used have a multitude of potential applications for planners looking to engage with their audiences in meaningful ways.

GAP FILLEROver the last four years, Gap Filler has been the driving force behind a series of public community projects, enticing hundreds of passionate community members to contribute thousands of hours to help

revitalise the city of Christchurch.Co-founder and Director Coralie

Winn said the projects provide creative opportunities for the people of Christchurch to fi nd their voice in rebuilding the character of the city through the small-scale testing of ideas.

“There’s still a huge amount of vacant space. People from around New Zealand don’t really realise the scale of what has happened here.

“The city was cordoned off to the people for two and a half years. The question now is how do you encourage people to get involved and participate?”

Ms Winn said Gap Filler gave people who were feeling overwhelmed hope and positivity, while on a larger scale, the projects provided a way for people to reconsider the public spaces they live in.

“When you think about it at a political level – it’s about how people get involved in developing the city. It’s interesting to bring another use of land in, allowing a wider group of people to get involved and have a voice in the redevelopment of their city.

“It’s about activating vacant space with temporary creative projects to make a

more vibrant city… we wanted to bring life to the city and show that temporary projects had value.”

Such projects include a cycle-powered cinema and the ‘Dance-O-Mat’, a moveable public dance fl oor that runs music from a coin-operated washing machine and has seen more than 1,000 hours of community use in two and a half years.

Another Gap Filler project that has been recognised around the world was the ‘Pallet Pavilion’, an outdoor community space and events venue built from over 3,000 wooden shipping pallets in 2012 on the site of the demolished Crowne Plaza Hotel.

Over 2,600 volunteer hours went into building the Pavilion, with more than 250 volunteers and 50+ businesses contributing their energy, expertise and enthusiasm. Crowd-funding also played a part, enabling the much-loved structure to remain longer than originally planned.

“It was originally supposed to be the Summer Pallet Pavilion, but people said ‘no, you can’t take it down’. Our response after much agonising was to say, well, ‘help us decide’ and provide a fundraising target we needed to achieve to keep it going. The

INNOVATIVE PROJECTS FEATURE AT THE NZRA NATIONAL CONFERENCEWORDS: FRASER MAY

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result was amazing – crowd-funding helped us to raise over $80k in 29 days”.

While the Pallet Pavilion was eventually deconstructed in April 2014, it won Silver in the Best Design Awards for Spatial Design, and has now been shortlisted for the International Award for Public Art.

SPORT BEYOND SCHOOLFurther north, University of Auckland Sport Beyond School Project Manager Hamish Rogers, shared the pilot project’s preliminary fi ndings. Now entering its third and fi nal year, it has already led to an exponential increase in the number of social sport teams and more people taking part in other forms of recreation.

Mr Rogers said the project uses empirical analysis to craft and implement strategies that improve participation by providing informal ‘pop-up’ sport opportunities, leading a successful rebrand of social sport leagues, and supporting the University’s social sport clubs.

The project, which is jointly run by the University of Auckland, Sport New Zealand, Auckland Council, Sport Auckland, Counties Manukau Sport, Harbour Sport, Sport

Waitakere and College Sport Auckland, responded to research fi nding many students did not transition into club and university recreation and sport after leaving school.

Mr Rogers said the fi rst year of the pilot was based heavily around research, while the second year centred on projects that increase participation, providing ad hoc opportunities for recreation as well as formal recreation opportunities in university leagues and clubs.

“One of our projects was called ‘PlayNow’. This included things like volleyball, speedminton, circus and other pop-up activities in visible locations around campus. Volleyball was pretty unique - we had students coming and playing even when it was hailing.”

The project also re-energised the University’s ailing social sport module, re-launching the program as ‘UNIM8S Social Sport Leagues’.

Mr Rogers said this brand was developed to evoke the one thing that school leavers said would enable them to participate in recreation and sport beyond school more than anything else – their mates.

As part of the re-launch, Sport Beyond School connected with university clubs, providing an umbrella structure for leagues, targeting student groups not typically involved in sport, allowing high school students to join leagues, and creating a Facebook group to connect students with teams looking for players.

These changes had stellar results - in the space of one semester, the university went from having 0 to 20 social basketball teams, 4 to 12 futsal teams, and 16 to 30 indoor netball teams.

Mr Rogers said there are four facets that contributed to the success of the Sport Beyond School project – surveys, program delivery, marketing, and aiming to make initiatives sustainable so they can continue to run once the pilot had fi nished.

He said the challenge for any organisation aiming to help school leavers transition into senior recreation and sport lies in providing a clear pathway for them.

“Some of the survey results confi rm that there are clear drop-off s happening. From

the University wide survey for example, we asked students to tell us how much sport and recreation they are doing alongside how much they were doing 12 months ago.”

Mr Rogers said the survey found that 40 per cent of fi rst year students straight out of high school had gone from some formal sport to none at all. 62 per cent of all students said they were doing less formal sport than they would like to, while 53 per cent said they were spending less time participating in informal recreation and sport than they would like to.

“We often hear students saying ‘if I’d known about that I would’ve done it’, but they didn’t hear. That’s where the Sport Beyond School project comes in.”

Mr Rogers said the pilot was a good example of a project driven by empirical analysis rather than making decisions based on assumptions or focussing on ‘squeaky wheels’.

“One of the greatest legacies from Sport Beyond School for the University of Auckland is a culture within the sport and rec team around being more analytical.”

Mr Rogers said the topic is currently on Sport New Zealand’s radar and universities play a key role in bridging the divide between secondary school and adult recreation. The learnings from the Sport Beyond School pilot provide a foundation for universities to build on.

He said the recreation and sport sector needs to recognise that there are major transition points where people can drop out, and be more proactive about providing relevant opportunities, not just for people leaving high school, but also for people in other major life transitions such as starting a family or moving house.

“It’s easier to retain people in sport and recreation than to watch them drop out and then get them back,” Mr Rogers said.

Keynote speakers at the Conference included Olympic Gold Medallist and America’s Cup yachtsman Rob Waddell, the University of Vermont’s Steven Rubenstein Professor of Environment and Natural Resources Robert Manning, and Dr Mark Prain, Executive Director of the Hillary Institute of International Leadership.

Summer Pallet Pavilion (photo by Guy Jansen)

Gap Filler Dance-O-Mat

(photo by Trent Hiles)



Many towns in Canterbury have undergone major expansion since earthquakes rocked the city of Christchurch

and its hinterland. The devastation of the largest city in the New Zealand’s South Island has resulted in massive growth in the surrounding area, and this means the country’s recreational planners have had to rise to the challenge.

Selwyn District Council, Boff a Miskell Limited and Global Leisure Group Limited recently won the New Zealand Planning Institute’s Best Practice Award for Excellence in Strategic Planning and Guidance for the Rolleston Town Centre and Foster Recreation Park Masterplans, to be implemented in the Selwyn District that borders Christchurch.

The Masterplans were identifi ed as a key priority for Selwyn District Council given the growth projected for Rolleston over the next 20 years and the rapidly changing and highly pressured post-earthquake environment. The evolution of the new 42 hectare Foster Recreation Park and the Rolleston Town Centre were recognised by the Council as essential factors to providing a social and economic heart for the town and District.

The Council, Global Leisure Group and Boff a Miskell were acutely aware that the community was highly stressed, particularly sports clubs who were coping with massive membership growth while relying on volunteer management for administration. Information overload was widespread because of the impacts of the earthquakes and multiplicity of issues confronting the residents of Rolleston,

many of whom were recent settlers from Christchurch.

Penetrating this clutter and having the two Masterplans understood were important factors in looking for a better strategy for delivering the Masterplans so the situation for residents and those that used the town’s parks and open spaces could be improved. Providing a single story and picture for the Town Centre and the Parks through a joined up planning eff ort was the strategy adopted by the two teams involved.

The Foster Recreation Park Masterplan brief included consideration of the future of two other major reserves within Rolleston, namely Brookside Park (a recently established sports park) and Rolleston Reserve (the historic and spiritual home of sport and recreation in the township). This was a critical factor as the future of the Rolleston Reserve bridged both the Town Centre and Foster Recreation Park planning projects.

Originally the Masterplans were two separate but related planning initiatives being driven by diff erent departments within the Council. The integrated approach to planning was the result of an eff ective leadership team of professionals spanning across the three organisations and across departments within the Council and Boff a Miskell.

The methodology used was relatively standard in its approach to delivering the Masterplans with one major exception - the two project teams committed early to delivering a joint planning solution to meet the pressing challenges of the faster than planned for growth in Rolleston due to the earthquakes.

The key to the success in implementing the strategy and methodology was the fl at management approach taken within and between the two project teams. This was refl ected in a fl exible and iterative approach rather than adhering to the pre-determined tasks and timelines of the originally separate project plans.

The presence of common personnel and ‘plenary’ sessions involving both project teams to deal with cross-over issues eff ectively enabled the two teams to operate as a single project team in delivering coordinated Masterplans.

The project teams each had a separate project reference group working in parallel, but to diff erent timetables. Strong leadership and management by the project teams allowed them to resist time pressures and maintain a ‘single picture’ approach to communicating the two Masterplans to the community. The two project reference groups were integral components providing regular critical feedback as the planning work moved through the phases.

High community endorsement for both Masterplans was credited to the coordinated approach in which residents and impacted organisations could see the ‘whole picture’. This is particularly notable because the Masterplans included a signifi cant change in land use and purpose of the Rolleston Reserve which had been a highly contentious issue during the earlier attempt by Council to establish a new town centre.

Foster Recreation Park is now well underway with four fi elds that will be available for winter 2015, and another fi ve fi elds and 10-12 hectares to be worked on over autumn and operational in the New Year.

The relocation of several long-standing users to the new Foster Recreation Park and Brookside Park in stages was accepted by the organisations impacted, and the introduction of the ‘hub’ concept for provision of core facilities also meant a major change to a shared provision mode for most user organisations was also accepted.

The Rolleston experience illustrates the benefi ts of unifi ed planning that looks beyond the horizon of ‘silos’ within councils. The benefi ts of the project teams working in a synchronised manner was identifi ed through the initial scoping phase where a global view was taken to identify cross-over

WORDS: DAVID ALLAN, DIRECTOR GLOBAL LEISURE GROUP LIMITED

AWARD WINNING INTEGRATED PLANNING IN CANTERBURY

Rolleston’s Parks



issues and opportunities within the Council planning program.

The fl at structure adopted was a refl ection of the hand-in-hand approach of the urban planning and design with the landscape and recreation planning disciplines to meeting the desired outcome of an integrated and cohesive delivery of two priority projects within Rolleston.

The unifi ed planning for the Town Centre and recreation reserves in Rolleston provides a model for integrated planning across two or more related but separate projects to achieve greater community endorsement and an enhanced outcome for the community.

THE PLANNING TECHNIQUES USED TO ACHIEVE SUPPORT WERE:

• Early engagement with the community (e.g. share an idea event and the development of a needs assessment report).

• Detailed consultation with aff ected landowners (including consultants individually meeting with landowners to explain how the draft Masterplans might impact on their property).

• Detailed consultation with aff ected user organisations (including consultants individually meeting with these

stakeholders at several points of the process to identify their needs, desired future state, option assessment, and then to explain how the draft Masterplans might impact on their future use of open space reserves).

• Joint development approach to both Masterplans (separate project teams and governance arrangements but linked together by project managers and consultants/regular meetings between the two project teams).

• Use of technology to clearly explain the Masterplans, including an animated fl y-through video and a detailed and animated transportation model to help people to visualise the proposals so they could participate meaningfully in the planning process. A series of simple, non-technical staging plans were also prepared to help explain the staging of each Masterplan.

• The preparation of the Masterplans involved a collaborative eff ort, bringing together a range of disciplines and a number of diverse (and confl icting) public and private sector aspirations. This enabled the creation of supportable Masterplans and the backing of key stakeholders and local residents.

KEY LEARNINGS WERE:• Have the courage to depart from

the original timelines to enable

synchronisation of the planning eff ort to enable the ‘whole picture’ to be laid out to the community at one time, even when under signifi cant pressure to deliver in the post-earthquake environment.

• Early adoption of the principle that both projects were of equal importance in terms of project management even though they were of diff erent scale and cost.

• Ensuring coordination of the two project teams was eff ective through presence of common Council and consultant personnel on each team and adoption of a fl at management approach within and across the project teams to facilitate easy adjustment of work streams as needed.

• Effi ciency, especially from a fi nancial point of view, in adopting an integrated planning approach. This was achieved in combining some aspects of consultation (drop in sessions, joint hearing etc.), and telling the whole story for the community that reduced the level of controversy and the likelihood of needing to focus more resources on ameliorating concerns.

The Masterplans and supporting documents can be obtained from the Selwyn District Council.

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The New Zealand recreation industry’s most innovative and inspiring individuals and organisations were recognised

at the 2014 New Zealand Recreation Association (NZRA) Awards, held in Christchurch.

NZRA CEO Andrew Leslie said the awards recognise those who make a positive diff erence in the lives of New Zealanders every day, and are a highlight for the industry.

“It’s uplifting to see the amazing things that are happening in recreation across the country, more often than not without the recognition they deserve. This year’s winners exemplify the diversity of our sector, and the passion, talent and hard work that drives it.”

The 2014 award winners include the

Mount Albert Community and Recreation Centre in Auckland, which received the Outstanding Facility Award for its innovative approach to catering for people of all ages, genders and ethnic groups.

Further south, Wellington’s community-led South Coast Kids Track mountain bike track shared the Outstanding Project Award as joint winners with the William Nelson Park and Skatepark in Hastings. The South Island also featured, with both the Christchurch-based Active Children and Canterbury Student Representative Programme picking up Merit awards in the Outstanding Community Recreation Programme category.

Mr Leslie said the number and quality of nominations were pleasing and the Awards Committee had a diffi cult job in

deciding on the winners, as evidenced by multiple winners or merit awards in two of the award categories.

However, he encourages more people and organisations to consider putting themselves forward for the 2015 awards.

“We, as an industry, have a lot to celebrate and a lot we can learn from each other. So many outstanding nominees do not put themselves forward, so we don’t ever hear about some of the great work that is happening in our communities.”

The Awards Dinner was held at the Air Force Museum in Wigram, as part of NZRA’s National Conference held in Christchurch from November 26-28, 2014.

For more information about NZRA, the National Conference or the NZRA Awards visit www.nzrecreation.org.nz.

AWARDS RECOGNISE NZ RECREATION’S BEST & BRIGHTEST

MC Joe Bennett hosting the NZRA Awards ceremony



2014 NZRA AWARD WINNERS

> OUTSTANDING PROJECTRecognising excellence, innovation and eff ectiveness in the provision of a recreation and leisure project.

Joint winners: South Coast Kids Track, Wellington Mountain Bike Club; and William Nelson Park and Skatepark, Hastings District Council.

The South Coast Kids Track was developed by the Island Bay community, for the community. The development of the children’s beginner mountain bike track was led by a group of parents that wanted somewhere local and easily accessible for their kids to ride off -road. The track is a community asset that families will enjoy using for years to come. It is a project that embraces the Wellington City Council’s vision for the city and provides locals and visitors with a place for fun and recreation.

The William Nelson Park and Skatepark is an exciting multi-use recreation hub in the heart of Hastings, billed as one of the best skate facilities in New Zealand. The creation of this open-space was characterised by a thorough planning process that put the community at the centre of decision-making. Widespread consultation with stakeholders and the public, the use of social media as a people-connecting tool, the employing of top-fl ight designers from the outset, and the willingness to follow an iterative process has led to the creation of this popular urban space.

> OUTSTANDING EVENTRecognising an outstanding one-off or annual recreation festival or event.

Winner: 2013/14 TSB Bank Festival of Lights, New Plymouth District Council.

This iconic annual Taranaki event provides an opportunity for the community to come together and enjoy the natural beauty of Pukekura Park, one of the most outstanding inner city open spaces in New Zealand. It is New Zealand’s longest running light-based festival and celebrated 60 years in 2013/14. The festival runs for six weeks every December/January and attracts 100,000 people. It consists of lighting displays and feature installations, nightly on-stage entertainment and a daytime activities and events programme.

Hastings District Council

– William Nelson Park

and Skatepark

Wellington Mountain Bike Club – South Coast Kids Track

New Plymouth District Council – TSB Bank Festival of Lights



2014 NZRA AWARD WINNERS

> OUTSTANDING COMMUNITY RECREATION PROGRAMME

Recognising excellence, innovation and eff ectiveness in the provision of a community recreation programme.

Winner: Kiwisport Fundamental Movement Skills, Hutt City Council.

KiwiSport is a government funded initiative to support sport for school-aged children. The KiwiSport Regional Partnership Fund encourages schools, clubs and community organisations to collaborate in increasing opportunities for organised sport. The Wellington region Kiwisport consultation identifi ed a need for improvements in basic or fundamental skills for primary-aged children and to provide better quality opportunities for those children. This project aims to provide a skills base, rather than skills specifi c to each sport, which then provide a foundation for all physical activity.

Highly Commended (Merit): Active Children, Tiddlers Multisport Trust (Christchurch).

Highly Commended (Merit): Canterbury Student Representative Programme, NZRA Top of the South/Canterbury Regional Committee in association with Lincoln University.

> OUTSTANDING FACILITY

Recognising excellence, innovation and eff ectiveness in the provision of a facility.

Winner: Mount Albert Community and Recreation Centre, YMCA Auckland.

The Mt Albert Community and Recreation Centre is a hub for community arts, culture and active recreation, off ering extensive delivery of programmes that include a number of outreach locations. The facility off ers a diverse range of structured and unstructured activities utilising the facility, a local park and other outreach venues to cater for all ages, gender and ethnic groups. The diversity of programme options and locations, combined with an extensive community engagement strategy ensures that Mt Albert Recreation Centre is best fulfi lling the needs of the local community. The Mt Albert Community and Recreation Centre, and YMCA Auckland, provide the core innovation, community engagement, excellence, achievement, effi ciency and sustainability.

> MARK MITCHELL MEMORIAL TROPHY

Recognising excellence and outstanding personal contribution to the recreation industry.

Winner: John Latimer

Hutt City Council – Kiwisport Fundamental Movement Skills

John Latimer – Mark Mitchell Memorial Trophy Winner

YMCA Auckland – Mount Albert Community and Recreation Centre


Permathene specialise in architectural gabion walls for parks and urban spaces.

Gabions are versatile, they are not only design elements adding definition to areas of the park but they are also aesthetic features that perform a specific function. By filling with different materials (different types of rocks or recycled materials), landscapers are able to create different effects to blend into surroundings.

Permathene offers different coated welded gabions including galfan plus (coated with 280 grams of 10% aluminium and 90% Zinc), PVC coated, and marine grade (316) stainless steel.

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A park was created from a former Caltex tank farm. Gabions were filled with demolition material including broken brick.

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A JUMPING REVOLUTIONWORDS: DAVID EAGER

Daring tricks and twists are all part of the fun at trampoline parks. They off er fun and exercise for children, adolescents and adults, but like all

other public activity spaces, trampoline parks need to comply with minimum accepted safety standards.

Trampoline parks are opening up for business all around Australia. They are opening at an exponential rate, from no centres two years ago to approximately 62 as at December 2014. This trend has come off the back of an explosion in the number of these facilities throughout North America, in particular the USA where trampoline park numbers have increased from 35 to 280 in three years.

Trampoline parks are seen by adolescents as an exciting adventure activity that is cool. It is already developing into a ‘cult’ activity like snowboarding and surfi ng.

Most trampoline parks cater to all ages including seniors, and have proven popular with schools and businesses, as well as for special occasions like birthday parties. They also provide facilities that promote interaction between diff ering age groups, cultures and genders. They aid in the development of gross motor skills such as jumping, falling, balance, coordination as well as social skills, whilst also encouraging active exercise

participation and fi tness. Being an indoor recreational activity it really doesn’t matter what the weather is like, so even on a cold and wet winter day in Melbourne one can enjoy zero gravity ‘weightlessness’ while bouncing and enjoy higher G-forces than one would experience at Luna Park or Dreamworld. Without having to fl y to London on QF 1, a patron can experience three times the G-force that they could experience on an A380 jet that is powered by four powerful Rolls Royce Trent 900 engines that can deliver a staggering 1,496 kN thrust.

Trampoline parks are a multi-milion dollar recreation industry where patrons are charged around $15-20/hour. At the many centres patrons are required to book in advance during busy usage times such as school holidays and weekends. Trampoline parks go beyond the niche consumer market that BMX and skateboard venues have occupied for many years. Trampoline parks cater to a much broader market spectrum and this is a major contributing factor that keeps the cash registers rolling even on good weather days where children would have historically been seen outdoors kicking the football around the paddock.

The trampoline park story, however, is not all peaches and cream. Concerns have been raised by orthopedics, pediatric and

trauma teams around the country regarding the high incident rates of injuries sustained by trampoline park users. The medical industry has observed an alarming increase in emergency department admissions. The injuries are not limited to the occasional bump or bruise. The injuries relating to trampoline park usage are severe and include spine and head injuries together with fractured and dislocated limbs. We have historically seen these types of injuries from the backyard trampoline but never in the numbers that are now being admitted to our emergency departments around the country.

With all these injuries it would be reasonable to assume that there was an Australian Standard setting out the minimum safety requirements for trampoline parks.

You may be surprised to hear that currently there is no Australian Standard governing the design, operation or maintenance of trampoline parks. A project proposal was submitted to Standard Australia to write a safety Standard in August 2013. This project proposal was rejected by Standard Australia primarily because there was (at that point in time) insuffi cient evidence to justify the deployment of their limited resources.

With no Australian Standard and the prospect that an Australian Standard would at best be many years away, the founding operators within the Australian Trampoline Park industry formed a self-regulating Association and called it the Australian Trampoline Parks Association (ATPA) with the purpose of setting minimum safety standards within the industry. The ATPA is now a member of the Australia Amusement Leisure and Recreation Association or AALARA.

The ATPA being a member of AALARA is good news for all stakeholders whether they are operators, staff or patrons. Among many other things, AALARA declares that all persons and legal entities that operate businesses and work in providing amusement, leisure and recreation facilities and services must uphold and actively utilise best practice standards established by the industry for the industry in the day-to-day operation of their businesses so as to fully meet their responsibilities to their staff , guests and clients.

The ATPA has taken a responsible attitude by writing and publishing an industry Code of Practice for the design, manufacture, installation, operation,

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maintenance, inspection and structural or major modifi cation of trampoline parks. A copy can be downloaded from the ATPA website: www.atpa.org.au. This industry Code of Practice came into eff ect in June 2014. It refl ects the technical requirements contained within the North American Standard F2970 which was published in June 2013 by the ASTM International Committee F24.60 together with the intent of the Australian Standard AS 3533 Amusement Rides and Devices which was written by the ME-051 Australian Standards Committee.

Over fi ve million Australians suff er sports related injuries each year. This comes at a reported annual cost of an estimated two billion dollars. However, with risk, there is also reward. With sports participation the associated health benefi ts to individuals and society are beyond questioning.

The ATPA website currently cites injury rates at less than 2 in every 10,000 participant visits. Unfortunately, there is no evidence or reference to substantiate this claim by the ATPA. If this statistic is correct then trampoline parks are safer than many other activities that we openly encourage our children to participate in. Activities such as football, soccer, netball and cycling would all be considerably more dangerous.

Obesity levels are rising, but more astoundingly have increased by 200 per cent for males in the 5-12 year age group and by 150 per cent for girls in the 13-17 year age group.

However, given the social, health and wellbeing benefi ts provided by trampoline parks there are still accidents occurring and resulting injuries being sustained. Injuries not only aff ect one’s ability to remain active but may also impact upon other family members and if old enough the user’s ability to remain in the workforce and earn an income.

In 2011-12, 10.8 million adults were overweight, and of these 4.7 million were obese. Obesity is now seen as an epidemic in Australia and associated costs are said to be around sixty billion dollars per year. This gives reason for providing safe environments where physical activities take place, so participants can minimise their risk of injury but also enjoy the associated health and social benefi ts of regular exercise.

So despite the warning cries from the medical community that trampoline parks are dangerous, they are rapidly being seen as an alternative exercise/sporting choice by parents who are advised by trampoline park operators that they will be exposing their children to higher rates of injury if they allow them to participate in major Australian sports such as soccer, rugby union, rugby league, Aussie rules football and netball.

It must also be mentioned that external factors such as the age and experience of the trampoline user, and the age and experience of the person supervising the trampoline

user, should at some stage be taken into account when considering trampoline park injury rates and the type of injuries sustained. A nine-year-old will attenuate a bounce diff erently from an experienced trampolinist, or an elite gymnast. As the skill level increases, trampoline participants will attempt more complex and potentially more dangerous manoeuvres such as fl ips and walking up vertical walls and doing seemingly gravity-defying manoeuvres.

WHO POLICES TRAMPOLINE PARKS?Are they amusement rides and devices and policed by the various WorkCover and WorkSafe Authorities in each State and Territory? Or are they policed by the Offi ce of Fair Trading in each State and Territory? Or is it the Insurance Industry? Or are they unregulated?

The Work Health and Safety Act requires persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs) to, so far as is reasonably practicable, ensure the health and safety of employees, contractors and members of the public. The Act requires the PCBUs to notify the Regulator in their State or Territory of any serious injuries and dangerous incidents that occur while conducting their business. The PCBUs are also required to exercise ‘due diligence to ensure compliance with the Act.

I n many jurisdictions, operators attempt to hide behind their respective State-based legislation such as the NSW Civil Liabilities Act. These operators force patrons to sign waivers in which they eff ectively assign the patron’s right for compensation before they are allowed to enter and use the facilities within their premises. Equally problematic is the practice of requiring parents running

birthday parties to sign waivers on behalf of absent parents. This is a worrying trend as these operators may have inadequately trained staff , or insuffi cient staff -to-patron supervision ratios that will allow them to safely operate their trampoline park facility. Worse they may use the Civil Liabilities Act legislation to build facilities that do not comply with the minimum safety requirement contained within ATPA Code of Practice. They are eff ectively saying, no matter what, you can’t sue us. It doesn’t matter if they don’t have enough staff , their staff isn’t properly trained, or their equipment is old or derelict. This sends the wrong message to operators who are doing the right thing and complying with the Code of Practice.

Design issues such as exposed springs, insecure padding and insuffi cient dismount foam-pit depth increase the likelihood of injuries. Maintenance issues such as torn netting or poorly maintained dismount foam-pits will increase the likelihood and severity of injuries.

The rise in popularity of trampoline parks means that they are becoming easily accessible to all ages of the population. Also their reported relatively low injury rates makes this an increasingly popular action sport for children who may not enjoy traditional team sports that have much higher injury rates.

David Eager is an Associate Professor at UTS. He is on the Board of Kidsafe and has represented Engineers Australia on the Australian Standards Committee ME-051 Amusement Rides and Devices for more than 15 years, and Chaired the Australian Standards Committee CS-100 Trampoline Safety for over a decade. He is also on the ASTM International Committee F24.60.

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Auckland (Tamaki Makaurau) is home to 1.5 million people – a third of New Zealand’s population – and its growing fast, with another

million people expected to make the city their home in the next 30 years. It’s a great lifestyle city with an aspiration to be the world’s most liveable city. However, we have many issues still to tackle. A thriving Auckland economy is critical to New Zealand’s economic performanc e, but only one quarter of the national GDP comes out of Auckland. We lag behind Sydney and Melbourne in this respect by some 40 per cent.

Despite this, we have a potential advantage; local government. In 2010, Auckland went through signifi cant change with the amalgamation of seven former local authorities and one regional council. Coming from what was previously a fragmented approach to some regional issues and infrastructural development, at long last Auckland had a new platform to work from. Size and scale are now all important. The Auckland Council region covers a total area of some 5,000km2. There are over 4,000 parks across the region, covering 50,000ha. As a unitary authority, the new Auckland Council is the largest of its kind in Australasia, with a unique shared governance structure, not replicated anywhere else in the country.

The governing body consists of the

Mayor, 20 councillors (who work across 20 committees) and 21 local boards, composed of 149 elected representatives. This is more than the 120 elected representatives in Parliament. It is the largest council in Australasia, with a $3 billion annual budget, $29 billion of ratepayer equity, and approximately 8,500 staff . On top of that, we also have a number of iwi co-management entities and the Independent Maori Statutory Board.

This is a story about how the parks of the region have fared under this new council model over the last four years; it is a story about how we have used 10-year park development plans as a pivot point for local board plans and strategic long term planning; it is a story about the complexities of the shared governance model in Auckland Council; and it is a story about leadership - how staff and systems have had to remain agile and empowered at every level to keep pace with the change and challenges.

STRATEGIC PLANNING FRAMEWORKThe Council’s strategic planning framework is multi-layered. It starts with the Mayor’s vision for Auckland to be the world’s most liveable city. This is contained within the Auckland Plan, our 30-year strategic pathway. This is

fi nancially underpinned by our 10-year Long Term Plan (LTP), numerous strategies and policies, a single rule book (Unitary Plan) and three-year local board plans, out of which come annual local board agreements.

Auckland Council’s fi rst LTP 2012-2022, was primarily inherited from legacy councils and, to some degree, obtaining funding felt like a bit of a lolly scramble. Parks did quite well; we had a signifi cant capital investment program of well over $100 million per year.

FOCUS ON THE CENTRAL AREAWithin this large maze of an organisation, it’s diffi cult to understand how decisions are made and who really has the power. To help paint the picture we’re going to focus on a single idea/process and a few particular places and people: the fi rst is Taylors Hill or Te Taurere. This is an intact volcanic cone in Glendowie that stands 56 metres tall. It has a rich Maori history and is loved by both kiwi and locals but, in terms of Auckland’s parks and volcanic fi eld, it is not well known. It is grazed by cattle and has no visitor infrastructure. One of the principal staff attached to this little hill is Pippa Sommerville, Park Advisor for the Orakei Local Board.

Next is Fowlds Park. This is a busy sportspark in Sandringham. It is home to

WORDS: JANE AICKIN, MANAGER LOCAL AND SPORTS PARKS CENTRAL, AUCKLAND COUNCIL AND MARK BOWATER, MANAGER LOCAL AND SPORTS PARKS, AUCKLAND COUNCIL

PROVIDING FOR THE NEEDS OF A GLOBAL CITYHOW GREAT PEOPLE AND 10-YEAR DEVELOPMENT PLANS PROVIDED CLARITY AMONGST THE CHAOS

Auckland CBD



Mt Albert Rugby League, Auckland Rugby League, Auckland United Softball, Auckland Softball, Western Suburbs Kiwi Tag, Mt Albert Rovers (Netball), Bring It On Touch, Gaelic Football, the Rocky Nook Bowling Club and the Auckland Irish Society. It has a recently formed “friends of” group. Although there are 13 mana whenua with an interest in the park, Ngai Tai ki Tamaki and Ngati Whatua Orakei are the ones currently actively engaged at the park. The area around Fowlds Park, which is in the Albert-Eden Local Board area, has some of the lowest levels of sportsfi eld provision in the region. David Barker is a Team Leader who works closely with his team member and Turf Advisor, Mike Gallagher, to deliver what is often a controversial sportsfi eld capacity development programme. The sportsfi eld capacity development programme was an innovative and well researched investment programme that was approved by the council in its fi rst LTP in 2012. It has resulted in the upgrade of many fi elds and, in 2015, one of the parks that will benefi t from this sportsfi eld capacity development programme is Fowlds Park.

Finally, I’d like to introduce you to Gary Wilton. Gary is the Park Advisor for the Waiheke and Great Barrier Island Local Boards.

GARY’S STORYIn 2010, just prior to the Auckland Council being created, Gary was part of a smaller parks operations team and held the role of Parks Offi cer. He was highly competent, motivated and largely left to get on with his job. Gary was a happy go-lucky-guy with an absolute passion for trails - walking tracks, running trails and cycling tracks. He

believed strongly in the role trails and tracks could play on the Hauraki Gulf Islands to connect communities, help people become more active more often and become tourist destinations in their own right. He helped create the Waiheke and Great Barrier Walking Festivals. The Waiheke Walking Festival is now run by a Community Trust and attracts thousands of people to the island for one week every year.

With the creation of Auckland Council in 2011, Gary’s role changed. It was a subtle but important tweak. He used to have a more generic parks offi cer role but, in 2011, his focus narrowed in on park development and community liaison. He was to be the face of parks, sport and recreation for the Local Board. His title was now Park Advisor. The political norm for Gary had changed. He used to be quite separate from the political decision making and he suddenly found himself facing an enthusiastic new board that was fully empowered to make all decisions in relation to parks on the Hauraki Gulf Islands. Boards were incredibly hungry to make a diff erence and needed a lot of support and information.

It was not surprising that in year one of the new Auckland Council, Gary was the council’s golden boy. He fronted the boards with panache, painted an excellent picture of the wonders that already existed in the local board’s park networks and the opportunities to do more. It was hard for Gary to break the rules, as the rules were more or less non-existent. Local boards were new to everyone in the organisation and many staff didn’t really pay them the respect they deserved. Whereas when Gary rocked up on day one and gave the boards great information on their parks, as well as a range of projects and issues to start to

grapple with, they loved it. He was delivery focussed and knew his stuff . He didn’t use the lack of rules, processes and systems as a barrier – he embraced it.

Roll on year two. Suddenly Gary (and his colleagues in similar roles) was lost at the back of the scrum. The organisation had caught up. Dozens of departments and many more offi cers were vying for the attention of the boards and pitching their projects. The board considered Gary to be a one stop shop for all parks matters and the pile of demands were growing high. The lack of rules was accompanied by a lack of strategy and therefore there was no framework to guide decisions or push back on demands. The pressures, expectations and demands grew. Local board satisfaction was low, staff morale was low. Things had to change.

Year three dawned and, after some soul-searching, Gary and his fellow park advisors started to climb out of the scrum and see the light. There were two primary reasons for this. We worked through the role of a park advisor and made it clear that a park advisor could not be all things to the local boards. They had to share the pile of issues. Their focus had to be on parks development and high level policy implementation. They had a work programme to deliver and couldn’t let the other demands distract them. The second game changer was the 10-year park development plan.

10-YEAR PARK DEVELOPMENT PLANWe started to talk about the idea of a 10-year park development plan in early 2013. In late 2013, the team set aside several hours each week to develope a 10-year development plan for every local board. The 10-year park development plan was based on the simple premise that the park advisors needed not only to know their parks really well, they needed to have a clear vision or set of goals for their parks. These goals needed to draw on the park advisors’ professional expertise and they needed to believe in them but the goals also needed to be tested against strategic plans.

It was an opportunity to turn the tables, to start managing their workload proactively and lead conversations about investment in parks. It was designed to turn staff from reactive mode into leadership mode. In very simple terms, the 10-year park development plan involved our parks advisors:• Reviewing the history of their parks

(about 120 each);• Visiting all of their parks and auditing

them, which essentially meant capturing the park values and any gaps, issues or development opportunities;

• Reviewing all of the relevant strategic plans (primarily the Auckland Plan, Parks

“ BY EMPOWERING STAFF THROUGH OUR 10-YEAR PARK DEVELOPMENT PLAN AND GIVING THEM THE LICENCE, TOOLS AND COURAGE TO SHIFT FROM REACTIVE TO PROACTIVE, WE’VE SEEN GREAT LEADERSHIP AND SOME GREAT SUCCESSES.”

Te Taurere volcanic cone as seen from Cross-

fi eld’s Reserve. Te Taurere is rich in Maori history.



and Open Space Strategic Action Plan, Sports and Recreation Strategic Action Plan and the Local Board Plans);

• Scoping and costing projects (for those development opportunities that stacked up); and

• Drawing up their 10-year development plan in a spreadsheet format. This captured the potential costs (broken down) of development opportunities or improvements that would not only help protect or enhance park values, as well as the number of strategic priorities that the projects would deliver on.

Park Advisors were then encouraged to put together a presentation capturing their key fi ndings and selling the development opportunities and rationale to local boards. There were no templates or rules and very little management review or edit. Every presentation was completely diff erent – it refl ected the local board, the landscape and the expertise, as well as the personality and passion, of the park advisor. However, due to the strategic review that had preceded the presentations, they all had similar underlying themes. This was the park advisors’ opportunity to challenge their local board and get them to think beyond the squeaky wheel and beyond the large documents that weighed them down.

Finally, after selling the concepts, the park advisors sat down and embedded the projects that were agreed to by the local boards into local board plans, phased over 10 years.

WHAT DIFFERENCE DID THE 10-YEAR PLAN MAKE?

Remember Pippa? Through this process she’d identifi ed that Taylors Hill was a site that needed a bit of attention. The board never talked about this park and the neighbours only complained about it when the cattle broke out. Iwi had raised ongoing concerns about damage from grazing and requested the removal of cattle from the hill. Taylors Hill was an almost untouched volcanic feature – unusual in Auckland – with a rich cultural history and a story that needed to be told. Pippa suggested that we create a grass access path leading up to a lookout, noting we could to this by simple means of carefully placed seedlings and, where necessary, rustic steps. She suggested interpretation, so people visiting the busy sportspark across the road could explore and learn, a lookout point/area and seating. This project provided a great opportunity to partner with iwi and to review our grazing to ensure protection of the archaeological features of the site. Pippa also identifi ed that the views from the top were great and as it was not a big climb, those not keen on a long walk could give it a go.

The board loved the idea and identifi ed it in their local board plan.

And so it was, that the 10-year development plan helped staff face their fears and empowered them to lead and ultimately navigate their way through the monolith organisation (for their part of the world anyway).

THE SECOND LONG TERM PLANAfter navigating our way through the local board planning process we then had to fi t these plans into the Long Term Plan 2015-2025; Auckland Council’s second LTP. This was dubbed the “black budget” by the media. The Mayor came into offi ce on an election promise of keeping rates low (around 2.5 per cent), however, it was now clear that the council was living beyond its means.

The Mayor has the responsibility for creating a draft budget, and this is called the Mayor’s Proposal. The initial Mayors Proposal cut back nearly all development activity and a slice of the operational activity in the Parks, Community, Lifestyle theme of council activities. The media, local communities and the local boards were very critical of the proposal.

Overall the Mayor’s Proposal was aiming to reduce debt levels by $2.7 billion over the 10-year period, whilst still delivering $11 billion of new assets and providing $5.4 billion for renewing existing assets. The main issue was one of aff ordability. The projected average rate

increase arising from the 2012-2022 LTP was 4.9 per cent, 2.4 per cent higher than the Mayor’s aspiration.

To achieve a 2.5 per cent average rates increase, there was a signifi cant funding gap - $90 million of savings in year one, followed by a further $43 million of savings in year two.

The Mayor’s Proposal for the Parks, Community, Lifestyle theme had an operating budget reduction of 9 per cent. For parks this meant $2 million in 2015/16, rising to $5 million from 2016/17 onwards.

For capital expenditure, there was a very signifi cant 39 per cent reduction, which almost wiped out all new capital investment. The small remaining capital budgets would have to be primarily focussed on spatial priority areas, which were the areas of growth.

In response to the Mayor’s Proposal, we did a lot of modelling and review of developer contributions as an alternative source of capital funding, and a range of options were workshopped with politicians.

There was a very strong and public response to the Mayor’s Proposal from the 21 local boards, and a number of councillors. After much political debate, the draft LTP reached a compromise and a signifi cant claw back for parks, which included:• an average rates increase of 3.5 per

cent instead of 2.5 per cent;• developer contributions would be

infl ation adjusted to increase the overall take;

• an increase in the sale of non-strategic assets from $50 million to $70 million per year; and

• re-investment of $800 million of capex back into the Parks Community Lifestyle theme, including $260m of new growth related capex for parks.

Auckland Local Boards

Signpost on Te Ara Hura – an ambitious

walkway around Waiheke Island.



THE LOCAL IMPACT OF THE DRAFT LTP 2015-2025

So, how did our parks team fare through this roller coaster ride?

Remember David? He wasn’t responsible for 10-year development planning (other than making sure the sportsfi eld priorities were included), but he was out there busily addressing the concerns of locals who wanted to protect their park from development. He was working through the issues, fi elding numerous enquiries and challenges regarding the consultation and planning process, writing reports to the local board and planning for the installation of an artifi cial sportsfi eld at Fowlds Park. David’s leadership challenge was to continually raise the wider public benefi t of the investment in the weight of neighbours opposition. He essentially became a mentor for the local board, providing robust and quality evidence of the issue, options and the benefi ts. He therefore became a champion of the planning priorities. Despite this, in the middle of his eff orts, and after spending quite a bit of money on feasibility work, the black budget headlines hit. David was faced with the news that all the sportsfi eld developments he was working on had been cut.

Fortunately, as explained earlier, local board and community advocacy (which is due, in part, to the information provided by

staff ) kicked in and turned things around. The draft LTP now includes the sportsfi eld capacity development programme and Fowlds Park is back on the table – phew! David was part of a story about sticking to the strategic priorities and backing the rationale up with good data.

And remember Pippa? A new funding policy for local boards meant they had some discretionary funding and, at this early stage of the LTP development, the boards have had a go at allocating this discretionary funding. While there is still a bit of work to go in this space, we are delighted to fi nd Taylors Hill was one of the smaller capital development projects the local board wanted to use their discretionary funding on.

Pippa recently noted: “I have been reminded recently that the work we did on the 10-year development plan was totally worthwhile. A selection of projects that I highlighted to the board which made it into the local board plans were consulted on and have slipped onto their discretionary funding list without any need for me to push. It showed that the eff ort on the 10-year development plan had moved from blue sky ideas to public consultation and into a funding realm.”

And remember Gary’s story? Over the fi rst three years of the organisation we went from high staff engagement scores in our annual survey in the fi rst year, to an

all-time low in 2012 and, most recently, following the completion of all of this work, the engagement scores have gone through the roof – 96 per cent of our advisor staff engaged, up from about 50 per cent in 2013. In November 2013, Gary opened Te Ara Hura – an ambitious walkway around Waiheke that can be walked in smaller sections or taken on as a continuous, seven-day trail. This was his passion and ticked all the strategic boxes. The board found funding to deliver this in 2014 and, at this stage, is set to support its ongoing development.

SUMMARYIn the turmoil of this large organisation undergoing massive change, we’ve learnt the value of having leaders at all levels of the organisation. By empowering staff through our 10-year park development plan and giving them the licence, tools and courage to shift from reactive to proactive, we’ve seen great leadership and some great successes.

Fowlds Park in Sandringham could be set to benefi t

from a sportsfi eld capacity development programme.

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It’s 1970 and development company Jo Bloggs and Co have presented to Council a new land release development which will

demonstrate the provision of 100 housing blocks for the construction of a modern and all encompassing “community village”. As part of this fabulous deal, Jo Bloggs and Co will even donate to Council a sporting facility free of charge. Sure the sportsground fl oods at the fi rst sign of rain but hey its free! Sound familiar?

What about this one: Meanwhile in other breaking news, Council has determined that Odourville Tip Site has reached the end of its useful life. As a stroke of genius, Council has resolved that Odourville Tip Site will now be levelled, turfed and be called Odourville Sporting Facility.

Move the clock forward to 2015 and it’s a common theme across many well established Local Government areas that the decision of our forbearers creates our logistical planning nightmares of the current time.

Historically, the provision of reclaimed landfi ll sites as sportsgrounds has made the ability to secure open space areas for the development of large scale sporting facilities a reality. However, without the technology for appropriate landfi ll compaction and landfi ll remediation that currently exists, these facilities have now become a recreation manager’s nightmare.

Managing customer expectations for facilities that are reclaimed landfi lls which perform poorly and require signifi cant injection of funding is another headache due to the community’s lack of understanding of the site constraints.

The following are some of the major issues that may be experienced when dealing with a reclaimed landfi ll sportsground or recreation facility.

SUBSIDENCE Subsidence is the issue of how much the ground will settle when the

garbage begins to compact, degrade and shift. The subsidence can be minor to very severe, from 5 to 20 per cent of landfi ll depth over the course of 20 to 30 years causing signifi cant damage to any reserve infrastructure or underground services that run through the area.

In addition it can create issues on playing surfaces or within open space areas in that the undulation causes a safety hazard.

On many occasions following signifi cant rain events reclaimed landfi ll sites will often provide the spectacle of a sink hole creating immediate risk for users and inappropriately constructed infrastructure.

LEACHATE AND WATER CONTAMINATION Leachate is considered a liquid substance that occurs when rainwater permeates through the solid waste of the landfi ll. The rainwater then becomes contaminated in the process

and has the potential for hazardous substances entering groundwater.

Ideally, prevention of any infi ltration of water to the site is undertaken by creating capping layers with compacted clay with an erosion cover layer and suitable growing medium that is capable of sustaining vegetation. However, when dealing with a historic reclaimed landfi ll site this may be an expensive exercise to undertake.

In cases where a capping layer is provided this may not be the cure for your ill. Many factors associated with a reclaimed landfi ll site may create a fl aw in the cap that would then allow leaching to take place. For instance settlement or drying out of the capping causing cracking to the cap or tree roots infi ltrating through the cap.

SOIL AND GAS MONITORINGIn periods of high levels of inclement weather the landfi ll may experience water logging.

Degrading waste also produces toxic gases such as methane and carbon dioxide. Recently closed landfi lls would have been required to have undertaken a process of gas monitoring and extraction to reduce the impact on the community and the environment of these gases, however, dormant historic landfi lls can still demonstrate minor levels of toxic gas production.

Water logging coupled with the release of toxic gases is challenging as it causes conditions in the soil that impact many plants and trees.

RECLAIMED LANDFILL SITESTHE JOY AND BANE OF RECREATION PROJECT MANAGERS

WORDS: KAREN TUCKER

The overnight surprise of a sink hole

appearing on a reclaimed landfi ll

site is a common occurrence.

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Implementation of a sandslit (or similar) drainage above the landfi ll levels will reduce the potential for water logging. However, ongoing monitoring of the drainage system is required as subsidence in the landfi ll will reduce its eff ectiveness.

PLANTINGUtilisation of vegetation on a reclaimed landfi ll site has many benefi ts. Vegetation creates an erosion defence by protecting the cap from wind as well as to provide slope stabilisation where a landfi ll has been constructed above ground and materials have been piled high.

A vegetative cover on top of the cap slows down absorption rates of water into the soil which is particularly advantageous especially if the soil layer is shallow and the clay material of the cap generally encourages water logging.

Planting also demonstrates a fi rst line of defence for storm water management and overland fl ows in storm events.

INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGNWhile a good design by a qualifi ed professional is the best plan of attack on any infrastructure development or upgrade, you can think about adding at least a quarter of the price to any project for a reclaimed landfi ll site.

Beyond the obvious geotechnical investigations, all infrastructure should be thoroughly investigated and engineered to withstand the site constraints associated (and outlined above) with reclaimed landfi ll.

Unfortunately in many cases, our innovative forbearers were not privileged with the engineering advancements of current times. As a result, the sight of a building or fl oodlighting pole slowly falling into the depths of the landfi ll beneath is not uncommon.

New infrastructure is benefi tted by the use of piered footings, light weight technology and other engineered advances which will often give new infrastructure the same life expectancy as assets on facilities not developed on reclaimed landfi ll.

POST CLOSURE MANAGEMENT PLANIt’s always a great day when your maintenance team or (please no) a customer calls to advise they think there may be some exposed asbestos

or other similar “hang-over from the landfi ll operation days”.

Even the best planned management and maintenance plan for a reclaimed landfi ll will deliver surprises.

Despite the fact that the closure of your landfi ll site may have occurred some 30 plus years ago, the development of a Post Closure Management Plan (PCMP) is a wise consideration and demonstrates best practice. I promise it won’t be a shelf document it will be your saviour go-to document especially for your maintenance team.

The development and implementation of a PCMP not only demonstrates due diligence in environmental management practices and work health and safety but demonstrates best practice for eff ective maintenance of these sites. It should also include site specifi c Asbestos Management Plan and Acid Sulphate Management Plan.

The PCMP should include regular and systematic testing for the following:• Surface water• Ground water• Soil• Gas

As a rule, the PCMP should provide guidelines and templates for regular site inspection protocols to identify any potential landfi ll exposure, gas releases, ground water contamination, surface water contamination, asbestos and other nasty contaminants being brought to the surface.

In addition, protocols should be provided for required assessments to occur prior to any ground penetrating works as well as construction of any infrastructure within the confi nes

of the original landfi ll. Within any large organisation, such as a local government body, the history and site constraints can often be lost or not realised creating a potential environmental hazard. Establishing clear guidelines for working within these zones and providing accurate data mapping available for easy reference to all departments in the organisation will reduce (we would love to say eliminate) the potential for a visit from the Environmental Protection Agency.

ONGOING FUNDING FOR MANAGEMENTWhile most Local Government Agencies are not fl ushed with recurrent funding for asset maintenance, it is essential that a funding scheme is provided towards management and redevelopment of these facilities due to the unpredictable nature of the decline of the assets.

A degrading landfi ll site will impact building infrastructure, fl oodlighting towers, carparks, playground structures, irrigation systems, drainage systems, and park furniture, and the list goes on. The impact may be a slow decline or a dramatic overnight event that could not have been foreseen.

The implementation of a landfi ll rehabilitation funding scheme should be applied to the maintenance of sportsground playing surfaces, undertaking recreation reserve drainage installation, amenity building renewal/upgrades, car park remediation, fl oodlight replacement or works on all recreation reserves that are constructed on reclaimed landfi ll sites.

Assets constructed on reclaimed

landfi ll should be engineered to

withstand ground movement.

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Recently, the Yarra Ranges communities have experienced a change in their sports facilities, parks

and public spaces. These changes are creating a healthy and active community and environment. We wish to share this journey and off er some highlights we are proud of.

WHAT DO WE HAVE?Yarra Ranges Council is a peri-urban municipality on the fringe of Metropolitan Melbourne. It is a unique place with 50 disparate townships and 150,000 residents.

We have some of the most signifi cant natural bushland, agricultural areas and tourist destinations in Victoria. Our large open space corridors are considered the “lungs to the city” - over 65 per cent of the total land is public land, including the Dandenong Ranges and the Yarra Ranges National Park. These national

parks and state forests also off er nature-based recreation and tourism pursuits, including mountain biking and bushwalking.

There are 65 playing fi elds spread over 47 reserves throughout the Yarra Ranges. They are home to a range of sporting and recreation activities including Australian Rules football, cricket, soccer, jogging, walking and dog exercising.

There are eight public swimming pools and a water play facility, which includes the recently redeveloped Monbulk Aquatic Centre and the popular and free Seville Water Play.

There are over 200 courts and greens that cater for netball, tennis, lawn bowls and croquet and four privately-owned golf courses in the Yarra Ranges, with a further two being built.

Indoor sports are served by eight public and school sports stadiums and a range of privately-owned

facilities. Activities include basketball, netball, volleyball, badminton, table tennis, tennis, squash, martial arts, gymnastics, futsal and cricket. The Kilsyth Sports Centre is the main indoor sports centre in the Yarra Ranges and is home to Australia’s largest basketball association the Kilsyth Basketball Association.

A range of shared off -road trails, walking circuits, footpaths and on-road cycling routes are off ered, including the iconic Lilydale to Warburton Rail Trail that attracts over 150,000 – 200,000 visits a year by walkers, cyclists and horse riders. Yarra Ranges is a popular riding place with category one and two climbs and a network of mountain bike trails. These cycling trails and routes capitalise on the beautiful scenery off ered by the bushland, hills, wineries and farms.

A number of parks and gardens both public and private provide social recreation, relaxation spaces for our communities within walking distance from where people live. These parks have play spaces, skate and BMX facilities, picnic facilities, pathways, gardens and event areas. Gardens like the RJ Hamer Arboretum attract thousands of visitors each year, particularly when the cherry blossoms bloom.

Yarra Ranges has many places and our streetscapes, civic forecourts and plazas are active community spaces off ering social connectedness within our communities. We pride ourselves in creating active streetscapes with footpaths that off er diversity in trees and landscaping and embrace a township’s culture and identity.

WHAT ARE OUR CHALLENGES?Our key challenges were that we lacked a plan and investment into our sports facilities, parks and public spaces. Overtime, this resulted in these places being in poor condition, not fi t for purpose and unsustainable.

Also, our townships were desperate for revitalisation and activity, and prioritised car movement over pedestrian movement.

Our trail and footpath network was disconnected. This meant people found it challenging to walk or ride from where they live to where they would like to go such as the school, shops or to public transport.

Balancing biodiversity and habitat values with managing fi re risk in Yarra Range’s bushland areas is also a signifi cant challenge where our

CHANGING SPORTS FACILITIES, PARKS AND PUBLIC SPACES IN YARRA RANGESWORDS: BEN BAINBRIDGE, EXECUTIVE OFFICER, RECREATION

AND ACTIVE LIVING, YARRA RANGES COUNCIL

Seville Water Play

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communities and authorities are on high alert in the warmer months. It was time to change but...

WHAT DID WE WANT TO CREATE?Our focus shifted towards healthy people, places and environment following a review of our health profi le and conversations with health providers in Yarra Ranges. It was clear that we needed to address an increasing obesity epidemic and encourage sustainable transport in our townships. So what did we want to create? We wanted places that encourage healthy and active communities and environments; and we wanted to create connected, engaging and resilient communities.

HOW WERE WE GOING TO CREATE IT?We took a deep breath and looked at the whole. With a small rate base but a large area to look after, a smart

(strategic), creative (place making) and shared (partnership) approach was needed to deliver these goals.

A strategic approach now underpins what we do and these goals now inform our investment and development. We have a new Recreation and Open Space Strategy that is supported by recreation and sustainable travel strategies and master plans. This strategy focuses on activating places and people and includes a framework and blue print for short and long term development. The strategy is supported by the Creating Places for People (Urban Design Protocol) and Healthy by Design Guidelines. These frameworks focus on revitalising places that welcome people and foster a healthy and active lifestyle.

We are actively using a place making approach. This approach has created buy in from community and focuses on reimagining public spaces as the heart of every community. The Yarra Ranges communities are engaged and enjoy the evolving conversation we have with them

about what we can do physically to a public place that fosters community participation and activity.

A partnership approach has been critical to our planning, advocacy, funding and delivery of projects. Key partnerships for us are across council, with community, stakeholders, government and funding bodies.

WHAT WILL IT TAKE?Commitment and investment.

Yarra Ranges Council has made a commitment to this vision and approach to development and participation. The Council has also made decisions to invest in projects that are key to achieving this vision.

WHAT ARE SOME OF OUR ACHIEVEMENTS?Seville Water Play - The Seville Water Play is a story that has involved a challenging journey with a community that were not happy with the closure of the old Seville Outdoor Pool. A journey that explored an innovative and creative play environment for families that has strong links to the past in one of Yarra Ranges Council major rural townships. The facility now draws the enjoyment of hundreds of kids and families from across the municipality.

Lilydale Made for Walking – The Lilydale Principal Pedestrian Network Project has prioritised the pedestrian over the car and focused on improving pedestrian crossings, making them attractive and safe to use and way-fi nding. The project also involved a successful public awareness campaign. Our research shows that with every dollar spent on improving pedestrian amenity, the community received back over $2.50 in reduced health cost. This project recently won the VicHealth “Encouraging Physical Activity” Award.

Lilydale to Warburton Rail Trail - The “Warby Trail” is an iconic 40km trail that follows the old railway line from Lilydale to Warburton. Following a number of audits and the development of a Management and Development Plan, we have negotiated and funded through a partnership approach with government and community, linking up the breaks in the trail, improving road crossings so they are safe for users, improving the visitor experience. We enjoy hearing the diversity in journeys experienced by children, families to older adults and people with impairments and being involved in its evolving future.

Run Walk Ride

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The Sunshine Coast currently boasts a unique balance of social, economic and environmental credentials that are highly

valued by the community. The region’s diverse natural assets, rich biodiversity and distinctive urban communities, with their own strong identity and character, all combine to provide an enviable lifestyle that off ers a wide range of recreational and leisure opportunities.

Protecting and sustaining this lifestyle while planning for signifi cant population growth in the short and long term is one of the region’s biggest challenges.

The Sunshine Coast Council has taken a proactive and forward looking approach to the challenge by undertaking detailed research and analysis, consulting widely, and continually seeking public comment in order to set a clear long-term strategic policy framework to guide council and the community in sustaining the region’s highly valued attributes.

This strategic policy framework provides clear direction and guidance in a complex

and changing political landscape and has become a cornerstone of the Sunshine Coast Council’s planning and decision making.

This article explores some of the Sunshine Coast Council’s challenges and learning’s from using this long-term strategic framework in the planning and delivery of greenfi eld developments, with particular reference to social infrastructure, including the open space network.

Most local governments and communities are experienced and knowledgeable when it comes to planning for specifi c social infrastructure projects. They have a good understanding of community needs and expectations, how to undertake the assessment of capacity within existing facilities, explore opportunities for partnerships with other agencies and determine the viability of proposals. A comprehensive range of reference materials exists to support and inform the process within established communities.

These traditionally established communities/towns, which evolve over

many decades, have generally relied upon growing council capacity and the emergence of local networks to source and secure important infrastructure, creating well balanced and sustainable communities.

Greenfi eld developments, however, challenge this traditional approach to the planning and delivery process.

Often in a greenfi eld development there is no existing community or the proposed community maybe isolated from any nearby urban areas. While the nearest existing community in the local government area may have some capacity in current facilities, services and community organisations to assist in the short term, few will have the ability to invest in the new and emerging community without additional support, guidance and resources.

The challenge of establishing a functioning society/community with a strong sense of identity and connection is not the role of a single entity, but the shared responsibility of the developer, all levels of government and the community.

Experience with the delivery of master planned developments over the past 20 years, such as the 48,000 strong Kawana Waters community, has provided the Sunshine Coast Council with invaluable insights into the key elements of a sustainable community.

This experience in relation to social infrastructure has informed more recent negotiations for master planned (greenfi eld) communities on the Sunshine Coast with an anticipated population increase by over 65,000 residents in the future. While the planning circumstances and the political landscape is changing, very similar challenges are being experienced.

It is important from the onset of the project that each party recognises their short- and long-term roles and responsibilities, enabling respectful and productive working relationships.

Ultimately local government inherits the contributed assets and takes on the role of custodian well past the marketing and construction phase, becoming responsible for the long-term wellbeing of these new communities.

A brief outline of the key elements considered important to planning for social infrastructure in these large greenfi eld developments are outlined below.

THE SUNSHINE COASTLONG-TERM PLANNING AND A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR THE SUNSHINE COAST

WORDS: ROBYN DOUGLAS, COORDINATOR OPEN SPACE AND SOCIAL POLICY, SUNSHINE COAST COUNCIL

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SOUND POLICY DIRECTION AND STANDARDS

Having a good understanding of the aspirations and resources of the existing community in the local government area is a good starting point. Further recognising this position and service levels in an endorsed policy, demonstrates the importance to the local community.

In addition to an endorsed policy position it is also useful to analyse current directions against industry standards and benchmarks. While many may argue that using a rate of provision per head of population is a fl awed process, Council’s experience has been it is a useful tool when planning for a community that does not exist in a greenfi eld situation. The challenge is planning and securing a quantum of public land for a 30 to 50 year horizon.

Don’t just rely on industry rates of provision, include your knowledge of emerging industry trends and technology with endorsed rates of provision and how these are achieving or not achieving community expectations.

Prepare a profi le of an existing community of similar size, population and geography to identify the number, size and scale of community facilities which have evolved over the decades. Does the planning for this greenfi eld development provide the capacity for similar community resources to evolve?

While these standards may not be achievable in new and emerging greenfi eld developments, being able to demonstrate existing examples supports negotiation and identifi es where in future the shortfalls may occur.

It is important to give these future communities a skeleton suitable to build and nurture a thriving community.

Minimising the long-term impact on the community and the local government is the key.

FUNCTIONALITY Once the quantum of land for social infrastructure is understood the discussions in regard to functionality and the suitability of land for the intended purpose and location needs detailed consideration. For example, does the land size and shape allow for the intended functions to occur? Can we confi gure the proposed land area to allow for competition fi elds, safety run off s , spectator space etc for a District Sports Park?

While concept and detailed planning will occur in future years it is imperative that conceptual design and layout, is at least tested on the proposed land area at this time.

Retrospectively obtaining land at market price following approval for land use such as residential or commercial is a signifi cant cost impact on local government in future years and where possible be addressed or avoided by ensuring appropriate provision of land up front.

Location and suitability of land contribute to functionality and operational costs.

Depending on the topography of the local area be clear about land suitability requirements in regard to fl ood immunity, slope, soil type etc. Often the planning is undertaken at a high strategic level and the on ground information is not easily attained, however, it should be available and worthy of investigation. Seek out information from all possible sources.

OPERATIONAL AND ONGOING COSTSAs local authorities inherit contributed assets through greenfi eld developments, a critical element in planning and negotiations is a good understanding of the ongoing management, maintenance and lifecycle costs. Consult your operational staff and seek their input

Over embellished streetscapes, playgrounds and sports facilities are great marketing tools, however, if the local government cannot sustain the operational cost of these embellishments it will create confl ict and anxiety in future years with the community.

Acknowledge the reason the developer seeks these outcomes and seek an acceptable level of embellishment. Being clear about cost implications in regard to operational and maintenance costs is fundamental.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR INNOVATION Opportunities for innovation and contemporary thinking are able to evolve more easily in greenfi eld developments such as co-location of school, community and sports facilities, providing an improved level of service to community.

There is strong support for seeking a more eff ective and effi cient use of public infrastructure and investment, working collaboratively and knowing local government requirements can help achieve win-win outcomes. Be vigilant that co-location and multi-use do not result in below standard or confl icting uses compromising functionality and use.

Sunshine Coast Council’s experience is that the best outcomes can be achieved when relevant agencies come together early in the planning phase.

SHARED UNDERSTANDINGUltimately it is imperative that all parties have a clear vision and shared understanding of the outcomes being sought.

A strong and clearly articulated policy direction and well documented and adopted agreements are essential to inform the implementation over the decades, ensuring that the critical issues are protected by all parties in an ever changing environment.

As the agreements are implemented – the need for fl exibility is also acknowledged, however, if the documents are ambiguous and uncertain it is possible the original intent can be compromised or even lost.

CONCLUSIONThe Sunshine Coast Council’s strategic policy framework and long-term planning continues to inform negotiations and implementation phases. Knowing your role as a local government, and the outcomes required for a thriving and functioning community, are the key.

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One of Melbourne’s major city councils has turned to Toro Australia to help improve and maintain its sports grounds,

parks and gardens.The City of Glen Eira is located in

South Eastern Melbourne. There are 70 open space reserves, totalling 172.9 ha, that are maintained on behalf of almost 130,000 ratepayers. The most popular and largest single open space reserve is Caulfi eld Park at 26.2 ha.

Urban densities and population growth are forecast to increase in the City of Glen Eira and this will impact on the liveability and access to open space. Recognising that only 4.5 per cent of the total municipal area is allocated to parks, gardens and sporting facilities (excluding Caulfi eld Racecourse Reserve) council adopted an ‘Open Space Strategy’ in 2014 that will guide decision making into 2026. An important element of the ‘Open Space Strategy’ is to maintain a balance between sporting, unstructured recreation and informal use.

There is, amongst other requirements, also a need to improve sustainable design and management practices of open space, including sustainable water use.

Each of Glen Eira’s sports fi elds, parks and gardens has its own unique irrigation requirements that are met through a network of sprinklers, drippers and, in some cases, hand watering. Computerising and automating these functions is key to ensuring the best possible results with the most effi cient use of staff , water, fertiliser and time.

The City of Glen Eira Park Services section has up to 54 staff , including offi ce and casual staff , depending on the season. The Grounds Maintenance crew are responsible for all sports grounds. There are six permanent ground staff , a number that increases to as many as 12 during the summer when turf cricket wickets need to be maintained.

Glen Eira recently completed a $400k upgrade of its irrigation system, adding a new generation Toro® Sentinel® Central Control System, Toro Turf Guard® sensors, as well as four new weather stations.

The Council’s Grounds Maintenance Coordinator, Mr Peter Todd, said the new Sentinel system has the ability to run up to 16 individual programs with eight separate start times and as many cycles as can be fi tted into a day. It is designed to meet the diverse irrigation requirements of sports fi elds, parks, garden beds and trees.

He said the previous central control system had been installed some 15 years ago and had reached its use by date.

”We’ve replaced the old central control system and have incorporated the remainder of our smaller parks into the new Sentinel system. This will continue to expand as new open space areas are created over the next few years,” Mr Todd said.

“One of the main reasons we chose Sentinel was that it could incorporate up to 16 separate programs. While other systems can provide multiple start times, they did not have the fl exibility we required for our irrigation needs.”

The Sentinel system, together with its related sensors and weather stations, can operate by itself or can be easily adjusted to take into account the diff erent requirements of winter and summer watering.

Mr Todd said the system could be accessed and controlled remotely via tablet computers, rather than through a central point for the ease of grounds staff . It is also fl exible enough to enable the grounds staff to isolate individual valves so they can work on turf cricket pitches or in the establishment of new gardens.

Mr Todd said the Sentinel system is easy to operate and he managed to

completely set up all sites and write all the necessary programs for the whole system in a matter of a few days.

Toro’s Turf Guard System is a key part of the upgrade. “Turf Guard provides signifi cantly more data than traditional soil moisture monitors, which only indicate when it is time to irrigate. Turf Guard sensors also provide information on soil temperature and salinity levels, which are important in maintaining high quality grounds.

“We have converted many of our grounds to couch grass, which we oversaw with winter grasses to meet the requirements of football and other winter sports and to maintain a green surface when the couch is no longer active.

“When we see soil temperatures increasing to certain levels after winter, this is an indicator for us to initiate our spray program to remove the winter grasses and promote active growth of the couch as early as possible.

“Salinity levels give us data about the optimum time to fertilise. We can monitor how quickly the salinity levels drop as the fertiliser is taken up by the turf and when the best time is to reapply. We recently completed a trial system and it was interesting to watch how the fertiliser was taken up following a rain event.

“These sensors take out the guess work and ensure fertilisers are only added when they are needed, which saves money and provides a better result”, Mr Todd said.

For more information contact Toro Australia on 08 8300 3629.

HELPING GREEN GLEN EIRA COUNCILTHE NEW TORO IRRIGATION CONTROL SYSTEM IS HELPING

GREEN GLEN EIRA COUNCIL IN SOUTH EASTERN MELBOURNE.

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A CASE FOR SYNTHETIC TURFWORDS: MARTIN SHEPPARD, SMART CONNECTION CONSULTANCY

In the last issue, Anthony Muscat, President of Turf Australia, provided his views on the value of natural turf. He raised several

issues in regard to the use of synthetic turf (a recent adoption for some sportsfi eld usage) and made strong representation for ensuring natural turf is an ongoing consideration for sport.

PLA recognises that both natural and synthetic turf have their place in the sports arena and is pleased to publish this piece by Martin Sheppard of the Smart Connection Consultancy.

WHY ARE SYNTHETIC FIELDS CONSIDERED?We all should agree that whether the fi eld is natural or synthetic turf or any other surface that encourages play, recreation and sport, it’s good for the community. To keep the discussion in perspective, synthetic turf is less than 0.5 per cent of all sports fi elds in Australia based on current numbers and despite the present interest in NSW, Queensland and WA, I cannot envisage them becoming greater than 1 per cent of sports fi elds.Predominantly they are being installed for a number of reasons including:• The natural turf fi eld (even with

good maintenance) cannot cope with the intensity of use over 40 hours per week;

• The weather impacts (too much or too little rain) is not allowing the fi elds to recover;

• There is little land for enough natural turf fi elds to be built to cope with the growing demand of sport and recreation; and

• Some sports mandate synthetic fi elds for certain levels of competition (e.g. hockey).

For these reasons and others the decision to replace natural grass with synthetic is never regrettable, as the article stated. In fact many councils are exploring how to put additional ones in, such as Willoughby, North

Sydney, Ku-ring-gai and Warringah to name but a few.

HEIGHTENED RISK OF INJURY

Many community groups and less knowledgeable people believe that synthetic turf technology heightens the risk of injury but this is factually

not true. There are dozens of independent research reports developed by world governing bodies of sport, government health departments and universities which indicate that there is not a heightened risk of injury. In fact the majority of this research is carried out on quality natural turf and not the ‘mud-baths’ or ‘dust bowls’ that many

Flooded natural turf oval (over-use, water-logged)

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local governments continually invest in and try to keep playable for community sport.

The examples provided in the article about the main concerns of greater stiff ness, greater surface friction, increased levels of energy required on the fi eld may be the case for organisations that do not install fi elds that meet the FIFA, World Rugby, AFL or the NRL performance standards. The performance criteria that synthetic sports surfaces have to achieve for football are based on quality natural turf surfaces for the sports of football (soccer), Rugby League, Rugby Union and Australian Rules. The performance standards for hockey have been developed to move away from natural turf, as the performance of natural turf does not meet the needs of the game anymore.

FIFA FIELDS IN CANADAThe 2015 Women’s World Cup is being played in Canada and although there has been some publicity by some individual players and past players, Football Federation Australia and the AIS have recently installed a state of the art synthetic surface into Canberra so that the women can acclimatise before travelling to Canada. For the record, the decision to have natural turf, hybrid or synthetic turf is the recommendation of the local organising committee - not FIFA.

TEMPERATURE CONCERNThe concern of heat is a valid one and one that is taken seriously by all the International Federations, the suppliers of synthetic turf and local organisations. In late 2015 FIFA will issue their heat control performance criteria as part of their new performance guide for synthetic football turf.

CARCINOGENIC HEALTH SCARETo state that “Chemical carcinogens such as PCH’s and heavy metals are often present in synthetic turf and as it ages, can break down into smaller and easily ingestible pieces” is not only factually wrong for the sports turf but also is ‘fear mongering’. The independent research for the New York State Department of Health (2008) states there is no issue. In addition, “toxicological evaluation for the hazard assessment of tyre crumb for the use in public playing (2003 Enviro Test Laboratory Canada)

Football fi eld Whole of Life Costs (Based

on a 8,500m2 fi eld for 50 hours usage) Natural Turf

Synthetic

Turf

Capital cost $ 600,000 $ 1,100,000

Maintenance cost p.a. $ 40,000 $ 20,000

Rectifi cation cost (p.a.) ($40k pa) $ 40,000 $ 350,000

&/or replacement cost $ 200,000 $ 490,000

Whole of Life Cost (WOL)

Analysis Natural Turf10 years* 30 years***

WOL costs $ 1,400,000 $ 3,160,000

Annual amortised rate $ 140,000 $ 105,333

Hourly WOL rate (40 hours use - 32 weeks) $ 109.38 $ 87.78

WOL Analysis Synthetic Turf 10 years^ 30 years^^^

WOL costs $ 1,300,000 $ 2,540,000

Annual amortised rate $ 130,000 $ 84,667

Hourly WOL rate (50 hours use - 50 weeks) $ 52.00 $ 33.87

Key for Natural Turf

*

**

***

Key for Synthetic Turf

^

^^

^^^

10 years assumes that with 50 hours play there is maintenance and rectifi cation at end of winter season20 years assumes 20 years of maintenance and 19 years of rectifi cation30 years assumes 30 years of maintenance, 29 years of rectifi cation and a single (at year 20) replacement 10 years assumes that with 50 hours play there is maintenance as per FIFA guidelines20 years assumes 20 years of maintenance and one replacement of surface (at year 10)30 years assumes 30 years of maintenance, 2 replacement of turf (10 & 20 years) and a single (at year 20) replacement of the shockpad

states “...no DNA or chromosome damaging chemicals were present...will not result in an unacceptable hazard for contracting cancer:” There are more than a dozen other pieces of independent research that has been conducted which verify this opinion.

MAINTENANCEAnthony’s article states that “synthetic turf still needs watering”. This is only true for hockey fi elds and organic infi lled fi elds to stop the organic matter (similar to natural turf) which becomes dusty on hot days, breaks down and gets blown away.

In accordance with the sports International Federations’ performance criteria each fi eld needs to be able to demonstrate water porosity of at least 180mm per hour through the synthetic grass system. Only the cheaper residential surfaces do hot have drainage addressed so purchasers of the system should have confi dence if they purchase a product that will then be tested.

COST OF SYNTHETIC TURF VS NATURAL TURF

There is always debate on the cost of synthetic fi elds compared to natural grass, but the most up-to-date fi gures tell a very strong story as shown in the tables above.

From the calculations above, assuming that natural grass can only cope with 25 hours before deterioration, many councils ‘push the turf’ up to 40 hours during the winter, allowing it to recover during the summer months (approx. 20 weeks). Synthetic turf can cope with 60 hours plus per week for 52 weeks per year. For this exercise only 50 hours for 50 weeks is used for comparison purposes. The amortised cost over any period (10, 20 or 30 years) is far more cost eff ective to have synthetic turf ($109 versus $52 per hour over 10 years) up to $88 per hour versus $34 per hour over 30 years.

Smart Connection Consultancy derives no fi nancial benefi t from synthetic turf suppliers.

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Adjacent to the award-winning Speers Point Variety Playground, the Lake Macquarie Regional Football

Facility (LMRFF) is an elite training facility and recreation focal point for the ‘world game’ in the Hunter Region in New South Wales.

The facility is a partnership between Northern NSW Football (NNSWF), the NSW Government, NSW Crown Lands (NSWCL), and Lake Macquarie City Council (LMCC), with the NSW Government contributing $7.3m through the Hunter Infrastructure Investment Fund, and Northern NSW football committing $4m to the construction of the $11.3m facility.

The new facility was completed in February 2015, and features:• Two full-sized synthetic fi elds, FIFA 1-star

certifi ed;• 12 fi ve-a-side synthetic fi elds;• One professional grass fi eld; and• Northern NSW Football’s administration

building.Currently approaching the fi nal

phase of construction, it is astounding that the project’s inception started less than three years ago. Regardless,

getting to this point has been a tremendous eff ort from a number of parties, with everyone striving to deliver an exceptional venue, worthy to be the ‘home of football’ in Northern NSW.

EARLY DISCUSSIONSIt was Northern NSW Football’s CEO, David Eland, and Macquarie Football (MF) who pioneered the suitability of the Speers Point site for the new facility in 2012. At that time, it was highlighted that the site at Speers Point may have a number of constraints and the Federal Government (Department of Regional Australia) sought to assist the vision to provide a home of football in Northern NSW by committing funds to a feasibility study. As a result of the investigations, it was determined that the Speers Point site would provide an acceptable site for the facility.

During preparation of the Report on Environmental Factors, there were a number of meetings involving all stakeholders to determine:• the approval pathway for the facility;• the facility’s feasibility and suitability for

each user group;• operation of the lease arrangement

given the parcel is Crown Land and Council is the Appointed Trust Manager;

• the suitability of the site and whether a design could be achieved that met everyone’s outcomes; and

• preparation of a business case for the Board of NNSWF to establish internal funding commitment.

It was also during this time that Council prepared the funding application for $7.3m through the NSW Government’s Hunter Infrastructure Investment Fund. Ultimately, this funding application would be successful.

THE SITEThe four existing fi elds where the new facility would be constructed had previously been referred to as Old Tredinnick Field, Norm Johnson Fields and Northlakes Oval.

Many years before, the site had previously been used as a waste management facility and the playing surfaces were established as part of an athletics program in the 1980s.

The fi elds had an unreliable surface structure and quality, and in recent years they were used relatively

LAKE MACQUARIE REGIONAL FOOTBALL FACILITYTHE HOME OF FOOTBALL IN NORTHERN NSW

WORDS: SIMON COLLINS, RECREATION PLANNER, LAKE MACQUARIE CITY COUNCIL

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and fully-serviced synthetic pitches would be seen as a great improvement for the locality, and was generally expected to signifi cantly enhance the use of the site for football year-round and in all weather.

THE CONSTRAINTS The lease area requested for the facility was 6.2 ha, and while it sounds large, the facility needed to accommodate three full-sized fi elds of approximately 1 ha each, 12 fi ve-a-side fi elds with a total area of more than a hectare, an administration building with a licensed café and offi ces for NNSWF staff , and a carpark to accommodate more than 120 cars.

It was identifi ed during the preliminary investigations that there was a signifi cant risk associated with the lease area for the project – existing waste on site. While preliminary geotechnical investigations had occurred and appeared to show a manageable risk, there was no way for the project team to know exactly what was going to be unearthed when construction started, or how much of the site area was going to be waste. As a result, a signifi cant contingency budget was set aside and the project was scaled back to ensure the major components could be delivered.

Due to the unknown nature of the ground composition, it was decided that

the synthetic fi elds should require as little earthworks as possible, opting to bring the development above ground, and compact and contain the existing waste.

THE SCHEDULEThe NSW Government confi rmed $7.3m of funding for the LMRFF through the Hunter Infrastructure Investment Fund in September 2013. From this point it was all hands on deck and all parties moved to review and assess (and eventually approve) the Review of Environmental Factors, the Agreements relating to the Lease and Licence, and the Funding agreement.

As the approvals came online, NNSWF established their program for construction, which involved engaging three separate contractors - one for civil works, one for the building works, and another for the synthetic fi eld works. The agreed schedule showed that the facility would be operational by December 2014, in time to host the football component of the 2014 International Children’s Games (ICG), information that was happily received by Council.

The construction of the facility started on time in March 2014, and progressed well until August, when Lake Macquarie experienced close to a month of constant rain. While the project continued to track

well, the ICG deadline approached and it became clear that construction of some components was behind schedule. The project team reviewed each item and agreed that while some areas were unable to be fi nalised, facilities required for the ICG would be complete. As such, the facility was able to host the football component of the 2014 International Children’s Games, which was widely regarded as a great success for the Hunter Region, as well as providing Lake Macquarie with world-wide exposure.

FEATURESNow that the facility has been completed and is fully operational, it is exciting to see that the construction of the facility has resulted in the development of a multi-faceted, high-quality recreational asset in Lake Macquarie.

The two full-sized synthetic fi elds are state-of-the-art, all-weather, rubber crumb, synthetic grass which will be certifi ed to FIFA 1-star rating. They have ball catch nets on all sides, and are fl oodlit to provide play during lower light and at night. While the all-weather aspect and lighting will reduce the downtime of the fi elds to a minimal period, the fi elds have already been heavily booked as a training ground for the elite football athletes of the lower Hunter Region, such as the players in the Emerging Jets program.

Similarly, the synthetic fi ve-a-side fi elds are state-of-the-art, all-weather and are fully lit to provide a playable surface during day or night. The fi elds will host four Football FIVE5 leagues which are designed to cater for varying levels of skill and dedication (youth, social, competitive, and premier).

The administration building has provided a dedicated training facility for coaches, referees and volunteers as well as other stakeholders in the game across Northern NSW, a new administrative home for Northern NSW Football and a great community asset through the bookable function areas.

For further details regarding the operation and use of the facility visit: http://nnsw.footballfi ves.com.au/

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Since 2011, Research Connections has been published as a joint initiative between Parks & Leisure Australia (PLA), New Zealand Recreation

Association (NZRA), and ANZALS (Australia and New Zealand Association for Leisure Studies). There is a continual need to support practical knowledge gained through on-ground experience, with evidence-based research which identifi es, debates, explores, clarifi es and grows our industry knowledge.

The February 2015 edition of Research Connections features information on Western Australian and New Zealand Research Projects, as well as research projects around the country.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Event Management - What skills, knowledge and experience are needed in event management, and integrating these requirements into event management curriculum, student learning outcomes and graduate outputs at Edith Cowan University.Researcher: Dr David LambInstitution: Edith Cowan University

Are we China ready - A study of Perth hotels’ catering to Chinese guests’ in-room dining appetites.Researchers: Dr David Lamb; Dr Alfred Ogle; Dr Stephen Fanning; and Tom Darley (Postgraduate research student)Institution: Edith Cowan University

NEW ZEALAND

Planning Approaches for the Management of Surf Breaks in New Zealand.Sport New Zealand’s Young People’s Survey 2011 – In-depth Report.Green Prescription Active Families Survey: 2014 report.Sport Northland’s Board Structure

and Strong Culture Encourages RSO Involvement.Wellington Oceans Sports (case study).The Contested Terrain of Alcohol Sponsorship of Sport and Social Policy in New Zealand.Sport and Recreation and the Links with Socio-economic Background. (New Zealand Young People’s Survey Series.Community Sport Good Practice Case studies.How to Setup a Sportville: The Hutt City Approach.In Fact 6: New Zealand’s Coaching Workforce.Wellington Cycling Demand Analysis.Mapping Outdoor Organizations’ Governance.New Zealand as a Safe Adventure Destination – Is It a Reality?Gaming Funding for Sport and Physical Activity/ Recreation 2012: Auckland Region. Sport and Recreation Knowledge Series. Short Report.Hauraki Gulf Marine Spatial Plan. Commercial and Recreational Fishing. Factsheet July 2014.Lower Hutt Interschool Sport Case Study.Post-Secondary School Sport Participation, Transition & Withdrawal.Active Communities Project: a Case Study of the East.City on Its Feet.Financial Analysis of Leading Auckland Sports Organisations.Alcohol and Sport: What is the Nature of the Relationship and is there a Problem?

ACROSS AUSTRALIA

Climate Change - Coping with climate change in the Pacifi c Islands Region - community tourism and climate change in Vanuatu.

Social Capital - An exploratory study of the nature of social capital in local area leisure clubs.

The February edition also features a new section called Project Snippets, which lists some research projects in the pipeline. These projects include:• Development of a Risk Assessment

Tool• The Australian Community Capacity

Study (ACCS)• Urban Green Spaces• Bird Migration Ecology• Conservation Planning

There are two more editions of Research Connections planned for the remainder of 2015 – July and November. The July edition will focus on South Australian and Northern Territory research projects; while the November edition will focus on Queensland research projects.

If you have views regarding the state of research in either Australia or New Zealand, contact John Wood, Editor, Research Connections and long -time member of PLA.

To download the latest edition of Research Connections visit parksleisure.com.au/resources/research-connections

RESEARCH CONNECTIONS

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As most of you know PLA Advisory is a committee that sits under the PLA National Board and engages with

national issues. Our ongoing tasks are to assist the National Board and National offi ce to respond to media articles or announcements, and to produce PLA positions on industry issues. Additionally, our brief is to refl ect on other issues as they are raised by the Board or PLA members, provide advice to the Board, and where appropriate establish ongoing working groups or subcommittees.

At the end of 2014 Dr May Carter prepared a discussion paper on research (this can be found at Resources/PLA Advisory webpage). Dr Carter’s paper recognised that PLA’s engagement in research has been discussed frequently over the years but has not been satisfactorily resolved. As per the discussion paper PLA has two main tasks regarding research:1. To provide or facilitate PLA member access to research results, presented in a way that is accessible and usable to members

2. To commission research that will address research questions raised by the industry, and PLA members

In response to Dr Carter’s paper, PLA Advisory is in the process of establishing a working group which will refl ect on the issue of research communication and, together with interested parties, will evaluate the current range of information provided, current use, access, what other information exists, and consider whether there are avenues to improve the provision of information to members.

Additionally, whenever PLA establishes a working group to explore a priority area, e.g. climate change, the working group brief shall include a review of current information, information gaps for the parks and leisure industry, and possible next steps with regard to fi lling those gaps. In this way, PLA might progressively identify specifi c industry research questions and subsequently liaise with an appropriate research body to ‘commission’ the research.

PLA has had some recent success in ‘commissioning’ research (although commission might not be the correct term). Over the past two years PLA Advisory has been liaising with a Deakin University team, discussing with them the possibility of undertaking research into the economic benefi ts of parks and park use in Australia. We are very pleased to let you know that two Deakin University researchers have been funded to research the health benefi ts and associated economic value of parks and park use in Australia. The primary researchers are Dr Kah-Ling Sia, and Dr Claire Henderson-Wilson. Dr Kah-Ling is also undertaking a literature review on the health and economic benefi ts of Australia’s parks and open spaces. The fi ndings from both these pieces of work will be available late 2015 or in 2016.

Whilst research is dominating this update, we foresee that one of our priorities for 2015 will be to explore the implications and strategies associated with climate change and the parks and leisure industry.

PLA ADVISORY NEWS

CAN GREEN SPACE BE A REMEDY FOR SOCIAL INEQUALITY?

WORDS: PENNY DAVIDSON, CHAIR PLA ADVISORY

WORDS: DR THOMAS ASTELL-BURT AND DR XIAOQI FENG

To many a reader, starting an article in the journal of the Parks and Leisure industry with a discussion of health

inequality may seem a trifl e off -piste. What has the gap between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ got to do with how we nurture quality parks and woodlands? We are optimistic that many a reader would like to help make Australian society be that little bit fairer. We contend that green space can be a part of the solution to the inequality problem. This article will give you bad news fi rst, followed by something a little more encouraging that is, we hope, directly within your purview of interest.

Dr Thomas Astell-Burt is the Director of the Master of Public Health and Master of Health Science, Senior Lecturer in Public Health, and Postdoctoral Fellow of the National Heart Foundation of Australia, based in the School of Science and Health at the University of Western Sydney

Dr Xiaoqi Feng is a Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology in the School of Health and Society at the University of Wollongong and Adjunct Research Fellow in the School of Science and Health at the University of Western Sydney.

To read this article in its entirety, visit the Parks and Leisure Australia website: www.parksleisure.com.au/resources

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WE PRESENT TO YOU…

The parks and leisure industry is growing fast in Australia due

to expanded leisure time and an increased expectation from

citizens in urban environments.

The PLA Journal is a professional publication allowing quick

access to research, best practice, technique and news on

changes and developments in the Parks & Leisure industry.

The offi cial journal of“The people behind the places”www.parksleisure.com.au

Now published by Universal Magazines and reaching 10,000 specifi ers via the Outdoor Design Source Digital Network.DESIGN

Outdoor

SOURCE


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NZRA 2014 Award Winners

Providing for the Needs of a

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Green Space and Social Inequality

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Volume 18.1 Autumn 2015

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Sadly, January saw the passing of a great Australian in Tom Uren A.C.

Tom was an outstanding athlete, a prisoner of war, a parliamentarian, a minister, a deputy leader of his party and above all, a devoted conservationist.

Tom served his country throughout his entire adult life and was awarded an AO (1993), the Centenary Medal (2001) and the Companion of the Order of Australia (2013).

After leaving parliament in 1990, Tom continued to be active in his love for the environment and was a strong

supporter of the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust.

It was only fi tting that this great Australian passed away on “Australia Day” in 2015 aged 93 years.

He will be sadly missed by all including those who work in the fi elds of recreation, conservation and environmental protection.

TOM UREN

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