News

Children road test new Helensburgh playground before official opening

Bradbery-Colacino-students-Charles-Harper-October-2019

Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery with Cr Leigh Colacino, and students [top row] Oliver Williams and Oscar Loveday, both in Year 6 at Helensburgh Public School, and [bottom row] Noah Chenhall, Year 6, and Hannah Robinson, Year 1, from Helensburgh Holy Cross Primary School.

CHILDREN from local schools got first dibs on Helensburgh’s new play space at Charles Harper Park earlier this week.

The children had the opportunity to give the equipment a good workout at the official opening on Tuesday, as they were instrumental in planning and designing the playground and the creation of the artworks.

Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said the new play space adds a playful and natural environment for children and families and it reflects local history.

“Council has added a number of play features, with the design influenced by local children,’’ Cr Bradbery said.

“This is an inclusive play space for all children and includes a wheelchair accessible trampoline, communication boards and a natural play area that features water pumps and a dry creek bed.

“The new district play space will provide a real attraction for children and families, as it is co-located with the local pool and new barbecue area. It is also a short walk from Helensburgh town centre.”

Council asked the children at Helensburgh what they wanted in a playground and they didn’t hold back. The new play space also includes:

  • Play equipment offering graduated challenges and including interactive elements at ground level
  • Public art panels celebrating local mining heritage and artwork created by local children
  • New footpaths connecting to the recently upgraded accessible barbecue and picnic area
  • Shade sails
  • Ninja-Warrior-style obstacle course
  • Advanced tree planting that will provide natural shade and informal play opportunities
  • New seating and bike rack

For more information, contact Wollongong City Council on 4227 7111

About Mick Roberts

A journalist, writer and historian, Mick Roberts specialises in Australian cultural history, particularly associated with the Australian hotel and liquor industry. Mick has had an interest in revealing the colourful story of Australian pubs and associated industries for over 30 years. He is working on a comprehensive history of the hotel and liquor industry in the Illawarra region of NSW. Besides writing a number of history books, Mick managed several community newspapers. He has been editor of the Wollongong Northern News, The Bulli Times, The Northern Times, The Northern Leader and The Local - all located in the Wollongong region. As a journalist he has worked for Rural Press, Cumberland (News Limited), the Sydney city newspaper, City News, and Torch Publications based in Canterbury Bankstown, NSW.

Discussion

No comments yet.

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,132 other subscribers
%d bloggers like this: