In a first for the City of Whittlesea, a state-of-the-art all abilities play space will be constructed in Mill Park Recreation Reserve on Morang Drive.
The works to realign the entry and create a community bus turnaround area have been completed and the carpark is open for use again.
The Junior play area focuses on the developmental needs of children, specifically babies through to 6 year olds. The area aims to enhance the physical development of the users through balance, coordination and upper body and core strengthening play as well as cognitive development through imaginative play in shopfronts, fairy gardens and tactile surface exploration.
It is anticipated that the construction in this area will commence in May 2019 and will be ready for play by the end of 2019.
The centre piece of the development, the multi-age accessible play area features a 6m high tree house with fully accessible ramps and bridges to the first level (approx. 2.5m off the ground) and challenging entry points and a stair case to the second level to allow inclusive play for all individuals. The area will include a double flying fox with accessible seat, inclusive swings and slides, picnic and BBQ facilities and equipment designed to test and improve the skills, coordination and agility of young children and senior citizens.
A quiet and sensory play area has been designed as a retreat within the wider reserve. The quiet area is a zone where individuals, both children and adults, who may be over stimulated by the pace and sounds of the play area can return to. The design of this area has been extensively considered to include play elements that encourage not only calm and controlled exploration but can also facilitate future programming opportunities such as therapy sessions.
The teen to senior play area has been designed to engage teenagers and young adults, a demographic of the community typically not considered in standard park upgrades. The northern most area of the play space features a full sized basketball court line marked for multiple sports and a parkour area. The parkour area has been designed in conjunction with Melbourne Parkour and is a space where basic skills can be learnt and refined in a safe environment.
The water play area will feature accessible water play tables, manual water pumps, shooting water jets and shallow surface flows with dams and weirs that can be manipulated by the users. Whilst the automatic water play elements such as the shooting jets will only be active in the summer months, the manual play elements will be available all year round enabling controlled interaction with the water over the cooler periods of the year.
The accessible toilet block will feature 2 disabled cubicles, 2 ambulant cubicles and 2 standard cubicles as well as a changing places toilet facility with shower facilities. The orientation of the toilet block has been carefully considered to ensure view lines from most of the reserve and doorways fronting onto the main play areas.
It is anticipated that construction of Stage 3 will commence late in 2019 for completion in 2020.
Council will contribute $3 million alongside a $1 million contribution from the State Government’s Growing Suburbs Fund.
For further information, phone Council on 9217 2170 or email parks@whittlesea.vic.gov.au.