Repair and Replacement Plan for Geraldton playground equipment approved

The repair or replacement of more than half the non-compliant playground equipment as part of the 2015/16 budget has been endorsed by Council.

City of Greater Geraldton Mayor, Ian Carpenter, said the City’s Public Open Space Strategy was utilised to identify high priority parks that should have their play equipment replaced or repaired first with the available funding.

“The Strategy is based upon a hierarchy of parks, therefore parks that are of the highest priority to the community were allocated funding for the repair or replacement of play equipment first,” he said.

“Funds will be expended in accordance with the plan until the $349,000 in this year’s budget for the renewal of playground equipment is exhausted.”

Although the play equipment in 80 percent of the City’s parks meet compliance standards, adjustments to maintenance programs to monitor condition and maintain the equipment need to be made.

“By far, the majority of play equipment in 80 percent of City parks is in good condition and meets current standards however, the audit has shown that some parks haven’t been monitored as often as they should have been,” said Mayor Carpenter.

“To ensure this is a thing of the past, this Council has now taken steps to make improvements.”

Dates for when play equipment will be replaced or reopened to the public will heavily depend on delivery times of suppliers.

“Play equipment that is of a high standard and is durable enough to withstand our harsh environment can’t be bought at Bunnings or locally manufactured.  This is a specialist industry and it could take up to three months for equipment to be sourced,” said Mayor Carpenter.

“In the meantime, fenced off equipment that is being replaced will be removed from the parks and the fences taken down. 

“The City will endeavour to repair the play equipment as quickly as possible but until this work is done the fences will remain in place to ensure community safety.”

Play equipment will be replaced and soft fall either rehabilitated or replaced in the following parks:

-          Pages Beach
-          Rundle Park
-          Mahomets Beach
-          Geraldton Foreshore
-          Glendenning Park
-          Maitland Park
-          Muir Park
-          Spalding Park

The play equipment in Forrester Park, GRAMS Reserve and Webber Park will be repaired.

The replacement of the following non-conforming play equipment in lower priority parks will be considered in the 2015/16 mid-year budget review.

-          Clematis Park
-          Iduna Park
-          Jenner Park
-          Levy Street Park
-          Vincent Street park
-          Alexander Park
-          Lester Square Park
-          Bugara Park
-          Norm BrandPark