Tamworth Regional Council has provided its community with an award-winning playground, using an innovative funding model to take the pressure off ratepayers.
Opened in December, the $2.2 million Regional Playground project in Tamworth’s Bicentennial Park took out the Boosting Productivity through Infrastructure category of the 2016 National Local Government Awards.
The category recognises forward-thinking local governments that are contributing to the Australian Government's plan to invest in more modern infrastructure to boost productivity.
In a model relatively unique to local government, funding was generated through a successful ClubGrant application of $1.1 million, donations to the value of $10,000, proceeds of the sale of a council site worth more than $910,000 and Section 94 funding to the value of $348,000.
No ratepayer funding was required for the completion of the project.
In addition to monetary support, substantial contributions were received from businesses who donated their expertise, services, products and equipment, estimated to have generated about $500,000 worth of additional funding.
Design elements
More than 5000 hours of work went into the playground’s development and construction. One of the chief attractions is the Skywalk – 9.1m-high structure with three giant slides and four towers, the biggest in the southern hemisphere. It has a rope-like ‘octa net’ climbing structure and extends up to 9.1m high, has a footprint of 38m by 23m and its slides measure 13m long.
Tamworth is the first location in NSW outside of Sydney to have a park with the German-engineered equipment.
The playground also includes a bike track, junior and senior fitness circuits, embankment slides, dual flying fox, sandpit, rhythm wall, Touchwood Totems, spinner and climbing equipment.
For children with access challenges there is the wheelchair-accessible carousel and mammoth swing. There are two parking bays for people with a disability in the new off-street carpark at the Roderick Street end of Kable Avenue.
A natural-looking stream meandering down the embankment with multiple waterfalls and a 3m sway bridge across it is a stand-out landscape feature. The 40m long stream,
created by Waterscapes Australia and council staff using about 60 tonnes of basalt boulders and 12 cubic metres of river pebbles, starts with a series of five waterfalls and flows to three pooling areas. A 6000 litre reservoir is beneath a seemingly dried out creek bed at the bottom of the embankment, from which the water is recirculated.
About 6000 square metres of turf has been laid and 150 trees, 200 shrubs and 900 native grasses planted.
The playground will form part of the Tamworth Region's first 'smart' precinct, in a joint pilot project between the council and Telstra. The council says the latest technology will be used for its lighting, parking and CCTV system, with a total of seven cameras and a free wireless internet service available during daylight hours.
Ten wireless lights and its control system provided the ability to switch lights on and off individually, dim individual lights, measure and monitor power and current for each light, detect movement and switch on. It includes a duress button and an ambient light monitor to decrease the intensity of lighting during daylight hours. Sensors installed in the pavement of on-street parking bays in Kable Avenue and in the new off-street car park will provide live data on the occupancy of car parks.
The sensors are connected to dynamic LED signage which will display parking space availability.
Tamworth Regional Mayor Col Murray says the equipment and features in the playground “evolved significantly" from the initial design.
"The support from business and their contributions – as donations and in-kind – have allowed Council to take the park to the next level where it has a real wow factor," he says. "It has been amazing how they have value added to this project."
Cr Murray predicts the Tamworth Regional Playground will become one of the most-visited facilities in the local area, attracting tourists to the town.
"I know local residents will value what it adds to their choice of local recreation activities and it will give visitors another reason to come and enjoy the Tamworth Region," he says.
The project will now go into the running for the overall 2016 National Local Government Award, to be announced in June.