Playground Upgrade Project

Site 1: Major Upgrade - Children’s Reserve - Scottsdale

29 George Street, Scottsdale

The Children’s Reserve is the main playground in town and is a popular choice for birthday parties and play dates.

This project will transform this park by replacing several of the main elements in the playground and creating a community hub/destination style playground that will provide multi use spaces for informal gatherings, relaxation and play. Elements that target various age groups, in particular infants and toddlers will be included to create a multi-generational space with a focus on open-ended play.

A community consultation period was held between Wednesday 27 November, 2024 and Wednesday 11 December, 2024 to gather community feedback on the preferred direction of the playground.

Responders were asked to choose between 2 smaller playground options that would allow enough footprint to include either a helicopter or a tractor or alternatively choose 1 larger multi age play piece.

We received a total of 106 responses.

36% of the votes received came from the 0-18 age bracket (primary users) with 29 of the 35 voting for the larger piece.

A breakdown of responses across the age groups is below:

Other comments:

• 4 of Finley's voters commented that they would also like the helicopter to be included*
• 1 of Finley's voters commented that they would also like the tractor to be included*

*Unfortunately due to cost and available playground footprint no other pieces are able to be included at this time.

WORKS UPDATE: Works Complete. New equipment including a main combination piece, 5m track rider, swing set and rubber softfall has been installed.

This playground upgrade has been funded by the Open Spaces Grants Program (equipment), a 2024 State Election Commitment Funding (rubber softfall) and Dorset Council.

Site 2: Major Upgrade - Branxholm Park - Branxholm

1-7 Scott Street, Branxholm
Branxholm Park is situated adjacent to the Branxholm Camping Ground and Swimming Pool and is a popular spot for campers and locals alike. Upgrade to the BBQ’s at the park is planned in order to value add/complement this project which will see the upgrade of the main combination equipment piece.

WORKS UPDATE: Works complete. Construction commenced on Tuesday January 28 2025. The new main equipment piece has been installed, and the park was reopened to the public to enjoy from Tuesday February 11 2025.

This playground upgrade has been funded by the Open Spaces Grants Program and Dorset Council.

Site 3: Minor Upgrade – Winnaleah Playground – Winnaleah
13 Main Street, Winnaleah
Winnaleah playground is centrally located in town and a popular place for locals. While catering well for school aged children and, to an extent, older children/teenagers the playground lacks key elements in making it a holistic play space for the community. This project will rectify this through provision of landscaping and additional play elements.

WORKS UPDATE: Works complete. Line marking has been completed on the basketball court and games area as well as a new basketball backboard, post and hoop installed. A new equipment piece featuring a slide has been installed, along with some rubber soft fall pads under the existing double swing set. The park was only closed for 5 days and reopened on Monday 3 March 2025 .

This playground upgrade has been funded by the Open Spaces Grants Program, a 2024 State Election Commitment Funding and Dorset Council.

This project was initiated as a result of feedback and data collated as part of the Playground Facility Audit Report.

The above playground upgrades were made possible due to funding received through the Open Spaces Grants Program ($200,000), a 2024 State Election Commitment, Lift Local Grant Program and Dorset Council. Additional playground upgrades will be occurring in the near future. Keep an eye on our Major Projects page for details.

Updated May 2025

Document Library

Winnaleah Park Concept Plan

Branxholm Park Concept Plan

Children's Reserve Concept Plan