Inverell is home to many diverse young families.
Our children are a priority and should have access to updated and SAFE facilities within our local community.

Our most popular local playgrounds are nothing short of a disaster.
Victoria park playground was supposed to be wheelchair accessible and cater for children and adults with disabilities, as well as our wider community.

Victoria park consists of sink holes which pool rainwater (some 3-4 metres in length) that lay stagnant for days, sometimes weeks with consistent off and on rain. These pools trap bacteria/insects and are an absolute risk to our children's health and well-being. Due to these sink holes, the playgrounds foundation has lots of uneven ground. It is so rippled that every step is a hazard. Some parts have noticeably lifted and cracked.

The wheelchair accessible roundabout has moved quite substantially, making it near impossible for parents and carers to manoeuvre easily and makes a horrible shrieking noise when moved.

The sensory play equipment has been poorly maintained and these accompaniments are filthy or broken, housing plenty of spiders due to never being cleaned.

There is no toddler accessible play equipment that is appropriate and children are to share 1 swing. 1 for toddlers and 1 for children. 

Some equipment has been duct taped in an attempt to fix, glued, burned, or graffitied.

Gates have been “fixed” so many times they are buckled and do not close.

The shade over the area is inadequate. The parents chairs are made from steel yet in direct sunlight, as is the climbing cable frame. The cables on the climbing frame are beginning to show strain by fraying and have been duct taped.

The playground is dirty, grimy and worn. Some parts underneath have sunken into the ground as much as 7cm. The plastic casing that encloses the chains on the chain ladder have fallen off making it more likely for little fingers to become jammed or feet to slip.

 

 

 

 

Campbell park playground is falling to pieces. This is the first thing people see when they come to our town over the bridge or leave the tourist information centre.

It is dirty, damaged, & hasn’t seen change in over 10 years. It is UNSAFE. There are chunks missing from the sides of stand & spin equipment children are supposed to stand on. One of these doesn’t spin.

The ground is sunken and completely gone in some areas. There is absolutely NO shade yet the entire structure is black and made from exposed steel. Some parts of the soft foundation have lifted as much as 5.5cm from the ground.

The playground structure is completely broken, covered in graffiti, dirty, and unusable. A total eye sore for tourism. It is completely UNSAFE.
This area/the park, gets lots of usage (markets, sapphire city festival, Christmas carols, community events) so it desperately needs updating and proper maintenance.

 

We are demanding new playgrounds with genuine thought and planning, including input from our young families, so our council may execute a project that can cater to all ages.
We want parks that can be used by all with genuine thought put into the work about how they will succumb to the elements and thousands of hours of play. We want practicality.

Our toddlers need toddler sized play equipment. Our children and peoples with wheelchairs and disabilities need a proper park that is MAINTAINED! Our big kids want something different.
- sky walk - giant slides - bike & scooter tracks - towers - giant sit down dual flying fox -

Our council needs to listen to the voice of our children and our young families and build us new playgrounds that ALL of us can utilise. Offering space and diverse activities to our bigger kids whilst taking our little kids size and coordination into account. Proper shade for children AND parents, and up to date cleaning & maintenance.

We demand 24 hour lighting at these playgrounds and CCTV. It is SAFER and does not limit the parks usage.

 

It’s time for change!