The first round of community consultation was held in October 2021.

The purpose of this was to gather feedback and ideas from local residents and from those who use the playspace regularly to help form a concept design.

Participants were given the opportunity to share their fond memories of the current and past playspace and also provide feedback or ideas for the new one.

Community members were given the opportunity to share their ideas for the new playground.

The most common responses were:

Community members were given the opportunity to share some fond memories of the playground.

The following provides a summary of some of the comments provided:

"The Arboretum has always been a favourite playground for my son who is now 3. I also used to take my nephew here, he’s now 11. We all look forward to seeing the new upgrade."

"I remember playing in these 'castles' as a young child myself. Now I watch my own children create their little wonderlands while playing in them. It would be fantastic to see this stay on as a key feature."

"I remember in the mid 80's going here as a school excursion and we all got to plant trees. I remember being given tomato soup for lunch and hated it lol. I also remember wearing my favourite boots that got destroyed by being covered in mud from our day of planting."

"My children love this playground, the big hits are the climbing nets and the flying fox closely followed by the castle and sandpit."

"My two kids love the variety here. There are all the things! Swings, slides a flying fox, dragons and secret spots to hide. It’s always an adventure and more awaits beyond the fence. It’s always fun at the arboretum."

"Our grandchildren love the playground, climbing the castle, climbing onto the blocks in the water, and visiting the memorial pool. They also love the lake with the ducks and finding turtles, and exploring the bamboo forest. We have taken them all there for the past 18 years since our first one was born. However they have all said they miss the creek where they used to climb across on the rocks. We love the picnic tables where we often share lunch and have had numerous family gatherings there. I often pick herbs and spinach in the communal garden which is a fantastic facility. We feel so lucky to have such a fabulous reserve near to where we all live."

"My son loves running around the back path, over the moat and into the castle. He also loves walking along the castle wall in the middle of the playground, great for balancing with different heights. There is always a queue at the flying fox. Lots of different activities."

Thank you to all participants who provided feedback during the first round of community consultation about what you'd like to see included in the new playspace

Using your ideas, a detailed concept design was developed.

A second round of consultation was conducted in May 2023 to gain further insight into the revised concept design.

A final concept design has since been created, a contractor appointed, and works to build the new playspace will commence in April 2024. See the main project page for further information.