Frequently Asked Questions

Most of Council’s parks, streetscapes, walkways and bushland edges are mown by a specialist contract landscape maintenance company. All sportsgrounds are mown by Council’s Sportsgrounds maintenance staff.

• 201 separate sites are mown by the contract company, adding up to 33 hectares in total.
• 22 sportsfields are mown by Council’s sportsfields staff and a relatively small number of sites are mown by a contract company (MowMentus).
• Several other sites such as community and childcare centres, carparks and streetscapes are mown by MowMentus.
• Council’s Nature Strip/Verge Gardening Guidelines states that “Council does not engage in the regular maintenance of the naturestrip/road verge outside private property.”

Flushes of annual weeds grow through the grass at certain times of the year. These weeds grow very quickly, especially after rain, and can give a false impression that the grass has not been mown for a long time. Sites are mown 16 times per year, with frequency changing to suit the season and growth patterns of the grass.

Sportsgrounds are mown more frequently than other grass areas to meet the requirements of the particular groups using the grounds. The grass is cut shorter in summer for cricket than in winter for soccer and rugby.

• Summer – once or twice per week
• Winter – once per week

The combination of rain and warm weather also encourages faster grass growth, compounding the problem. If visits are missed due to wet weather, attempts are made to make up the visit at a later date. If rain continues, this may not be possible and the site may not be visited until the next scheduled visit. 

Staff operate a variety of equipment including ride-on mowers, hand mowers, blowers and whipper-snippers. Tractor mowers are used for the “broadacre” mowing of sportsfields. After mowing, whipper snippers are used to tidy edges and blowers are used to clear pathways of any grass clippings.

Access to grass areas may not be possible for mowing equipment after periods of rain, as it can damage the turf or become bogged. Sites can also become slippery and unsafe for equipment operators.

The playgrounds are designed to provide a range of graded challenges for all users, so carers need to be responsible for which activities and challenges those in their care are tackling.

Weekly, quarterly and comprehensive annual safety audits of all playgrounds are carried out by specialist external contractors. Undersurfacing, fall zones and equipment are inspected during these audits, and a classification system helps determine a priority assigned to each maintenance requirement reported.

A programme of playground upgrades is in place, and each upgrade includes improvements to the undersurfacing, equipment and layout.

Australian Standards relating to playgrounds, whilst not mandatory, are used to guide playground development and include:

• AS 4685: Playground Equipment (Parts 1-6);
• AS/NZS 4422: Playground Surfacing: Specifications, requirements & test methods;
• AS/NZS 4486.1: Playgrounds and Playground Equipment - Development, installation, inspection, maintenance and operation;
• AS 1428.1-4: Design for Access and Mobility Parts 1-4

Only playground equipment suppliers that certify they conform with Australian Standards are employed by Council.

“Safer By Design” and “Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design” principles are used when planning playground upgrades. These principles aim to minimise crime and anti social behaviour including vandalism and graffiti, and help to ensure park and playground users feel that they are in a safe environment. The principles include fostering a strong sense of community ownership of parks, provision of security lighting in appropriate locations, maximising casual surveillance from surrounding properties and providing clear entrances, exits and pathways through the parks.

Playgrounds are only fenced if there is a potential hazard such as a busy road, carpark, water, bike path, steep drop, sportsground or off leash dog exercise area nearby. Alternatives such as plants are used if appropriate. Facilities such as seating and shade are provided inside the fence to encourage an appropriate supervision level by carers.

Provision of shade for children and carers is considered when playgrounds are designed and upgraded. Natural shade from evergreen or deciduous trees is preferable to shade sails, but sails are installed if shade is inadequate and trees cannot provide shade within a suitable timeframe. For example, 2 sails have been installed at Denawen Park.

In general, playgrounds cater for children in the 0-14 age range. It is difficult to categorise equipment and activities provided as suitable for a specific age range, as children of the same age vary greatly in their physical and other abilities. Where possible a variety of graded challenges is provided in each playground rather than age appropriate equipment.

Some equipment can however be considered appropriate for a general age group such as spring rockers for younger children and climbing walls and flying foxes for older children.

Playground bark mulch (conforming to Australian Standards) is used as undersurfacing in most playgrounds, with rubber used in high wear areas under individual pieces of equipment such as swings, slides and spinners. The mulch is used in preference to sand and rubber as it is best at absorbing impact, and therefore has the most potential for reducing possible injury in the event of a fall.

Sand is used by cats and is an easier material in which to conceal objects.

Bark mulch undersurfacing can be topped up and aerated as required to meet appropriate Australian Standards.

In addition to defining areas and containing softfall, sandstone boulders provide opportunities for challenging and fun play, and add to the natural materials used in playgrounds. One of Council’s aims is to include a broad range of textures, materials and sensory elements in playgrounds, so that children can engage in diverse physical experiences. Children’s balancing skills are tested when they make their way along a boulder border or use the boulders as stepping stones. The stones can also be a good place to sit and rest, talk or watch. Sharp exposed edges are hewn from the boulders used in playgrounds.

Council’s aim is to integrate accessibility into playgrounds in a way that does not isolate children or carers with disabilities or require them to use exclusive pieces of equipment. Improvements in playgrounds accessibility make it easier for people with eg mobility, vision and stamina problems, and also people pushing prams to enjoy the facilities.

Locating play equipment, seating, picnic settings and bubblers next to pathways, and providing wide, clear paths and kerb ramps are design considerations incorporated into playground upgrade plans where possible. Willoughby Park, Bicentennial Reserve, Hallstrom Park, Chatswood Park and Bales Park have been identified as parks particularly suitable for modifying to improve accessibility, including the playgrounds. One of the swings at Bales Park is specially constructed so that it can be swung with arm movements only if necessary. When seats, tables and bubblers are upgraded at these parks, designs are chosen for their ease of access, and compliance with Australian Standard for Access and Mobility, and disabled access carspaces and toilets are provided.

Action strategies in the Council’s Disability Discrimination Act Action Plan, February 2007 (developed following the Commonwealth Government DDA introduced in 1992) which are relevant to playgrounds are included in the Playground Development Plan.

Council’s playgrounds are provided for all members of the community to use, and it is not possible to book them for exclusive use by a particular group.

In the past, playgrounds have only very occasionally not been available for use, due to maintenance requirements in the playground or nearby. Notification of future closures is provided on site, unless the maintenance is needed urgently. If a piece of equipment is found to need attention during safety inspections, it will be roped off until repaired.

Dogs are not permitted within 10m of playgrounds, whether or not on a leash. This is stated on the triangular regulatory signs in all parks, and also on separate signs in some playgrounds.

Many playgrounds include designated “trike tracks” so that young children can practise bike riding. The most extensive track which includes traffic signs, is located at Hallstrom Park. Most new playground upgrades include a loop trike track where space permits, as requests for tracks are often received in feedback from community consultation. Often access paths connecting different features of a park, paths between pieces of equipment in a playground, or other areas of hard surface, double up as a trike track.

Council aims to provide innovative, challenging and creative play equipment and play spaces which provide a variety of activities and types of play catering for a range of needs and abilities.

“Traditional” equipment is provided for physical activities such as rocking, swinging, spinning, sliding, climbing and balancing.

Creative play spaces are provided by using planting, sand-pits, mounding, rock features, textured and patterned pathways and surfaces, and sound sculptures, and by incorporating artwork into new and existing play environments in varied ways eg pathway mosaics, climbing sculptures, special seats and cubbyhouses.

A diversity of natural and recycled materials are used to create spaces that encourage exploration, adventure, discovery and construction (eg sandstone boulders, sand pits, timber bridges).

Examples of these elements are the sandstone sculptures and totem pole carved from a dead tree trunk at Beauchamp Park, plants, rocks and a short loop track into bushland at Castle Cove Park, a “musical tyre” and tunnel at Willoughby Park, sand, water pump, leaf shaped seat, leaf shaped lawn and leaf impressions in a pathway at Naremburn Park, a bamboo tunnel and water pump at Warners Park, mosaics, a bronze water dragon and stainless steel creatures at Muston Park, mosaic pathway patterns at Chatswood Park, and sandstone animals, sense activated sound boxes, a “musicosaurus”, waterpump, sand, rocks and plantings at Hallstrom Park.

Where space allows, open grass areas are provided for more informal play such as ball games, crawling and running. Playgrounds encourage social interaction between children and other children, and carers and other carers.

Associated facilities such as seating and picnic facilities make the area suitable for family celebrations, Council events and meeting of parents groups.

Community consultation is included in all park landscape improvement plans. Residents living in the vicinity of the park have the chance then to submit ideas and requests for the park, including playgrounds.

Funding for upgrades of parks and playgrounds is derived from “Section 94” funds and/or Council revenue. A Section 94 Plan (S94) is a funding mechanism which lets Council levy funds from developers to build the extra public amenities and services that will be required as a result of their development.

Applications are also made when State Government grants (such as NSW Sport and Recreation grants) are offered for playground development.

Playground upgrades are carried out according to Council’s Asset Management Plan and Park Masterplans. The plan prioritises upgrades according to demographics (using the most recent Census figures), the age and extent of existing facilities in an area and playground classifications.

Playgrounds are classified as regional, district or local, defined as follows:

• Regional: Serving more than one local government area where users will be prepared to drive significant distances.
• District: Typically attracting visitors from one local government area where users will normally not drive more than 15-30 minutes.
• Local: Catering to a local area where users predominantly walk or cycle to use the facility.

The number of pieces of play equipment is also dependent on the space available for the layout of equipment to be designed so that there is a suitable safe “fall zone” around each piece, and travel paths are free from obstruction.

You can find out which facilities (including toilets, barbeques and parking) are available at each park and playground here.

Information about upgrades to parks and playgrounds will be listed under Current Work.

Over the past 7 years, Council has been converting from kikuyu grass (Pennisetum clandestinum) to couch grass varieties (Cynodon dactylon) for its sportsgrounds.

The following sportsgrounds have been returfed under this program:

• Chatswood Rotary Memorial Athletics Field
• Bicentennial Park
• Naremburn Park Ovals (No. 1 and 2)
• Beauchamp Park
• Flat Rock Baseball Diamond
• Chatswood Oval
• Artarmon Reserve
• Willoughby Park Ovals (No. 1 and Alan Hyslop)
• Bales Park
• Castle Cove Park Ovals (No. 1 and 2)
• O.H. Reid Park.

The couch varieties 'Santa Ana' and 'Legend' have been chosen on the basis that they resist wear, have minimal weed invasion, and provide increased playing capacity and resilience for sporting activities compared to other turf varieties.

Couch grass has a wiry, strong rhizome network that is highly suited to community sportsgrounds as it forms a hardwearing surface and repairs rapidly. Couch also has a high drought tolerance, developing a deep fibrous root system that recovers quickly after water deprivation making it highly suitable for community sportsgrounds.

Couch grass is seen to be the industry standard for community sportsground development and is common across Sydney’s higher profile community sportsgrounds e.g. North Sydney Oval and Concord Oval. State significant sports sites such as Sydney Cricket Ground and Sydney Football Stadium also use varieties of couch grass.

Modern community sportsground construction rarely use kikuyu in our temperate Sydney climate, as the grass is a vigorous grower and requires more frequent mowing.

Couch requires medium maintenance levels with moderate inputs of water, fertiliser and mowing needed for an acceptable playing surface. Its seed heads produce no pollen, making it suitable grass for asthmatics. It is tolerant of a broad range of herbicides registered for couch.

In winter couch grass varieties are alive but become dormant. Couch is a warm-season grass growing actively through spring and summer. Through winter, the growth of couch slows down and the leaves turn a golden brown colour. The turf still provides a suitable playing surface for winter sports as it forms a dense grass network with deep roots to cope with high use.

Rye grass is a cool season grass, sown in late summer, growing through winter. The advantages of the rye seeding in couch are:

• A green appearance through winter
• Some protection of the couch during the cooler months, however the rye needs to be evenly spread and seeded, and given sufficient time to establish.

The disadvantages are:

• The sportsground must be closed for 4-6 weeks while the rye establishes
• Rye grass can grow in clumps causing uneven surfaces for play which can be a safety issue.

Willoughby City Council has wide and diverse range of parks/reserves across the local government area. The community use these parks/reserves in many different ways and for many different purposes. Some parks/reserves also contain important environment, biodiversity and heritage features.

Parks/reserves in the local government area are either:

• Council owned-community land (as per Division 1 of the Local Government Act 1993); or
• Council-managed Crown land which is to be managed as if it were community land (as per Section 3.23 of the Crown Land Management Act 2016).

Council has a range of different plans, strategies and operational documents to inform the management, maintenance, future directions of parks/reserves, whilst also ensuring Council satisfies legal/legislative requirements and community expectations. All parks/reserves are governed by an overarching document called a ‘Plan of Management’.

Some specific parks/reserves may also have additional management plans which guide and support Council in the management and decisions relating to that particular park/reserve. These include, but are not limited to, a Reserve Action Plan, Park Master Plan, Landscape Improvement Plan, Sportsground Action Plan, Synthetic Sportsgrounds Management Plan and Heritage Interpretation Plans.

Council has a range of other documents which also inform how our parks/reserves may be managed and maintained now and into the future. These include, but are not limited to, Willoughby’s Public Spaces and Recreation Strategy , Our Green City Plan 2028, Bicycle Connection Plan, Transport Management Plan and Bush Fire Management Plan.

Parks/reserve are community land or Crown land managed as community. It is a legal requirement for Council to have a Plan of Management for these community lands as per Section 35-36 of the Local Government Act 1993 and Section 3.23 of the Crown Land Management Act 2016.  A Plan of Management is an overarching management tool which assists Council in the management of the parks/reserves.

A Plan of Management is generally required to identify:

• land/s to which the Plan will apply;
• category of the land/s;
• objectives and performance targets of the land/s;
• how the proposed objectives will be achieved;
• how the performance targets will be assessed;
• any approvals which may be required for specific activities on the land/s;
• prohibited and permissible activities on the land/s;
• if leases/licences or other estates can be granted on the land/s; and
• local, state and federal government legislation, regulation and/or policy which may be applicable to the land/s.

Plans of Management are periodically reviewed by Council and may be amended (if/where required) as per Section 41 of the Local Government Act 1993. This may occur, for example, to reflect a change in legislation, substantial change/s in land use and/or if new parks/reserves are created.

A Plan of Management may apply to a group of parks/reserves which:

• have similar functions but are geographically separate; and/or
• share the same land categorisations.

A Plan of Management which applies to multiple parks/reserves are known as ‘Generic Plan of Management’.

Willoughby City Council is in the process of finalising a suite of three generic Plans of Management which cover the majority of the parks/reserves:

• Sports Facilities Plan of Management (adopted April 2020): plan applicable to multiple parks/reserves containing lands with ‘Sportsground’ categorisations.
• Urban Bushland Plan of Management (adopted November 2022): plan applicable to multiple parks/reserves containing lands with ‘Natural Area’ categorisations.
• Parks Generic Plan of Management (draft on public exhibition June/July 2024): Pending the outcome of the public exhibition and adoption by Council, this plan will be applicable to multiple parks/reserves containing lands with ‘Park’ and ‘General Community Use’ categorisations.

In some instances, a Plan of Management may apply to a single park/reserve. This generally occurs in the instance where the use of the land is complex, the land has special considerations and/or the land has unique landscape characteristics or significant heritage considerations.

As an example site-specific Plans of Management are currently in place at the following parks/reserves:

• Bicentennial Reserve Plan of Management (adopted February 2021)
• Haven Amphitheatre/Castlehaven Reserve Plan of Management (adopted April 2021).
• Warners Park Plan of Management (adopted September 2019).

Over the years, Council has prepared a number of Plans of Management for parks/reserves. In most instances these are now out-of-date and do not meet the current legislative requirements under the Local Government Act 1993 and the Crown Lands Management Act 2016.

Should the Parks Generic Plan of Management be adopted, previous Plans of Management including the Five Parks Plan of Management (adopted 1995), Gore Hill Park Plan of Management (adopted 2016) and various Ward Plans of Management will be rescinded. Where appropriate previous management documents, such as Reserve Action Plans, may be carried forward.

Community land is classified under the Local Government Act 1993 as public land for public purposes. Community land is then further specified into land categorisations and in some instances sub-categorisations, in accordance with the Local Government Act 1993. Each categorisation and sub-categorisation has a ‘Core Objective’ which outlines the management approach and use of the lands.

• Park: Section 36G of the Local Government Act 1993

  “(a)  to encourage, promote and facilitate recreational, cultural, social and educational pastimes and activities, and

  (b)  to provide for passive recreational activities or pastimes and for the casual playing of games, and

  (c)  to improve the land in such a way as to promote and facilitate its use to achieve the other core objectives for its management.”

  Section 104 of the Local Government (General) Regulation 2021 provides additional guidance to Council for the ‘Park’ categorisation of community land.

• General Community Use: Section 36I of the Local Government Act 1993

  “(a)  in relation to public recreation and the physical, cultural, social and intellectual welfare or development of individual members of the public, and

  (b)  in relation to purposes for which a lease, licence or other estate may be granted in respect of the land (other than the provision of public utilities and works associated with or ancillary to public utilities).”

  Section 106 of the Local Government (General) Regulation 2021 provides additional guidance to Council for ‘General Community Use’ categorisation of community land.

• Sportsground: Section 36F of the Local Government Act 1993

  “(a)  to encourage, promote and facilitate recreational pursuits in the community involving organised and informal sporting activities and games, and

  (b)  to ensure that such activities are managed having regard to any adverse impact on nearby residences.”

  Section 103 of the Local Government (General) Regulation 2021 provides additional guidance to Council for ‘Sportsground’ categorisation of community land.

• Natural Area: Section 36E of the Local Government Act 1993

  “(a)  to conserve biodiversity and maintain ecosystem function in respect of the land, or the feature or habitat in respect of which the land is categorised as a natural area, and

  (b)  to maintain the land, or that feature or habitat, in its natural state and setting, and

  (c)  to provide for the restoration and regeneration of the land, and

  (d)  to provide for community use of and access to the land in such a manner as will minimise and mitigate any disturbance caused by human intrusion, and

  (e)  to assist in and facilitate the implementation of any provisions restricting the use and management of the land that are set out in a recovery plan or threat abatement plan prepared under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 or the Fisheries Management Act 1994.”

  Section 102 of the Local Government (General) Regulation 2021 provides additional guidance to Council for ‘Natural Area’ categorisation of community land.

  Land categorised as ‘Natural Area’ is to be further sub-categorised as Bushland, Wetland, Escarpment, Watercourse or Foreshore.

• Natural Area – Bushland: Section 36J of the Local Government Act 1993

  “(a)  to ensure the ongoing ecological viability of the land by protecting the ecological biodiversity and habitat values of the land, the flora and fauna (including invertebrates, fungi and micro-organisms) of the land and other ecological values of the land, and

  (b)  to protect the aesthetic, heritage, recreational, educational and scientific values of the land, and

  (c)  to promote the management of the land in a manner that protects and enhances the values and quality of the land and facilitates public enjoyment of the land, and to implement measures directed to minimising or mitigating any disturbance caused by human intrusion, and

  (d)  to restore degraded bushland, and

  (e)  to protect existing landforms such as natural drainage lines, watercourses and foreshores, and

  (f)  to retain bushland in parcels of a size and configuration that will enable the existing plant and animal communities to survive in the long term, and

  (g)  to protect bushland as a natural stabiliser of the soil surface.”

  Section 107 of the Local Government (General) Regulation 2021 provides additional guidance to Council for ‘Natural Area – Bushland’ sub-categorisation of community land.

• Area of Cultural Significance: Section 36H of the Local Government Act 1993

“(1)  The core objectives for management of community land categorised as an area of cultural significance are to retain and enhance the cultural significance of the area (namely its Aboriginal, aesthetic, archaeological, historical, technical or research or social significance) for past, present or future generations by the active use of conservation methods.

(2)  Those conservation methods may include any or all of the following methods—

(a)  the continuous protective care and maintenance of the physical material of the land or of the context and setting of the area of cultural significance,

(b)  the restoration of the land, that is, the returning of the existing physical material of the land to a known earlier state by removing accretions or by reassembling existing components without the introduction of new material,

(c)  the reconstruction of the land, that is, the returning of the land as nearly as possible to a known earlier state,

(d)  the adaptive reuse of the land, that is, the enhancement or reinforcement of the cultural significance of the land by the introduction of sympathetic alterations or additions to allow compatible uses (that is, uses that involve no changes to the cultural significance of the physical material of the area, or uses that involve changes that are substantially reversible or changes that require a minimum impact),

(e)  the preservation of the land, that is, the maintenance of the physical material of the land in its existing state and the retardation of deterioration of the land.

(3)  A reference in subsection (2) to land includes a reference to any buildings erected on the land.”

Section 105 of the Local Government (General) Regulation 2021 provides additional guidance to Council for ‘Area of Cultural Significance’ categorisation of community land.

A Public Exhibition is required for a draft Plan of Management in accordance with Section 38 of the Local Government Act 1993. Council must provide public notice of the draft plan. The draft plan must be exhibited for not less than 28 days plus a further 14 days to receive submissions (42 days in total).

The community can provide Council with their feedback, opinions and views on the draft Plan of Management by way of written submission during the Public Exhibition period. Council must review, consider and respond to all submissions received, and in some instances (where appropriate) amend the draft Plan of Management prior to report to Council for adoption. If substantive changes are required to the draft Plan of Management, the document will need to be referred to the Minister/NSW Crown Lands again for review and re-approval prior to being reported to Council for adoption.

A Public Hearing is required under Section 40A of the Local Government Act 1993 if the proposed Plan of Management is either categorising (that is, the Plan has not been previously been prepared and adopted by Council, or has not categorised community land), or re-categorising (changing the adopted category) the public land covered by a Plan of Management. Section 47G of the Local Government Act 1993 specifies a public hearing must be conducted by an independent person that is not a Councillor or Council employee currently or previously within the last five years.

The community can provide their feedback, opinions and views on the land categorisations contained within the proposed land categorisations by way of written submission or verbally during the public hearing. Council must review, consider and respond to submissions and recommendations of the Public Hearing Report, and in some instances amend the draft Plan of Management/land categorisations prior to report to Council for adoption.