Ready to start: builders primed for Newcastle's biggest playground

The Advertiser

01-07-2025

The City of Newcastle is ready to start building the "centrepiece" of its Harbour Foreshore Masterplan - a large-scale accessible play space and water play area at Foreshore Park.
When completed, it will represent the largest amount of money the council has spent on play facilities in the city and eclipses other projects at South Stockton, Wallsend Active Hub and Gregson Park by millions.
A council spokesman said, weather permitting, site establishment works and fencing would begin in the park this week.
Regal Innovations has designed the playground and will lead its build after winning the tender in March. Construction is expected to be finished by late summer 2026, the council said.
The cost of the playground, estimated in March at close to $24 million, has more than quadrupled since the concept was first unveiled. It more than doubled in 18 months in 2022 from $5.5 million to $12 million, and then doubled again in figures reported by the Newcastle Herald in March this year.
Details in the confidential item to councillors said the $19.8 million project included the proposed contract amount and allowances for project management, engineering, architecture, and contingency.
The $19.8 million does not include the amenities building, which GIPA documents show was estimated to cost $2.2 million in 2022. A tender for the amenities building was awarded at $4.1 million.
The $12.7 million estimate given for the Resources for Regions Fund grant originally included the amenities block.
The Newcastle East Residents Group has, meanwhile, raised concerns about the ballooning costs of the facility. Its spokeswoman Christine Everingham, who looks after the nearby community garden and stood on lord mayor Ross Kerridge's election ticket, told the Herald in March that she was "astonished" at the price hike.
The playground's plans include four separate zones, with dedicated space for juniors and toddlers, as well as water and nature-based play areas, quiet spaces, bespoke playground equipment and a central whale-themed swing set and picnic area paying tribute to the city's Worimi and Awabakal heritage.
An accessible slide, sandpit, carousel and sensory pathway are among the other key features of the designs.
The water-play area will be linked to Newcastle's maritime history and coastal ecologies, while an elevated "nuts and bolts" play structure will symbolise Newcastle's strong industrial ties and include an accessible ramp to the first level of the tower, the council said this week.
City of Newcastle said feedback on the designs was received from the Guraki Aboriginal Standing Committee, an accessibility working group established by City of Newcastle for the project, and the Touched by Olivia Foundation, a charity dedicated to the creation of inclusive play spaces across Australia, and in whose name the Foreshore Park project has been dubbed "Livvi's Place".
The charity's website says the Livvi's Place playgrounds that have opened around Australia have "shone a light on the importance of play, as not only a fundamental building block in a child's development, but as a medium by which people of all ages can connect".
Justine Perkins, the charity's founder and mother of Olivia, who died at eight months old in 2006 of lymphatic malformation, said the Newcastle project was "truly inclusive".
"This Livvi's Place design is truly inclusive and intergenerational and has a wonderful connection to place," she said.
"This play space is a testament to their understanding that we all want to and need to get outdoors and play together, with others, in our community to ensure we live happier, healthier lives."
The council's community and recreation boss, Lynn Duffy, said the inclusive play areas represented the flagship undertaking of the Foreshore Park upgrade.
She said it would offer "valuable opportunities for intergenerational community building, positively supporting the physical and mental wellbeing of residents and visitors".
Building is due to start this week on the western end of Foreshore Park. That will add to a fully accessible amenities building and kiosk already under construction. The block will include unisex ambulant toilets, a parent's change room, and a Changing Places facility, the council said.
The City of Newcastle is ready to start building the "centrepiece" of its Harbour Foreshore Masterplan - a large-scale accessible play space and water play area at Foreshore Park.
When completed, it will represent the largest amount of money the council has spent on play facilities in the city and eclipses other projects at South Stockton, Wallsend Active Hub and Gregson Park by millions.
A council spokesman said, weather permitting, site establishment works and fencing would begin in the park this week.
Regal Innovations has designed the playground and will lead its build after winning the tender in March. Construction is expected to be finished by late summer 2026, the council said.
The cost of the playground, estimated in March at close to $24 million, has more than quadrupled since the concept was first unveiled. It more than doubled in 18 months in 2022 from $5.5 million to $12 million, and then doubled again in figures reported by the Newcastle Herald in March this year.
Details in the confidential item to councillors said the $19.8 million project included the proposed contract amount and allowances for project management, engineering, architecture, and contingency.
The $19.8 million does not include the amenities building, which GIPA documents show was estimated to cost $2.2 million in 2022. A tender for the amenities building was awarded at $4.1 million.
The $12.7 million estimate given for the Resources for Regions Fund grant originally included the amenities block.
The Newcastle East Residents Group has, meanwhile, raised concerns about the ballooning costs of the facility. Its spokeswoman Christine Everingham, who looks after the nearby community garden and stood on lord mayor Ross Kerridge's election ticket, told the Herald in March that she was "astonished" at the price hike.
The playground's plans include four separate zones, with dedicated space for juniors and toddlers, as well as water and nature-based play areas, quiet spaces, bespoke playground equipment and a central whale-themed swing set and picnic area paying tribute to the city's Worimi and Awabakal heritage.
An accessible slide, sandpit, carousel and sensory pathway are among the other key features of the designs.
The water-play area will be linked to Newcastle's maritime history and coastal ecologies, while an elevated "nuts and bolts" play structure will symbolise Newcastle's strong industrial ties and include an accessible ramp to the first level of the tower, the council said this week.
City of Newcastle said feedback on the designs was received from the Guraki Aboriginal Standing Committee, an accessibility working group established by City of Newcastle for the project, and the Touched by Olivia Foundation, a charity dedicated to the creation of inclusive play spaces across Australia, and in whose name the Foreshore Park project has been dubbed "Livvi's Place".
The charity's website says the Livvi's Place playgrounds that have opened around Australia have "shone a light on the importance of play, as not only a fundamental building block in a child's development, but as a medium by which people of all ages can connect".
Justine Perkins, the charity's founder and mother of Olivia, who died at eight months old in 2006 of lymphatic malformation, said the Newcastle project was "truly inclusive".
"This Livvi's Place design is truly inclusive and intergenerational and has a wonderful connection to place," she said.
"This play space is a testament to their understanding that we all want to and need to get outdoors and play together, with others, in our community to ensure we live happier, healthier lives."
The council's community and recreation boss, Lynn Duffy, said the inclusive play areas represented the flagship undertaking of the Foreshore Park upgrade.
She said it would offer "valuable opportunities for intergenerational community building, positively supporting the physical and mental wellbeing of residents and visitors".
Building is due to start this week on the western end of Foreshore Park. That will add to a fully accessible amenities building and kiosk already under construction. The block will include unisex ambulant toilets, a parent's change room, and a Changing Places facility, the council said.
The City of Newcastle is ready to start building the "centrepiece" of its Harbour Foreshore Masterplan - a large-scale accessible play space and water play area at Foreshore Park.
When completed, it will represent the largest amount of money the council has spent on play facilities in the city and eclipses other projects at South Stockton, Wallsend Active Hub and Gregson Park by millions.
A council spokesman said, weather permitting, site establishment works and fencing would begin in the park this week.
Regal Innovations has designed the playground and will lead its build after winning the tender in March. Construction is expected to be finished by late summer 2026, the council said.
The cost of the playground, estimated in March at close to $24 million, has more than quadrupled since the concept was first unveiled. It more than doubled in 18 months in 2022 from $5.5 million to $12 million, and then doubled again in figures reported by the Newcastle Herald in March this year.
Details in the confidential item to councillors said the $19.8 million project included the proposed contract amount and allowances for project management, engineering, architecture, and contingency.
The $19.8 million does not include the amenities building, which GIPA documents show was estimated to cost $2.2 million in 2022. A tender for the amenities building was awarded at $4.1 million.
The $12.7 million estimate given for the Resources for Regions Fund grant originally included the amenities block.
The Newcastle East Residents Group has, meanwhile, raised concerns about the ballooning costs of the facility. Its spokeswoman Christine Everingham, who looks after the nearby community garden and stood on lord mayor Ross Kerridge's election ticket, told the Herald in March that she was "astonished" at the price hike.
The playground's plans include four separate zones, with dedicated space for juniors and toddlers, as well as water and nature-based play areas, quiet spaces, bespoke playground equipment and a central whale-themed swing set and picnic area paying tribute to the city's Worimi and Awabakal heritage.
An accessible slide, sandpit, carousel and sensory pathway are among the other key features of the designs.
The water-play area will be linked to Newcastle's maritime history and coastal ecologies, while an elevated "nuts and bolts" play structure will symbolise Newcastle's strong industrial ties and include an accessible ramp to the first level of the tower, the council said this week.
City of Newcastle said feedback on the designs was received from the Guraki Aboriginal Standing Committee, an accessibility working group established by City of Newcastle for the project, and the Touched by Olivia Foundation, a charity dedicated to the creation of inclusive play spaces across Australia, and in whose name the Foreshore Park project has been dubbed "Livvi's Place".
The charity's website says the Livvi's Place playgrounds that have opened around Australia have "shone a light on the importance of play, as not only a fundamental building block in a child's development, but as a medium by which people of all ages can connect".
Justine Perkins, the charity's founder and mother of Olivia, who died at eight months old in 2006 of lymphatic malformation, said the Newcastle project was "truly inclusive".
"This Livvi's Place design is truly inclusive and intergenerational and has a wonderful connection to place," she said.
"This play space is a testament to their understanding that we all want to and need to get outdoors and play together, with others, in our community to ensure we live happier, healthier lives."
The council's community and recreation boss, Lynn Duffy, said the inclusive play areas represented the flagship undertaking of the Foreshore Park upgrade.
She said it would offer "valuable opportunities for intergenerational community building, positively supporting the physical and mental wellbeing of residents and visitors".
Building is due to start this week on the western end of Foreshore Park. That will add to a fully accessible amenities building and kiosk already under construction. The block will include unisex ambulant toilets, a parent's change room, and a Changing Places facility, the council said.
The City of Newcastle is ready to start building the "centrepiece" of its Harbour Foreshore Masterplan - a large-scale accessible play space and water play area at Foreshore Park.
When completed, it will represent the largest amount of money the council has spent on play facilities in the city and eclipses other projects at South Stockton, Wallsend Active Hub and Gregson Park by millions.
A council spokesman said, weather permitting, site establishment works and fencing would begin in the park this week.
Regal Innovations has designed the playground and will lead its build after winning the tender in March. Construction is expected to be finished by late summer 2026, the council said.
The cost of the playground, estimated in March at close to $24 million, has more than quadrupled since the concept was first unveiled. It more than doubled in 18 months in 2022 from $5.5 million to $12 million, and then doubled again in figures reported by the Newcastle Herald in March this year.
Details in the confidential item to councillors said the $19.8 million project included the proposed contract amount and allowances for project management, engineering, architecture, and contingency.
The $19.8 million does not include the amenities building, which GIPA documents show was estimated to cost $2.2 million in 2022. A tender for the amenities building was awarded at $4.1 million.
The $12.7 million estimate given for the Resources for Regions Fund grant originally included the amenities block.
The Newcastle East Residents Group has, meanwhile, raised concerns about the ballooning costs of the facility. Its spokeswoman Christine Everingham, who looks after the nearby community garden and stood on lord mayor Ross Kerridge's election ticket, told the Herald in March that she was "astonished" at the price hike.
The playground's plans include four separate zones, with dedicated space for juniors and toddlers, as well as water and nature-based play areas, quiet spaces, bespoke playground equipment and a central whale-themed swing set and picnic area paying tribute to the city's Worimi and Awabakal heritage.
An accessible slide, sandpit, carousel and sensory pathway are among the other key features of the designs.
The water-play area will be linked to Newcastle's maritime history and coastal ecologies, while an elevated "nuts and bolts" play structure will symbolise Newcastle's strong industrial ties and include an accessible ramp to the first level of the tower, the council said this week.
City of Newcastle said feedback on the designs was received from the Guraki Aboriginal Standing Committee, an accessibility working group established by City of Newcastle for the project, and the Touched by Olivia Foundation, a charity dedicated to the creation of inclusive play spaces across Australia, and in whose name the Foreshore Park project has been dubbed "Livvi's Place".
The charity's website says the Livvi's Place playgrounds that have opened around Australia have "shone a light on the importance of play, as not only a fundamental building block in a child's development, but as a medium by which people of all ages can connect".
Justine Perkins, the charity's founder and mother of Olivia, who died at eight months old in 2006 of lymphatic malformation, said the Newcastle project was "truly inclusive".
"This Livvi's Place design is truly inclusive and intergenerational and has a wonderful connection to place," she said.
"This play space is a testament to their understanding that we all want to and need to get outdoors and play together, with others, in our community to ensure we live happier, healthier lives."
The council's community and recreation boss, Lynn Duffy, said the inclusive play areas represented the flagship undertaking of the Foreshore Park upgrade.
She said it would offer "valuable opportunities for intergenerational community building, positively supporting the physical and mental wellbeing of residents and visitors".
Building is due to start this week on the western end of Foreshore Park. That will add to a fully accessible amenities building and kiosk already under construction. The block will include unisex ambulant toilets, a parent's change room, and a Changing Places facility, the council said.