By Margaret Maccoll
Noosa Council infrastructure services were excited when they were handed a brief to create a Hinterland Adventure Playground that was iconic, nature based and all abilities, Council’s Paul Brennan told guests at Noosa Parks Association Friday Forum last week.
We were told it should encourage, engagement with the environment, communicate with the environment and attract visitors to the region, he said.
“It’s been a challenging project,” he said of the $5.2 million Cooroy playground that is behind schedule and should already be under construction.
Mr Brennan said the idea for a hinterland playground was first mooted in 2003, three years after Cooroy’s timber mill was decommissioned and the site handed to council.
He said the benefits of a nature-based playground had been widely researched and included physical, emotional and social health.
“With some risk kids learn resilience,” he said. “It encourages environmental awareness and stops people fearing the outdoors.
“In the 90s playgrounds were made as safe as possible. Now we’ve learnt they were too safe. There has to be an element of risk taking,” he said.
“For working families with modern housing and no backyards these places are important for play and to bring families together.”
In 2010 the area along the creek was revegetated and in 2017 a buffer of trees planted along the road.
Soil on the former industrial site was sent to Germany for testing for contaminants.
Mr Brennan said the area had been decontaminated but soil in a couple of areas of the parkland that contained small traces of contaminants would be completely removed to ensure safety.
In 2018 the design team came up with some ideas and engaged a landscape architect. The concept plan and 3D images were created.
The 0.7hectare site is considered small for the type of playground which will contain a number of elements including a green space, picnic shelters and a mounded toilet block.
Car parking requirements have already come under fire with Cooroy at capacity for car parking.
Mr Brennan said extra car parks would be built along Maple Street then Council will monitor the situation for 12-18 months.
“It’s a dynamic space. We have money set aside to fix elements that may not be working properly,” he said.
Noosa Council has allocated $1 million in the 2020-21 Budget which is included in its $27 million Capital Works budget to progress the playground, she said. The State Government has committed $2.8 million to the project.
