Most of Sutherland Shire's 151 playgrounds can’t be made inclusive without state government funding or cuts to other council services.
The councils says it can only afford to incorporate the design principles into regional size playgrounds, and not district or neighbourhood facilities.
In July this year, Planning and Infrastructure Minister Anthony Roberts released a draft guideline, Everyone Can Play: Let’s create inclusive playspaces for community comment.
“Playspaces exist at the heart of our neighbourhoods and should cater for everyone – young and old, families and carers, and people of all abilities,” the blueprint states.
“Inclusive playspaces are easy to access, easy to move around in, provide a range of play types and challenges, and are equipped with appropriate amenities, in a comfortable environment.
“Inclusive playspaces allow everyone to stay as long as they choose.”
Sutherland Shire Council decided at its October meeting to write to the government, expressing support for the principles while requesting “a significant financial contribution so that council can adopt, implement and maintain play spaces into the future”.
A staff report said the council was committed to improving accessibility within play spaces but its present Long Term Financial Plan model did not provide capacity to make significant improvements to its large number of playgrounds.
“It is suggested that if the NSW Government views this as an important service enhancement, then funds should be made available from the government to ensure it happens within a reasonable timeframe,” the report said.
“Unfortunately any capital assistance on this initiative will not support the subsequent increase in operating and maintenance costs associated with an enhanced service offering.
“In the absence of increased funding from the NSW Government, council will need to engage with its community to determine where service trade-offs could be identified to pay for this initiative.
“The initiative is considered worthwhile but council’s current service levels and financial capacity leads to a question whether it can be applied broadly.”
