Yeppoon All Abilities Playground

Site background

Yeppoon's All Abilities Playground is planned for Appleton Park, which is located within 100 metres of the beach, nearby Yeppoon's popular foreshore.

The playground site forms part of a broader redevelopment concept plan proposed for the foreshore area. The redevelopment focuses heavily on the provision of open space, recreational opportunities and linkages to existing facilities, such as the skate park.

With no playground specially-designed for children with a disability currently in the Capricorn Coast area, the project attracted tremendous support from local residents. A 200-strong petition supporting council's Expression of Interest submission to create an all abilities playground in Yeppoon is testament to this widespread support.

Planning and design

Consultants from The Play Works were engaged to assist council to understand the needs of the local community, as well as to identify any barriers currently preventing the enjoyment of public parks.

To kick things off, a series of group and one-to-one meetings were held in October 2008, to develop a clear picture of the needs and aspirations of different playground users. Among those consulted were health practitioners, kindergarten and early learning centre staff, police, aged care specialists and disability sector personnel.

A wide range of other community engagement activities were also held as part of the planning phase. These included:

• a take-home questionnaire for community stakeholders
• school-based workshops, involving 10 students from North Rockhampton Special School and 120 students from Yeppoon Primary School
• a series of visioning workshops for community groups, service providers, children, parents, carers, teachers and the general public, plus a dedicated family visioning workshop
• displays, surveys and creative exercises, such as painting and sticky dot activities, at various community events, including The Village Festival and local Disability Action Week festivities.

Information gathered from the planning phase of the project is intended to inform the development of a concept design. This design will then be further developed in consultation with the local community.

For more information, contact Rockhampton Regional Council.

A colourful banner created by local children to promote the community project during Yeppoon's annual The Village Festival