BOAT Harbour residents are doing more than usual to get the right playground for the growing number of families living in the area.

The Boat Harbour Village Collective was formed in July 2014.

It is a committee of mums on a mission to provide a quality playground with equipment that makes going to the Boat Harbour park something on every Port Stephens family’s agenda.

The seven mums have 14 kids, all under nine, between them so they know what is needed for kids in a quality playground facility.

The current playground has just three pieces of equipment, that don’t encourage play or stimulate learning.

With the influx of young, growing families moving into the area, the current facilities fail to fulfill the needs of children.

Nature-based play is great for imagination and learning, and the collective wants children to connect to the local environment through play.

Naomi Farrelly of the Boat Harbour Village Collective told News Of The Area, “We didn’t want a playground that looked like we had flicked through a catalogue, we wanted something that made the playground somewhere unique and different to the other playgrounds in the region.”

“The $66,000 worth of work which has been funded through fundraising in the community and grants through the Community Building Partnership Program 2015, and Port Stephens Council, started this week after a series of delays in getting the works organised through Council.”

“We have a fort with ropes and nature-based play equipment being installed and hope to build on the playground with a second stage of development after this stage is completed,” she said.

The Collective’s key objective is to ensure that the play space is sympathetic to the natural environment, and enhances what is already there, blends in, and provides a quality experience for children.

 

By Marian SAMPSON