News

What you told us about the draft Bayside Open Space Strategy

7 October 2025

Between 24 July – 31 August, 2025, we presented the draft BOSS and engaged with the community to understand community sentiment about the draft strategy, and to gather feedback and ideas to help identify gaps, and opportunities for improvement, and growth (including did it align to the three strategy pillars: Protect, Optimise and Grow; and are Bayside’s open space resources being used optimally.

More than 3,200 community members visited the Have Your Say project webpage, and we received 905 contributions from 495 individuals.

Feedback gathered through the consultation included:

  • 374 online survey contributions
  • 515 submissions to the online social map
  • More than 120 participants provided feedback at face-to-face engagement sessions
  • 3 questions posted on the HYS question and answer forum
  • 9 written statements

Key findings – online survey

  • Use of open space: 91% visit Bayside’s parks several times a week or daily
  • Access challenges: 35% reported barriers to accessing suitable open space, mostly related to location and connectivity
  • Need for more open space: 68% believe their neighbourhood needs more parks/open space
  • Strong support for:
    • Purchasing/acquiring land for new parks (79%)
    • Expanding existing parks (67%)
    • Partnering with schools/landowners for access (59%)
    • Treed parkland (54%)
    • Coastal nature (44%)
    • Water-sensitive landscapes (40%)
  • Desired types of open space o native bushland (55%)
  • Investment priorities
  • Developer contributions: 73% want large-scale developments to contribute more than the current 5% rate

Key findings – social map

Participants mapped their favourite open spaces in Bayside, shared what they value most about these places, why they visited, how accessible they were, and offered ideas for improvement, upgrades or new uses. The themes identified to guide priorities for future investment and enhancement included:

  • Land Acquisition and New Parks
  • Partnerships and Shared Use
  • Recreation and Community Facilities
  • Sport and Emerging Recreation
  • Conservation and Environmental Improvements
  • Accessibility and Connectivity

Overall Community Values

Analysis of all consultation findings during the consultation (including online surveys, face-to-face sessions and written submissions), identified the following common community values for open space:

  • Equity and fairness
  • Access and inclusion
  • Transparency and accountability
  • Environmental stewardship
  • Cultural identity and heritage
  • Health and wellbeing
  • Connection to nature
  • Community connection and belonging
  • Resilience and adaptability
  • Respect for local character

Find out more

Read the complete report on community engagement.

Next steps

Council is considering the strategy for adoption at its 14 October 2025 meeting.

Council meeting 6.30pm, Tuesday 14 October 2025

Read the agenda

Ask a question

Request to be heard

Watch the meeting