News

Council to consider the 20 Wangara Road Masterplan

16 July 2024

Thank you to everyone who participated in our second phase community engagement on the 20 Wangara Road draft Masterplan.

Between 1 - 26 May 2024, we received 152 contributions from 144 participants about their views on the draft Wangara Road Masterplan:

  • Have Your Say online consultation survey respondents (139)
  • Written statements uploaded to the Have Your Say platform (6)
  • Direct email submission to Council Officers (4)
  • Emails/ submissions received were out of the project scope (3)

    Key findings

    The most popular ideas for enjoying the passive open space:

    Secure off-leash dog area

    Popular secure off-leash dog area elements included:

    • Dog poo bags and bins (89%)
    • Water bowls (81%)
    • Double entry gates (68%)

    Some contributors thought the secure dog area was too small and/or there should be separate areas for different dog sizes/ breeds. Other contributors thought that dogs should be prohibited from the site, or on-leash only, to protect flora and fauna.

    Indigenous vegetation

    All or a combination of the suggested indigenous vegetation planting elements was most popular (79%). Additional suggestions included:

    • An increase to canopy trees
    • Mid and understory planting for wildlife shelter
    • Damp areas for indigenous ephemeral soak plants

    Biodiversity

    Contributors supported all ideas to improve the site’s biodiversity. Logs/ shelter (including tree retainment) and water for wildlife were the most popular (both 81%). Other ideas to improve biodiversity included:

    • Wildlife dedicated areas and protection from cats/ foxes
    • A pollinator corridor
    • Site remediation
    • More indigenous planting
    • Creating a Friends of group for the site

    Some contributors did think the plan was not focused enough on habitat protection (particularly for the Bronzewing Pigeon) and requested a flora and fauna study.

    Pathways

    To make the site’s paths more inclusive for visitors, nature trails (71%) and separate paths for walk/cycling (53%) were most popular. Shared paths were not generally preferred (21%).

    Path surface preferences were granitic sand paths (75%) and timber boardwalks (44%).

    Accessibility

    Other ideas for making the site more inclusive for visitors included:

    • Lighting
    • Wheelchair access to all areas
    • No shared paths
    • Restricted access to wildlife breeding areas

    ​Improvements to the Masterplan

    Some community members preferred the plan to incorporate additional child/ adolescent elements, indigenous representation, a café and organised sport and recreation facilities (including mountain biking and pickleball).

    Recreation - next steps

    Feedback gathered from both phases of consultation reflected an appetite for more active and informal recreation opportunities across Bayside. Council is aware of this and is taking steps to investigate and address this further by completing two key pieces of strategic work.

    1. Review of the Open Space Strategy (currently underway). This long-term planning document will enable Council to make decisions about how open space is used, developed and managed across the municipality over the long term. By understanding the current open space uses, opportunities and challenges, it will better inform the second piece of strategic work.
    2. The Bayside Recreation Strategy. This strategy will investigate where various recreational activities are positioned across the municipality (including recreational facilities) in order to plan and prioritise growth into the future for both formal and informal active recreation.

    Data is already being collected by officers to help inform this strategy. Subject to consultation/funding, further steps will be taken to identify specific opportunities for Bayside as a whole municipality when it comes to informal/active recreation and activating new and existing spaces.

      ​Next steps

      Council will consider the adoption of the Wangara Road Masterplan at its meeting on 23 July 2024.

      Council meeting 6.30pm, 23 July 2024