By REBECCA BILLS
YARRA Ranges Council met with students from Mount Dandenong Primary School to consult and brainstorm ideas for the new Kalorama play space.
In February, over 70 residents attended a community meeting to discuss the Kalorama Reserve play space and improvements that need to be made to the site.
Chandler Ward Councillor Jason Callanan said council staff had been involved in a four-week consultation process to discuss the project – this including consultation with the primary school students.
Director Environment and Engineering Mark Varmalis said consultation with children was an important part of the process to ensure the play space met the needs and aspirations of the age group that would be using it.
“The new play space will provide a place for children and families to explore, be challenged, learn, socialise and have fun,” he said.
“The students were asked to provide their ideas for the types of experiences they would like to see in a new play space.”
Mr Varmalis said council often undertook consultation when developing playgrounds and a master plan for Kalorama Reserve was developed following consultation with user groups and the wider community.
“The plan provides a list of improvements for the reserve including a new playground – council has now allocated funding to the new play space,” he said.
“A site assessment and consultation process is currently underway with the community and interest groups to help guide the final play space design.”
