AusLeisure

Parks and recreation body Parks and Leisure Australia has welcomed today’s report from Infrastructure Australia on the need for the Federal Government to take a greater leadership role in securing the global competitiveness of the nation’s major cities.

Parks and Leisure Australia (PLA) particularly welcomed Infrastructure Australia’s identification of the importance of green space and public space to cities and its emphasis on the need to protect and enhance this critical infrastructure.

Finding 8 in today’s report recommends: “As our cities grow, Australian governments should focus on maintaining and enhancing green infrastructure and the public realm to ensure they remain liveable.”

The report is based on detailed research and the development of scenarios for dealing with the growth of our cities. The report recommends that the Commonwealth Government establish a framework of incentives to improve the productivity, liveability and affordability of our largest cities.

PLA President, Martin Lambert says the industry strongly supports the need for leadership in this area, advising “Parks and Leisure Australia represents an industry of over 300,000 professionals whose purpose is to plan and deliver this infrastructure. In our view there is no greater priority than the provision of Urban Health Infrastructure- the parks, places and spaces that keep communities healthy, integrated and socially engaged. Green space and public spaces also contribute to local economies and are the fabric that make higher density areas great places to live.

“We believe that the growing populations in our cities need leadership at national and state levels to ensure we not only protect and enhance green space but we understand the need to supply more land.

“Many cities are struggling to meet the rising demand for green spaces and outdoor places for recreation, sport and exercise and the increasing densities of our cities means we have to accept that more land for parks and green space will be needed”.

PLA commends IA for recommending the proposed incentives:

• National Partnership and Project Agreements which make project funding contingent on meeting specified outcomes across the project lifecycle and demonstrated economic benefit.
• City Deals which apply a series of locally and nationally informed objectives to a city or part of a city, and make infrastructure payments for the area contingent on meeting those objectives.
• Infrastructure Reform Incentives which would provide additional infrastructure funding above existing allocation in return for the delivery of policy and regulatory reform focused on improving the productivity, liveability and affordability of Australian cities.

In 2016, PLA released their ‘10 Great Ideas for an Active Australia’ to create more discussion around the planning of cities and the role that parks and open space play as essential infrastructure to support growth.

Lambert concluded “we are very pleased that IA has not only identified how important the supply of greens space and public space is for cities but has highlighted the need for both policy leadership and hard investment.

“Parks and Leisure Australia will work with all levels of government to encourage the implementation of a more considered approach to ensuring our cities plan properly for this vital infrastructure.” 

Images: Children enjoying playing in the park (top), Buderim Village Park (middle) and PLA President Martin Lambert (below).

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27th July 2012 - REPORT HIGHLIGHTS GROWING IMPORTANCE OF URBAN GREEN SPACE ​

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27th June 2008 - PARKS FORUM HIGHLIGHTS VALUE OF PARKS

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