We’ve made landscaping improvements to The Centre at Forestville shopping precinct.

Following community consultation in late 2020, landscape works have been prioritised to refresh the public space at Forestville shops.

The revitalised space opened earlier this month and The Centre now boasts new garden beds with integrated modular seating and synthetic turf which will give the community a green vibrant space to enjoy all year round.

The memorial also received an upgrade with removal of old brick work and new granite tiles and pavers were laid.

Electrical works were made for future lighting upgrades and community events. We've retained the existing pavers around The Centre for consistency throughout the precinct.

Some minor repairs to the concrete and pavers will be made in January by contractors to improve aesthetics and pedestrian safety.

We hope you enjoy the revitalised shopping precinct.

Click through the images to see our landscaping improvement works in progress.

Background

Following community consultation in late 2020, landscape works have been prioritised to refresh the public space at Forestville shops.

Based on feedback received during the consultation, The Square will have a new look with the following improvements and modifications:

• changes to garden bed shapes, sizes and planting - garden bed walls will be of concrete with integrated seating
• the removal of some of the garden beds to open up the space and incorporate modular bench seating units to bring it in line with future stages
• removal of the brick work around the memorial, and repair works to the memorial with new granite tiles and pavers
• synthetic turf which will give The Square a green vibrant space to be enjoyed all year round
• electrical works for future lighting upgrades and events
• retention of the existing paving units for consistency throughout the precinct which will be re-laid after installation of the new lighting infrastructure.

An upgraded amenities block is now complete and ready for use.

As part of our Placescore survey completed in 2018, we asked residents across the Northern Beaches how we could improve our local centres.

The results of the survey showed that the top two priorities of our Forestville community were enhancement of the natural environment and maintenance of public spaces and street furniture in and around The Centre, Forestville.

The community engagement between 23 October and 23 November 2020 revealed that the majority of respondents were supportive of the proposed landscaping improvements to The Centre at Forestville, although many requested slight modifications or additions to the design.

A key issue raised in the comments related to the width and length of the proposed garden beds restricting the outdoor dining space, which some believed may negatively impact restaurants and cafes.

The full proposal exhibited in 2020 can be viewed below.