The upgraded playground at Trafalgar Park, Newport is now open. It features a small circuit path for young children to ride their bikes or scooters, a nature-play area and new play equipment.

The new expanded swing zone includes a flat swing, high-back toddler swing and the ever-popular basket swing.

The junior play area is perfect for toddlers and preschool aged children, with low level play structure, slide, shop counter for role play, noughts and crosses, and other interactive features.

Children aged 6­–10 years will enjoy the senior play area, with a larger and more challenging climbing frame, including a rock-climbing wall, ladders and monkey bars.

The area has been completely re-landscaped with sandstone terracing, new seating and picnic furniture, drinking fountain and park signage. It has also been resurfaced with a combination of rubber softfall, synthetic grass and mulch. All existing trees have been retained and protected.

Please note grass areas will be fenced off for a few weeks while the turf establishes.

Click through the images below for a closer look.

As part of the 2023/24 Capital Works Playground Renewal Program, we renewed Trafalgar Park Playground in Newport.

The playground is located amongst the established trees and open space of Trafalgar Park. The playground is well-used by school children from the neighbouring Newport Public School.

We are looking to replace the existing play equipment and upgrade the play areas with new surfacing, edging, retaining walls, seating and path connections. There will be some modification to the shape and size of play areas to cater for these improvements.

Consultation

We visited Newport Public School and spoke to Year 1 students about the playground and the upcoming renewal project. We listened to a few ideas and answered questions to help with their learning project. As part of this session, we asked which style of senior play equipment (aimed at children aged 6 to 10 years) they preferred.

We then asked the same question to the wider community. The concept plan and example pieces were exhibited between Friday 25 August and Sunday 1 October 2023. We received 54 responses - thank you to all who provided feedback.

Feedback indicated a high level of support for the proposed playground renewal, with the community highlighting that aesthetics and the environment were important considerations of the design.

Regarding the six example play pieces, responses were fairly evenly spread across Options A, B, and F. These three options accounted for 73% of community responses. Option B was a clear favourite with the Newport students, receiving 56% of votes, followed by 24% for Option F.

More information, including all verbatim comments, can be found in the Community Engagement Report.

Following our consultation with the community and our time with the Year 1 Students at Newport Public School, we further developed the concept plan for the playground renewal at Trafalgar Park.

A major change has been incorporating a small circuit path around the playground to offer the additional play element of a toddler/junior bike and scooter track, and the inclusion of nature play space adjacent to the structured play equipment.

View the revised concept below.

Senior play pieces are generally suitable for children aged 6 to 10 years old.