Central Park playground

Child in pink coat playing on an accessible swing

In 2023 we will be building a new accessible playground at Central Park in Malvern East.

The new playground will be an inclusive, accessible play space for children, youth and adults of all abilities and be located about 100 metres south of the existing playground, which is also being upgraded.

The new play space will have many accessible play elements including swings, a cubby, water misters, trampoline and play table.

A mix of soft and hard surfaces will add interest and custom play and furniture items will make this a unique and attractive place to visit.

This exciting project will expand the play space at Central Park. We look forward to delivering a new play experience all the community can enjoy.

Project overview

Project status: Complete
Project type: Playground construction and upgrade
Scope of works:
 

Prepare playground site

Install new accessible play equipment

Build new accessible toilet facility

Construct new pathways

Install new park furniture

Tree planting

Construct garden beds

Planting

Upgrade existing playground

Latest news

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4 March 2024 - Opening Celebration | All Welcome!

Come to Central Park for a morning of family fun as we celebrate the opening of Stonnington’s new favourite playground!

Since opening in late-2023, the Central Park all abilities playground has been delighting everyone with its fun and interactive play experiences.

We’ve now added the final touches and want to celebrate the complete play space with you.

Join us for the official opening celebration!

 When 10am
Saturday 16 March 2024
 
 Where Central Park all abilities playground
Kingston Street, Malvern East
 

Bring the kids – explore – be delighted – giveaways – ice creams – family fun!

ALL WELCOME! 


February 2024 - temporary closure

The new playground at Central Park will close for up to three weeks from Monday 19 February to accommodate installation of the new accessible toilet facility and for finishing touches to the playground – putting shade structures over the mound slide, path repairs near the water misters and other minor works.

All going to plan, the playground will reopen on Friday 8 March - in time for the long weekend.

We are delighted to see how popular the new play space has been since opening and will do everything we can to reopen the playground as quickly as possible.

We are also planning to celebrate the new play space at an official opening and will provide further details when a date has been confirmed.


January 2024 - final works

Since we opened the playground just before Christmas, we have been delighted to see how popular the new play space has been for families.

With school going back, we are going to use this time to complete some outstanding works to put the finishing touches on the space. These include:

  • installation of new accessible public toilet
  • shade structures over the mound slide
  • additonal path works around the misters to improve drainage
  • other minor works

We expect these works to be complete by March. Please note, the play space will close for up to two weeks when the toilet facilities and other works are underway. We will provide advance notice of works signage on site when dates are confirmed.


December 2023 - play space opening before Christmas!

The City of Stonnington’s newest all abilities play space is nearing completion and will open just in time for the holidays.

Please come and explore the new play space to try out the trampoline, mound slide, swings, carousel and sand play area. Keep an eye out for magical creatures hiding in the discovery nodes, in the trees and along the new paths, and cool off under the water misters.

There’s plenty of family-friendly features too including a drinking fountain, park furniture and lots of natural shade from the established trees.

A new public toilet is also on the way, and we expect that it will be ready to open by mid-February 2024. We apologise for the delay and thank you for your patience.

In the meantime, there is an existing public toilet facility in Central Park, near the corner of Wattletree and Burke roads.

We hope you enjoy the new playgrounds at Central Park.


November 2023 - project update

Work on the new Central Park all abilities playground, under construction just south of the recently completed northern playground, is progressing well and on track for a opening just before Christmas 2023.


September 2023 - northern playground opens

The northern Central Park playground fronting Kingston Street is back in action, following a two month makeover that has seen the playground upgraded and the surrounds revamped.

Read more


September 2023 - road closure to accommodate sewer works

A connection to the existing sewer line in Kingston Street will take place so that the new public toilet can be connected. This will involve the excavation of a small section of road on Kingston Street, opposite 3 Kingston Street.

The excavation will be approximately three metres deep and will require the closure of Kingston Street to through-traffic during the sewer connection works.

It is anticipated that sewer connection works will take two days to complete, notwithstanding any potential delays due to weather.

During this time, access to Kingston Street from Central Park Road will be closed during working hours.

Kingston Street residents will only be able to access their properties by entering Kinston Street from Wattletree Road.

Kingston Street will be reopened to traffic overnight with steel plates covering the excavation.

Works will start in the week commencing 18 September, most likely on Thursday 21 and Friday 22 September.

Traffic Management controllers will be in place to direct traffic.

Read more(PDF, 372KB)


June 2023 - construction notification

Construction will shortly begin on the new all-abilities playground. The new playground will be filled with accessible elements such as swings, slides, a cubby, sensory structures, a water mister and sand pit – plus family-friendly features such as a drinking fountain, park furniture, toilet facility and lots of trees and garden beds.

Read the full Construction Notification(PDF, 488KB)


April 2023 - early works

Construction of the new regional playground is scheduled to start in June, however to ensure the playground can be built quickly and with minimal impact on established trees some pre-works are planned from late-April.

A contractor will be on site from 26 April to 3 May to identify existing tree roots ahead of the playground construction works commencing.

Their investigations will require the playground to be closed from 1 to 3 May.

The works will not impact the health of the trees and all soil will be replaced to minimise the impact on park users.


Consultation

In February 2021, we embarked on a community engagement program where we asked the community, "What would you want to see in a new accessible playground at Central Park?"

What we heard helped in the development of a draft playground design that we shared in April 2021, this time asking, "Did we get the design right? Is there anything we missed?"

Community input through our engagement programs helps inform the design a fantastic new playground with inclusive play elements, new paths, seating and fencing, an accessible toilet facility plus lots of trees, garden beds and plants.

Thank you to everyone who participated throughout the engagement phase and helped inform the final design.

For more on the consultation visit our ConnectStonnington hub.