Cringila Hills Recreation Park secures NSW regional Park of the Year award

Parks and Leisure Australia’s regional awards of excellence for NSW/ACT has seen Wollongong’s Cringila Hills Recreation named Park of the Year.

The award was announced in Albury on 18th May 2023.

The award celebrates and promotes vibrant, successful well designed and managed new or significantly revitalised parks/ open spaces by recognising and rewarding exceptional examples of best practice in terms of design and management. This includes parks and open spaces that are large, small, linear, along transport corridors, road closures, foreshore and reclaimed urban spaces.

Wollongong City Council General Manager Greg Doyle said he was so proud that this important community space has been recognised by parks and recreation experts outside the city.

Doyle shares “It wasn’t that long ago this site was underutilised and overgrown and did not live up to its full potential. Now, it’s an exciting place to be with mountain bike trails, walking trails, a fabulous playground and bike skills park and pump track.

“It’s one of our premier parks and is something for our whole community to be proud of. The delivery of this project was a vision of past and existing Council staff and Councillors. It is a legacy of Wollongong hosting the 2022 UCI Road World Championships and our recognition as a UCI Bike City.

“By hosting this event, and investing in a wide range of biking infrastructure, we’ve been able to leverage the UCI Bike City label to bring in additional grant funding from the State and Federal Governments that have allowed us to fast-track long-term projects like this one and open it sooner for the benefit of all.’’

Wollongong City Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said he was thrilled the park had received the recognition it deserved at the awards ceremony and added “Cringila is one of our most disadvantaged suburbs and those who call it home are passionate and culturally diverse. This park is a whole-of-community space – it’s for everyone whether they’re the extraordinarily proud locals, people from our broader community, or visitors.

“This is great use of an area that had been underutilised. It has been activated in a way that benefits the whole community, especially those in the southern suburbs and is opening Cringila up in a way it hasn’t been experienced before.

“It is a wonderful opportunity for those who are yet to discover the magic of this suburb to spend some time in this beautiful area.’

“The Parks and Leisure Australia Regional Awards for Excellence were presented at a ceremony in Albury. We’ll now vie for national honours at an event in Adelaide in October 2023.”

Regional/Rural Australia includes all of the towns, small cities and areas that lie beyond the major capital cities (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Darwin, Hobart and Canberra), who make a significant contribution through community initiatives which contribute to the parks and leisure industry. These projects can be playspaces, events, tourism, trails, programs, repurposing of facilities and environmental initiatives (ie. water saving, habitat development and restoration projects).

Other nominees for Park of the Year included:

• Glengala Road Pocket Park: from grey to green - Brimbank City Council

• Port Macquarie Bicentenary Foreshore Projects- Port Macquarie Hastings Council

• Sturt Park - City of Parramatta

• The Elara Riparian Parklands - Blacktown City Council

Image. Credit: Wollongong City Council