Parks and Leisure Australia releases 'Perth Statement' on better planning and investment in community infrastructure

Parks and Leisure Australia has released a post-conference 'Perth Statement' documenting the importance of linking parks, open spaces and facilities to the health, wellbeing and sporting performance of the nation.

Now available online, the Perth Statement outlines the vision on Parks and Leisure Australia (PLA) for Australia to be the most liveable country in the world, renowned for its parks, sport and recreation facilities that provide the foundation for healthy communities and liveable towns and cities.

With the PLA's 2019 National Conference in Perth, showcasing these issues, the organisation's Perth Statement goes further in highlighting, according to PLA President, Paul Jane, how "parks recreation and open-space are critical to our way of life.

"They drive the community passion from the local sporting club to the community environmental groups and bring us together like nothing else."

Attended by over 600 professionals from across Australia, the conference focussed on how the nation is facing many challenges to both its parks system and the health of communities as well as on the sporting field where Olympic medals and high-performance sport have been challenged as a result of a fragmented sport development framework and breakdown from the elite to grassroots provision.

The Perth Statement advises "our parks, open space and community facilities are the starting block for participation in sport as well as helping people to maintain active and healthy lifestyles through deliberate and incidental activity.

"The way our community spaces are designed is also crucial in encouraging activity, and the parks and lLeisure profession in Australia believes we can assist in combatting many challenges facing sport and our communities."

Moving forward, PLA advocates and recommends:

1. A formal recognition of local government as the largest provider of sport and social infrastructure that promotes healthy lifestyles and the development of sport.
2. Funding be directed to local sport and social infrastructure.
3. NSOs having sport facility blueprints to be developed in partnership with local and state governments
4. Development of community facilities guidelines in partnership with NSOs that consider multi-sport facilities
5. Capture of credible and quantifiable data, from the parks and leisure industry to underpin the funding and development required to build sport and social infrastructure in Australia.

Click to view Parks and Leisure Australia's 'Perth Statement'.