Street Furniture Australia has won the Research Project Award for #BackyardExperiment at Parks and Leisure Australia’s 2017 NSW and ACT Regional Awards of Excellence.
NSW Business Development Manager Josine Denning was at the ceremony in Kiama to celebrate the fantastic work of local placemakers with awards for planning, events, parks, play and recreation spaces, technology, leadership and community programs.
“This is my first time attending the Parks and Leisure Regional Awards. We received a wonderful warm welcome from Councils, who said they were pleased to see the wider industry participating. I found it so inspiring to see the passion and the energy in the room on this big night,” she tells StreetChat.
“Our project received a lively and enthusiastic reception. It was moving to realise most present must have seen the #BackyardExperiment video and responded to our work. It was a very proud and exciting moment, and I’d like to thank everyone for their support.”
#BackyardExperiment was recognised by Parks and Leisure Australia (PLA) for its ability to draw larger crowds to Garema Place in Canberra with a simple pop-up park, captured with time-lapse technology. Over the eight-day installation, foot traffic increased by nearly 200 per cent.
Click the image to see #BackyardExperiment results.
The pop-up park is featured in the Autumn 2017 edition of the Australasian Parks and Leisure Journal (page 15), which can be found on the PLA website and reader app.
StreetChat would like to congratulate the nominees and winners of the 2017 awards:
Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council received NSW and ACT Park of the Year for Queen Elizabeth II Park, which links the riverbank to the CBD with splash ‘n play elements.
Aerial view of Queen Elizabeth II Park (Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council)
Centennial Parklands won the Best Use of Technology Award for its on-demand information services including website experiences, an online booking system, digital touchscreen kiosk at Fearnley Grounds, a nature and wildlife self-guided tour app and history tour app.
The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, in partnership with Kaldor Public Art Projects, won Event of the Year for Kaldor Public Art Project Number 32: barrangal dyara (skin and bones) presented by Jonathan Jones to commemorate the garden’s 200th birthday.
Best Community Program of the Year was awarded to the Community Greening program, a 17 year-long community project facilitated by the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan and the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden Mount Tomah.
See our StreetChat profile with Centennial Parklands and Botanic Gardens CEO Kim Ellis. Congratulations to Kim and the team!
The Centennial Parklands team celebrate (PLA)
Kaldor Public Art Project Number 32: barrangal dyara (skin and bones) by Jonathan Jones
Fiona Robbé Landscape Architects won the Playspace Award (<$0.5m) for the Halvorsen Park Playground.
Blacktown City Council received the Playspace Award (>$0.5m) for its Reserve 871, The Ponds playground development.
National Parks and Wildlife Service NSW won Leisure Facility of the Year with its Grand Canyon Track Restoration Project, which restored a trail first constructed in 1907.
Ku-ring-gai Council’s Activate program, for the urban renewal and transformation of its local town centres, won the Leisure and Open Space Planning Award.
Halvorsen Park Playground (Synthetic Grass & Rubber Surfaces Australia)
Grand Canyon Track (NPWS)
Forbes Lane artist impression (Turramurra Community Hub Draft Masterplan, Activate Ku-ring-gai)
