FAQs

Every year the City of Fremantle follows a rolling schedule to upgrade playground equipment, with the aim of replacing outdated pieces with new, similar models or upgraded designs.

The Projects & Place Team has received capital works funding in the 2025/26 budget to renew the ageing playground facilities in Plane Tree Grove, which are over 20 years old. 

Any other suggested park upgrades identified in the community consultation process such as furniture refurbishments, pathways, shelters, dog governance and lighting are not within the scope of this project and will be subject to future budgeting allocation. 

The City of Fremantle is committed to seeking community and stakeholder input to ensure the playground replacement meets the needs of the local community. City officers will be gathering community input from the MySay survey, park drop-in session and any written and online submissions that are received.

The designs presented have already gone through a process of procurement and quoting. This means once the consultation period has closed, the winning design will be ordered and fabricated, speeding up the delivery process.  The City aims to complete the installation of the new play area and any necessary park works by July 2026.

There is a fixed budget allocation of $80,000 included in the 2025/26 financial year.

The budget must cover all works associated with the removal of the existing equipment, installation of new playground elements, temporary fencing, softfall sand cleaning or ground coverings, playground audit and any other minor park works identified in the consultation process.

The City is asking residents to rank each design by order of preference. This will give us an idea of the most popular design option for Plane Tree Grove; however other factors such as the City’s procurement policy will need to be considered in the final decision by the City's project team.

Through this process modifications are limited – the presented concepts are designed to the budget and pit dimensions of the Plane Tree Grove site. Minor changes with the placement of items, or colours can be easily considered but substantial changes would require redesign and costing. 

The Place & Projects team will review the community feedback and suggestions and select the design that received the most votes during the consultation period.

Each park is classified as either local, neighbourhood, district or regional based on the park’s size. The type of facilities provided in each park depends on its classification. For more information, you can read about Public Open Space Classifications in the City’s Public Open Space Strategy 2024 – 2034 by clicking here.

Requests for additional or new facilities are investigated and budgeted as capital projects. They are assessed in relation to the park’s classification, the Public Open Space Strategy and Asset Management Strategy. Requests are prioritised against maintenance and renewal requirements for existing facilities and budget availability. Requests for park upgrades can be sent to info@fremantle.wa.gov.au

CoF is a One Planet Council and a Gold Waterwise Council, we need to consider the amount of water that gets used with water play elements. While it can be recycled for re-use, this is costly due to the infrastructure required for pumps, filters and underground infrastructure to ensure the water is safe enough to be re-used. Waterplay infrastructure also adds additional ongoing maintenance, which is outside the scope of this project.

Due to the cost of rubber softfall and the maintenance cost for repairs and replacement, the City limits the use of rubber softfall. The use of rubber softfall is occasionally implemented when considering universal access to specific play elements. 

Unfortunately, not. When playground equipment is due for replacement, it cannot be sold. The City breaks down the components of the playground equipment for recycling.