Shellharbour OPEN SPACE & RECREATION Needs Study 2020 ADOPTED 7 April 2020 Shellharbour City Council Open Space and Recreation Needs Study Final This Needs Study was prepared by the Institute for Public Policy and Governance (IPPG), University of Technology Sydney (UTS). We are an interdisciplinary research, consulting and training organisation providing leadership and expertise in public administration, policy, research, stakeholder engagement, strategic planning and capacity building. We utilise a unique combination of skills, techniques and perspectives to offer long-term sustainable solutions to governments, organisations, businesses and communities. The IPPG Shellharbour Project Team comprised Edwina Deakin, Amy van den Nieuwenhof, Sophie Duxson and Alex Tindale. Research to inform this Needs Analysis was also undertaken by Roberta Ryan, Joanna McClellan and Sophie Le Mauff. For more information contact: Institute for Public Policy and Governance University of Technology Sydney 15 Broadway, Ultimo NSW 2007 Australia PO Box 123 Tel: +61 2 9514 7884 Email: [email protected] Web: www.uts.edu.au/research-and-teaching/our- research/institute-public-policy-and-governance University of Technology Sydney Institute for Public Policy and Governance 2 Shellharbour City Council Open Space and Recreation Needs Study Final Contents Executive Summary 7 Glossary of Terms 12 1 Introduction 14 1.1 Purpose and scope 14 1.2 Background 15 1.3 Methodology 15 1.4 About the Report 17 2 Background and context 19 2.1 State Government open space, sport and recreation planning and policy 19 2.2 Federal Government open space, sport and recreation planning and policy 23 2.3 Key regional planning instruments 28 2.4 Key local planning instruments 29 2.5 Standards and benchmarking principles 40 3 About Shellharbour LGA and Council 43 3.1 Urban and non-urban areas 43 3.2 Precincts 44 3.3 Topography and natural resources 45 3.4 Major Infrastructure 46 3.5 Cultural Heritage 46 3.6 Tourism 47 4 Shellharbour people and population trends 48 4.1 Existing Population and Characteristics 48 4.2 Future Population and Housing 53 4.3 Precinct population patterns 60 4.4 Socio-economic disadvantage 62 4.5 Travel patterns 64 5 Open Space in Shellharbour LGA 68 5.1 Open Space Hierarchy 68 5.2 Population-based Open Space Analysis 69 5.3 Passive Open Spaces 71 5.4 Active Open Spaces 75 5.5 Environmental and Ancillary Reserves 78 5.6 Open Space Management 80 5.7 Key Sports Facilities in Adjacent Local Government Areas 80 5.8 Community feedback on Open Space 81 5.9 Open Space Summary 83 6 Recreation Participation, Demand and Stakeholder Views 87 6.1 Recreation Facilities 87 6.2 Recreation Participation, Demand and Stakeholder Views 91 6.3 Shellharbour Active Recreation Trends and Stakeholder Views 93 6.4 Other stakeholder views 104 6.5 Shellharbour Sport and Recreation Events 106 University of Technology Sydney Institute for Public Policy and Governance 3 Shellharbour City Council Open Space and Recreation Needs Study Final 7 Aquatics 108 7.1 Shellharbour Aquatic Facilities, Clubs and Organisations 108 7.2 Policy Context, Trends and Benchmarks 110 7.3 Aquatic Sport and Recreation Demand and Stakeholder Views 114 7.4 Shellharbour Pool Facilities Assessment 118 8 Precinct-based OSR Analysis 124 8.1 Precinct 1 Warilla 124 8.2 Precinct 2 Shellharbour 128 8.3 Precinct 3 Blackbutt 132 8.4 Precinct 4 Oak Flats 135 8.5 Precinct 5 Albion Park Rail 137 8.6 Precincts 6-9 (Albion Park, Rural East, Rural West, Calderwood) 140 9 Summary and Conclusions 145 9.1 Policy Settings and Context 145 9.2 About the Shellharbour community 146 9.3 Open spaces and recreational facilities 146 9.4 Aquatic 148 9.5 Key Findings 148 9.6 Conclusion 149 References 150 Attachment 1. Shellharbour Parks and Recreational Space Guidelines, 2019 154 Attachment 1.1 Key themes and trends in open space planning 154 Attachment 1.2 Open Space Design Framework 157 Attachment 1.3 Park hierarchies 161 Attachment 1.4 Park performance criteria and design principles 163 Attachment 1.5 Aquatics facilities performance criteria and design principles 168 Attachment 1.6 Active open space performance criteria and design principles 170 Attachment 1.7 Passive open space performance criteria and design principles 172 Attachment 1.8 Performance measures for different open space usages 174 Attachment 2. Shellharbour benchmark assessments 185 Attachment 2.1 Open space provision benchmark assessments- Shellharbour 186 Attachment 2.2 Active open space and sport facilities provisional benchmarks and assessments – Shellharbour 188 Attachment 3. Maps of open space and recreation facilities across Shellharbour LGA 192 Attachment 3.1 Shellharbour City LGA 193 Attachment 3.2 Precinct 1 – Warilla 194 Attachment 3.3 Precinct 2 – Shellharbour 195 Attachment 3.4 Precinct 3 – Blackbutt 196 Attachment 3.5 Precinct 4 – Oak Flats 197 Attachment 3.6 Precinct 5 – Albion Park Rail 198 Attachment 3.7 Precinct 6 – Rural East 199 Attachment 3.8 Precinct 7 – Albion Park 200 Attachment 3.9 Precinct 8 – Rural West 201 Attachment 3.10 Precinct 9 – Calderwood 202 University of Technology Sydney Institute for Public Policy and Governance 4 Shellharbour City Council Open Space and Recreation Needs Study Final Figures Figure 1: NSW Office of Sport, draft Regional Sports Hubs model, August 2017 21 Figure 2: Shellharbour City Council asset management planning structure 37 Figure 3: Illawarra Shoalhaven Regional Plan - key housing locations 39 Figure 4: Shellharbour LGA boundaries 43 Figure 5: Precincts of Shellharbour 44 Figure 6: Illawarra Shoalhaven Regional plan – Shellharbour’s resources 45 Figure 7: Index of Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage by SA1, Shellharbour LGA, 2016 63 Figure 8: Number of motor vehicles per household, Shellharbour and NSW, 2006-2016 64 Figure 9: Responses to the question “What are your top 3 priorities for PLAYING in Shellharbour?” (n=5) 106 Tables Table 1: UTS Stakeholder and community engagement methodology 16 Table 2: Everyone Can Play Evaluation Checklist 23 Table 3: Sport Australia barriers to participation in sports and recreation, plus potential lessons for open space planners 26 Table 4: Shellharbour Community Strategic Plan – Strategies relevant to OSR planning 30 Table 5: Infrastructure across the LGA identified in the Local Infrastructure Contributions Plan 2019 33 Table 6: Open space assets in Shellharbour LGA at extreme or high erosion risk 34 Table 7: Council’s risk tolerance scale – coastal hazards 35 Table 8: Precincts and suburbs of Shellharbour LGA 45 Table 9: Population by age and gender, Shellharbour City LGA and NSW, 2006 and 2016 49 Table 10: Cultural background and disability indicators, Shellharbour City LGA and NSW, 2006 and 2016 50 Table 11: Selected household characteristics, Shellharbour City LGA and NSW, 2006 and 2016 51 Table 12: Dwelling type, Shellharbour City LGA and NSW, 2006 and 2016 51 Table 13: Selected medians and averages, Shellharbour City LGA and NSW populations, 2006 and 2016 52 Table 14: Population trends by suburb, Shellharbour LGA, 2006-2016 53 Table 15: Shellharbour LGA Population Forecasts – Key Indicators 54 Table 16: Shellharbour LGA Population Forecasts by Age Group 55 Table 17: Shellharbour LGA Household Type Forecasts 56 Table 18: Residential dwelling approvals by dwelling type, Shellharbour LGA, 2016-17 to 2018-19 57 Table 19: Population forecasts by suburb, Shellharbour LGA, 2016-2031 58 Table 20: Key Residential Greenfield Developments 59 Table 21: Summary of precinct populations (current and forecast) 60 Table 22: SEIFA Index of Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage by suburb, 2016 63 Table 23: Households without a car, Shellharbour LGA Precincts, 2016 65 Table 24: Main method of travel to work, Shellharbour LGA and NSW, 2006-2016. 65 Table 25: Open Space Hierarchy 69 Table 26: Shellharbour LGA Open Space rates per population 70 Table 27: Shellharbour Passive Open Space 71 Table 28: Active Open Space by Precinct 75 Table 29: Top three respondent issues by Precinct 82 Table 30: Summary of Open Space by precinct 83 Table 31: Shellharbour LGA facilities 87 Table 32: Satisfaction levels with Shellharbour Council open space and recreation assets between 2017 and 2019 and in comparison with other Councils 105 Table 33: Shellharbour Beaches 108 Table 34: Shellharbour Public Pools 109 University of Technology Sydney Institute for Public Policy and Governance 5 Shellharbour City Council Open Space and Recreation Needs Study Final Table 35: NSW swimming trends 114 Table 36: Shellharbour community engagement comments 115 Table 37: Summary of Beverley Whitfield Ocean Pool 119 Table 38: Summary of Oak Flats pool 120 Table 39: Summary of Albion Park Pool 121 Table 40: Summary of Warilla Pool 122 Table 41: Open Space in Warilla (Precinct 1) 124 Table 42: Community Feedback from Residents of Warilla (Precinct 1) 127 Table 43: Open Space in Shellharbour (Precinct 2) 128 Table 44: Community Feedback from Shellharbour residents (Precinct 2) 130 Table 45: Open Space in Blackbutt (Precinct 3) 132 Table 46: Community Feedback from Blackbutt residents (Precinct 3) 134 Table 47: Open Space in Oak Flats (Precinct 4) 135 Table 48: Community feedback from Oak Flats residents (Precinct 4) 136 Table 49: Open space in Albion Park Rail (Precinct 5) 138 Table 50: Community feedback from residents of Albion Park Rail (Precinct 5) 139 Table 51: Open Space in Western Suburbs (Precincts 6-9) 140 Table 52: Community feedback from Western suburbs residents (Precincts 6-9) 143 * * * * Note: Appendices referenced in this Needs Study are contained in a separate compendium. Acknowledgement of Country This Study acknowledges the Wodi Wodi and Dharawal people as the Traditional Owners of the land which is now known as Shellharbour local government area. The authors of this Study pay their respects to Wodi Wodi elders past, present and future, and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who now reside within this area.