The Planning Institute of Australia has awarded the President’s Choice Award to Stockland for its unique ‘Dapto Dreaming’ research project at its Brooks Reach residential community in the Illawarra.
At the 2012 NSW Awards for Planning Excellence, Stockland received both the Planning for Children and Young People Award and the President’s Choice Award for its original approach to designing a child’s playground through an internationally recognised research program led by the University of Western Sydney.
Stockland State Planning and Design Manager, New South Wales, Brendan O’Brien, said the awards highlight the importance of extensive community engagement in the design of masterplanned communities.
“In all the work we do we aim to bring the existing community together with new residents, to help communities evolve and thrive.
“The ‘Dapto Dreaming’ project has fulfilled this aim on many levels, because our approach gave us valuable insight from more than 150 Dapto Public School students on what they’d love to see in their local park.”
Professor Karen Malone from the Centre for Educational Research, University of Western Sydney and Chair of the Child Friendly Asia-Pacific network, who led the research project for Stockland, said the award was wonderful recognition.
“It is always pleasing when companies like Stockland are recognised for proactively engaging with children and the community. It was great being able to steer a project where the children’s views were taken seriously and see that the whole community will benefit from the experience,” she said.
Recognising Wollongong City Council’s commitment as a Child Friendly City, Stockland’s approach was also aligned with the international UNICEF Child Friendly Cities and Communities Initiative, dedicated to fulfilling children's rights.
The new park includes a toddler play area, tower slide, spinning supernova, treehouse, half basketball court and BBQ area.
At completion, it’s expected that Brooks Reach will be home to more than 1800 residents – including an estimated 550 children.
