We are upgrading the playground at Kellett Reserve, Kew, to:

  • offer a range of play experiences for children
  • keep to the nature theme and complements the natural parkland in the area
  • be a welcoming, inclusive and fun space for the community to enjoy.

We expect to start building the new playground from early-2025. Find out more on our Kellett Reserve playground page.

Community consultation

We asked our community for feedback through 2 stages of consultation to guide the playground upgrade. Thank you to everyone who shared their suggestions and ideas with us.

In September and October of 2023, we invited you to participate in a survey so that we could better understand:

  • what you like about the current playground
  • what play equipment you would like to keep
  • what you'd like to see added or improved.

Who we heard from

We listened to ideas and comments from 98 adults and children, including:

  • 77 people participated in our online survey
  • 12 people attended our drop-in session at the playground
  • 8 people shared their feedback by uploading pictures or short comments to the consultation page
  • One child shared a drawing of their ‘dream playground’ with us.

What we heard

Features our community told us they wanted to see in the new playground included:

  • a play tower with city views
  • a teacup spinner, monkey bars and swings
  • a smaller version of the playground for toddlers.

In February and March 2024, we asked you for feedback on the draft design for the playground to make sure it was on the right track.

Who we heard from

We heard from 44 community members who shared their comments and suggestions on the proposed playground., including:

  • 37 people participated in an online survey
  • 6 people came to our drop-in session at the playground
  • One person contacted us via email with their feedback.

Of those who responded to our survey, 61% visit the playground a few times a week.

What you liked in the draft design

  • "The climbing wall is a great idea."
  • "The smaller version of the playground is fantastic for toddlers."
  • "Great to see you've added a basket swing and kept the monkey bars."
  • "The teacup spinner, monkey bars and swings are still part of the new design."

How your feedback shaped the final design

During the second round of consultation in February 2024, we received valuable feedback on the draft design.

The key updates you asked us to consider for the final design were:

  • Safety improvements to the play tower

    “The open space next to the tall covered tunnel slide makes me very nervous. I know my 3 year olds like tall slides, but there is such a good chance of kids crowding each other at the top.”

  • More play opportunities for babies and toddlers

    “The junior play unit doesn't include the current tic tac toe or colourful balls babies can rotate. Some additional things like this that babies could play with are important, especially for those who haven't quite developed the gross motor skills.”

  • A good variety of climbing options

    "We are local and my daughter would be super disappointed to see the multiple walls of the climbing wall gone - multiple walls of different challenges would be great please.”

  • Explore imaginative play opportunities

    "Can we have a nature play area?"

What has changed in the final design

We have listened to your feedback and made updates to several features in the playground design.

You can view these features in more detail on our hotspot map below:

  • Play tower

    We are ensuring the play tower and rock-climbing wall is safer for children, which includes closing off the area next to the tunnel slide.

  • Junior play unit

    We are adding more activities to the junior play unit, including a flower-shaped talking tube.

  • Climbing cube

    In addition to the rock-climbing wall, we're building a dedicated cube unit. This will replace the climbing wall we originally planned to install on the senior play unit.

  • Nature play area

    We are adding natural logs and animal sculptures to the playground to encourage imaginative play.

  • Favourite play items that we're updating

    We will replace popular play equipment from the current playground, including the teacup spinner, bird rocker, swing set, monkey bars, and track glide.

The final design

You can view the final design by selecting the hotspots in the map below.

What is not included in the final design

Our community shared some great ideas for the new design, but there are a few things that we can't include.

This is generally because Kellett Reserve is classified as a ‘local’ playground. This means some features fall out of scope and budget for this playground in our Playground Redevelopment Strategy. Read more about this on our Upgrading Boroondara's playgrounds page.

The following elements will not be included as part of this playground upgrade:

1. Water and sand play, barbeques and public toilets - these elements can be found in District and Regional playgrounds.

2. Shade sails - under our Shade Policy 2017-2027, outdoor shade sails are out of scope for local playgrounds.

However, our new design features shaded areas on the play units and we plan to increase natural shade around the playground by planting more trees.