shortfall in the provision of playing fields with a rate of 6,606 people per field (+4,561 people more than the average).
Location Pop.
No. of Existing and Planned
Playing Fields
Pop. Per Field Established Areas
• Baulkham Hills 37,164 18 2,065
• Castle Hill/ Glenhaven 42,064 17 2,474
• Kellyville/ Rouse Hill / Beaumont Hills 38,261* 16 2,391
• Norwest / Bella Vista 10,977 3 3,659
• West Pennant Hills 13,213 2 6,606
(Shortfall)
• Dural/ Middle Dural/ Kenthurst 8,664 3 2,888
• Annangrove/ Nelson/ Maraylya 2,318 1 2,318
• Rural North 4,254 4 1,063
Release Areas (Planned Growth)
• Balmoral Road
(Current Pop. – 4,000 people) 13,000 13 1,000
• North Kellyville
(Current Pop. – 6,000 people) 15,500 8 1,945
• Box Hill 30,500 18 1,704
• Box Hill North 13,500 4 3,375
TOTAL 229,415 108 2,144
* Excludes Current Population for Balmoral Road Release Area
Table 7: Population per Playing Fields (Established & Release Areas)
With the exception of the shortfall within West Pennant Hills, the existing and planned supply and distribution of open space is reasonable. Ultimately the shortfall in playing fields within West Pennant Hills will need to be addressed through the provision of new recreational facilities.
Applying the benchmark standards to the existing network of open space allows an upgrade program to be developed on robust open space planning principles and the anticipated expectations of the community.
Active Open Space
An assessment has been undertaken of the number of additional playing fields that would be required to service increased demand. The assessment has applied the following benchmarks.
Low Density
1 playing field per 2,000 people High Density
1 playing field per 4,000 people (2,000 dwellings)
Figure 5: Benchmarks
Due to market conditions the residential densities that have been delivered within the North Kellyville and Box Hill Precincts have been higher than originally anticipated by the then Department of
Planning and Environment during the master planning of these precincts. These yields exceeded the population projections which underpinned initial infrastructure planning for these precincts. The Department of Planning and Environment revised the yield estimates for the Precincts as follows:
Precinct
Original Yield Estimate Revised Yield Estimate Dwellings Population Dwellings Population
North Kellyville 5,185 15,563 7,741 (+2,556)
20,675 (+5,112)
Box Hill 10,224 30,687 15,197
(+4,973)
40,633 (+9,946)
Table 8: Yield Estimates
The increase in the projected population within the precincts will reduce the level of provision within the precinct in terms of the ratio of people to playing fields. When accounting for the increased
population, the number of people per playing field increased from 1,945 to 2,584 for the North
Kellyville Precinct and increases from 1,704 to 2,257 people per playing field for the Box Hill Precinct.
As can be seen the resulting levels of provision are still within the 1 playing field per 2,000-2,500 people per field range, which is reasonable for a suburban location and is generally consistent with the levels of provision within the Shire’s established areas. The previous and revised levels of provision are shown in the following table.
Precinct Planned Playing Fields
Original Level of Provision Revised Level of Provision
Population Persons Per Playing Field
Revised Population
Persons Per Playing Field North
Kellyville 8 15,563 1,945 20,675 2,584
Box Hill 18 30,687 1,704 40,633 2,257
Table 9: Levels of Provision
With respect to the Sydney Metro Northwest Precincts and the Baulkham Hills Town Centre, it is proposed that the benchmark ratio of 1 playing field per 4,000 people (2,000 dwellings) be applied.
The future growth within the Baulkham Hills Town Centre, coupled with the future growth within the railway corridor and the existing 2 field shortfall in West Pennant Hills will create demand for 21 additional playing fields (see table following).
Population (Un- serviced)
Active Open Space @ 1.21ha per 1000 people
(ha)
Playing Fields
Playing Field Ratio
West Pennant Hills N/A N/A 2 1 per 3,306
people
Baulkham Hills Town Centre 2,100 2.6 1 1 per 2,100
people
Cherrybrook Station Precinct 8,000 9.68 2 1 per 4,000
people
Castle Hill Station Precinct 15,400 18.63 4 1 per 3,850
people
Showground Station Precinct 21,486 26 5 1 per 4,297
people
Norwest Station Precinct 11,000 13.31 3 1 per 3,667
people Bella Vista and Kellyville
Station Precincts 18,120 21.93 4 1 per 4,530
people
TOTAL 76,106 92.09 21 1 per 3,624
people
Table 10: Additional Active Open Space Demand
Based on the playing field level of provision audit undertaken for the Shire, there was an identified shortfall in playing fields within West Pennant Hills. The current level of provision is around 6,606 persons per field which is 4,561 people more than the average. Accordingly an additional 2 fields will be required to address the shortfall.
With respect to the Kellyville/Bella Vista Precinct and the Showground Precinct, the proposed level of provision is 1 field per 4,530 people and 1 field per 4,297 people respectively. Whilst the planned provision is slightly lower than 4,000 people per field these precincts will adjoin the 2 greenway corridors of Cattai Creek (Showground Precinct) and Elizabeth Macarthur Creek (Kellyville and Bella Vista Precincts), which will serve an important recreation function. Furthermore there will be
significant opportunities to provide small courts under the Sydney Metro Northwest viaduct which will assist in addressing the playing field shortfall in these locations.
The planning for and delivery of playing fields, especially within existing urban areas, is difficult and very costly. Furthermore these facilities generally have a greater amenity impact than local parks. It is imperative for Council to establish a holistic approach to the identification and delivery of new playing fields to meet the demand of the incoming population. The additional demand could be addressed to a certain extent through the implementation of the following measures:
New Synthetic Playing Field/s (agreement/s with private sector);
Shared-use agreements with local schools (public and private); and
Expansion of existing open space facilities to provide additional playing fields.
Passive Open Space
The focus of passive open space planning will be on providing for increased demand due to additional population within the growth areas. This will involve provision of new local open space where
possible, increasing the capacity of existing open space (urbanising existing basic parks) and
ensuring that parks are appropriately distributed and accessible within growth areas. For land outside of the growth areas, certain parks are proposed to be upgraded to higher standards to match their level in the open space hierarchy.
Of Council’s 299 parks and reserves, a significant proportion (61%) is bushland, which serves an important passive recreational function. It is also noted that 37 parks are located on Crown Land, and are managed and controlled by Council.
Within the Box Hill and North Kellyville Release Areas the existing planned provision of passive open space will be sufficient to meet the additional demand generated by the future population. With respect to the Sydney Metro Northwest Corridor and Baulkham Hills Town Centre, new and expanded local parks will be identified and existing parks upgraded to a higher standard and level of service.
This will occur as part of the master planning for each precinct.
Improve the Capacity of Existing Open Space (Strategic Locations)
An audit has been undertaken of the existing parks within the Shire to assess them against the hierarchy and levels of service expectations within this Strategy. There are a number of existing parks where there is a gap between the existing and required level of embellishment. The level of embellishment of the following parks is proposed to increase from local park to suburban park standard.
Reserve Proposed Level on Open Space Hierarchy
Mackillop Drive Reserve, Baulkham Hills Local Park to become Suburban Park Turon Avenue Reserve, Baulkham Hills Local Park to become Suburban Park Bella Vista Village Green Reserve, Bella Vista Local Park to become Suburban Park Castlewood Community Reserve, Castle Hill Local Park to become Suburban Park Coolong Reserve, Castle Hill Local Park to become Suburban Park Rutherford Avenue Reserve, Kellyville Local Park to become Suburban Park Oxlade Street Reserve, North Kellyville Local Park to become Suburban Park Connie Lowe Reserve, Rouse Hill Local Park to become Suburban Park Bellamy Farm Reserve, West Pennant Hills Local Park to become Suburban Park
Table 11: Parks to have increased embellishment