FAQ

Public Open Space is publicly-owned land that is open for public access and recreation, including:

• Walking and cycling
• Nature appreciation
• Social activities (i.e. picnic facilities)
• Informal sporting activity
• Play (i.e. including playspaces)
• Structured sport (pavilions and sports grounds)
• Bushland conservation.

Public Open Space is also home to community infrastructure such as:
• Community buildings including libraries, preschools and halls
• Waterways and other drainage functions
• Underground services
• Overhead electrical and telecommunication lines
• Public car parks.

Within the City of Manningham Manningham open space areas include:

• Council owned or managed land used as public open space. Larger reserves are usually zoned “Public Park and Recreation Zone” (PPRZ), “Public Conservation and Resource Zone” (PCRZ), or “Public Use Zone” (PUZ) in the Manningham Planning Scheme.
• Land owned or controlled by State Government authorities i.e. Parks Victoria or Melbourne Water, which is available to the general public for recreational purposes.
• Council owned or managed community spaces in and around activity centres and community hubs i.e. MC² Civic Forecourt, Keeps Corner (Templestowe Village).

Manningham Council’s vision is to be a city that values people, heritage and resources; a city with a strong economy and diverse social and natural environment that will enrich our vibrant community.

Our reserves and facilities are wonderful community assets. They help people get involved, get active and stay healthy. To ensure that they continue to be enjoyed today and into the future, we need to plan to protect and enhance them.

The Open Space Strategy 2013 is a 10-year plan that sets priorities and guidelines for the protection, development and use of public open space in the municipality.

It is proposed that Council will monitor how the strategy is progressing and being implemented every 3-5 years during the life of the plan.

Our vision is for an accessible and well connected Open Space network that supports a healthy community and a healthy environment.   The goals have been identified as:

Goal 1- Value, expand and enhance the open space network

Goal 2 - Make the most of existing open spaces

Goal 3 - Attract more people more often to open space

View the Strategy goals

The draft Open Space Strategy has been prepared in 3 parts;

• Part 1 – provides the key directions, vision, goals and objectives
  
  
• Part 2 - provides an analysis of the open space across the municipality divided into 15 local precincts and details existing conditions, existing and future demographics and the implications for open space provision and planning into the future

• Part 3 – provides an inventory of each of the 313 open spaces across the municipality

• If you would like to comment on or read about the ways we plan to address the broader issues relating to open space across the municipality such as population increase, refer to Part 1 – Key Directions.
• If you would like to focus in on a particular area, such as the area in which you live or work, and learn about proposed improvements to the open space network within a particular precinct, refer to Part 2 – Precinct analysis.
• If you would like to provide comments about a local park or another about which you feel strongly, you need to refer to Part 3.  The reserves are listed in alphabetical order.

For the purposes of planning for open space into the future, the municipality has been divided into 15 precincts. These precincts reflect a number of factors which influence the provision, form, visitation and usage of public open space, including:

• Planning Scheme zonings
• major barriers to pedestrian movement, such as busy roads and waterways
• topography
• walkable catchments
• suburbs and neighbourhood identity.

These precincts have been redefined since the Open Space Strategy (2004), in order to better reflect the current and future characteristics of the municipality 

Open space in Manningham – Reserve Locations (8MB, PDF)

For the purposes of planning for open space into the future, the municipality has been divided into 15 precincts.  A larger, more detailed map including reserve names is available via the link below.

Open space in Manningham – Reserve Locations (8MB, PDF)

Option 1 - refer to detailed map via link below which has the name of every reserve in the municipality.

Open space in Manningham – Reserve Locations (hyperlink)

Option 2 – refer to reserve listings

• You can search for your reserve by suburb (hyperlink)
• You can search for your reserve by precinct (hyperlink)

Option 3 – Contact Council for further assistance on 9840 9348

Part 3 of the Open Space Strategy includes all reserves on land owned or managed by Manningham City Council. 

However, a significant proportion of the open space within the municipality is crown land and managed by Parks Victoria.  A number of large reserves such as Warrandyte State Park, Westerfolds Park, and Banksia Park fall into this category.

These parks are not included in the inventory as Manningham Council has minimal influence over the development and management of these areas.

Council’s capital works program allocates funds to upgrade approximately 6 local parks every year.  Upgrade priorities are influenced by a number of factors including resident requests.  When a reserve has been identified for an upgrade, a Development Plan is prepared and distributed for public comment.  Your feedback will be registered and considered as part of this process.

Sharing your views and experiences could give Council new ideas, information or a new perspective. So, even if your comments are not word for word in the final Plan, having your say will ensure that Council is informed about how you would like to improve your community life.

The Strategy will be on display at the following locations:

• Manningham Civic Centre, 699 Doncaster Road, Doncaster
• Doncaster Branch library
• The Pines Branch library
• Bulleen Branch library
• Warrandyte library

 As this is a very large document of several hundred pages, we are unable to provide individual hard copies, but CD copies can be provided free of charge by contacting Council on 9840 9348, or via email, eepadmin@manningham.vic.gov.au

An information day will also be held at Manningham Civic Centre, 699 Doncaster Road, Doncaster, Council Chambers on Thursday November 28 2013 from 2.00 – 7.00pm

This will be an informal session where you can discuss the Open Space Strategy and related matters with Council officers.

The draft Strategy development has been overseen by the Open Space and Streetscape Advisory Committee which includes five resident members.  The Committee has provided input throughout the process and has been presented with issues identified for resolution in the draft Strategy.

Council distributed a Comment Form to all households in Manningham Matters in 2010 and advertised a series of five facilitated community workshops.  A total of 8 residents attended the community workshops (most people that attended the workshops had a close attachment to a specific local park). There were 161 comment forms completed and returned to Council by Manningham householders.

The public display of this draft strategy is the next stage of the community consultation.

Manningham City Council has adopted the International Association for Public Participation IAP2 Core Values. These values are central to how Manningham approaches any community engagement and consultation processes.

It is important to Manningham City Council that decisions are made on the best information available. Your views and experiences help us to build this knowledge. 

All will be considered, along with other views and expertise critical to the development of the Open Space Strategy 2013. All comments and feedback will be tabled at the 2014 Council meeting prior to endorsement, but individual names will not be made public.  

Documents are on display, and feedback will be received, until Friday 13 December 2013 at 5.00pm (AEST).