Thank you to everyone who participated in consultation activities to help Council finalise its draft Youth Spaces Implementation Plan.

The final draft Plan will go to Council for adoption at their Meeting on Monday 8 April 2024.

To view the Meeting agenda and papers, or to request to speak, go to Council's website.

From 6 April to 30 May 2023, we asked the community for their feedback on the draft Youth Spaces Implementation Plan and what makes a great outdoor space for young people. We received 164 contributions through an online survey, email submissions and in-person engagement at various locations across Banyule.

43% of the contributions were from young people (under 25 years), which gives the project good insight of what young people want from our outdoor spaces.

Click here to see an overview of the engagement, or go to Precinct tiles below to read specific feedback on the proposed location for each precinct.

Check out the proposed locations for your suburb and what you told us for your precinct.

Traditional youth spaces like playgrounds, sandpits and skate parks are important, but we need to think, plan and design differently if we want to make sure young people experience the full benefits of play and activity.

Since the Youth Spaces Plan was developed in 2021, we've done more work to identify the best locations for outdoor youth spaces across Banyule. As part of this work we've considered outdoor spaces for preteens and early teens (12 to 14 years), teens and young adults (15 to 25 years), and district spaces for all young people.

The current Banyule Youth Spaces Plan was adopted by Council on 30 August 2021.

The Plan guides Council to provide outdoor recreation places and spaces for young people aged 12 – 25 years across Banyule. It makes sure these places and spaces are youth-friendly, that they enable young people to feel included and that they are holistic, innovative and meaningful for young people across Banyule.

The Plan also supports an assessment of community need and demand for additional youth recreation spaces and facilities. Key actions included in the plan are:

• to investigate locations and feasibility for district youth spaces to service the needs of young people aged 12 – 25 years
• to investigate locations and feasibility for walkable local spaces for young people aged 12 – 14 and 15 – 17 years across the municipality
• to develop a funding program that covers the costs for these proposed facilities, including maintenance and renewal.

The Youth Spaces Plan was prepared to align with the Banyule Youth Services Action Plan 2019.

To develop the Youth Spaces Plan, we actively engaged 348 community members through surveys, workshops/events and group discussions with:

• Banyule YouthFest attendees
• Malahang Park patrons
• Culturally and Linguistically Diverse communities
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer, Asexual + (LGBTIQA+) young people
• Young people of all abilities
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community
• La Trobe University students
• Young parents groups
• Banyule and Nillumbik Youth Services Network
• Selected local secondary schools
• Relevant Council departments and staff

View the Consultation Report and the Demographic Review.