quality of lifecultural, recreational, and sport

Cultural, Recreational and Sport

Due to the proximity of Wingecarribee to Sydney and also Canberra, regional and national standard facilities in these main cities also assist in meeting the needs of Wingecarribee residents.

Due to the Shire’s attraction as a tourist destination, the reverse also applies.

Figure 4.1 provides an overview of key regional open space areas in Wingecarribee and its surrounding local government areas (LGAs). Nattai, Morton and Macquarie Pass National Parks extend over the Wingecarribee Shire border into neighbouring LGAs.

Bargo State Conservation Area, Joadja Nature Reserve, and Wollondilly Nature Reserve in Wingecarribee, and Yerranderie State Conservation Area adjacent in Wollondilly, are other regional open space resources. Jellore, Belanglo, Penrose, Wingello and Meryla State Forests, Wingecarribee Reservoir, Wingecarribee Swamp and Fitzroy Falls Reservoir also represent key regional open space/recreation resources within the Shire’s boundaries. There are eleven major leisure/aquatic centres within 70 kilometres of Wingecarribee Shire.

The closest is Wollondilly Community Leisure Centre in Picton (only a 20 minute drive from Mittagong). Community consultations suggested that this, and the Kiama Leisure Centre are the most widely used by Wingecarribee residents.

Other regional recreation resources not listed in the inventory include the beaches of Wollongong, Shellharbour, Kiama and Shoalhaven, and shopping malls and cinemas in Camden/Campbelltown. As these facilities are not available in Wingecarribee (other than a single cinema in Bowral), they are also likely to be popular with Wingecarribee residents.

Sydney and Canberra have international standard equestrian facilities within an hour and an hour and a half’s drive from Wingecarribee respectively.

Regional cultural facilities include Regional Galleries in Wollongong, Campbelltown, Goulburn, Liverpool, Penrith, Canberra and also galleries in the Shoalhaven area.

Also in close proximity are state and national galleries and museums in Sydney and Canberra (1.5 hours drive).

Recreational Facilities

An overview of Council and non-Council owned facilities and open space provision in Wingecarribee Shire can be seen in Figure 4.2,Figure 4.3 and Figure 4.4. Based on the zones in the Wingecarribee LEP 1989,`Figure 4.2 shows the distribution of open space zones (existing recreation, private recreation, special purpose, and proposed recreation reservation), ‘environmental protection’ 7(a) zoned land, land zoned ‘forests’ 1(f) and land zoned ‘national parks and nature reserves’ 8(a) throughout the Shire.

Existing and planned cycleways/shared pathways are also shown on this figure. A description of these zones is provided in Table 4.2.Figure 4.3 shows the distribution of active recreation or sporting facilities (indoor and outdoor) within the Shire. Finally, Figure 4.4 shows the distribution of community/cultural facilities within the Shire.

Open Space

All of the above categories of open space exist in the Shire.

Natural areas in the Shire are located in national parks, nature reserves, state recreation areas, state forests, Council owned/managed reserves and on some private land.

There is a wide variety of parks and gardens. There is also land for private recreation purposes, some of which is Council owned but leased out to private recreation providers e.g. golf clubs. Table 4.2 summarises the quantity (area in hectares) of the different open space zonings in the Shire, including zonings for state forests, environmental protection, national parks and nature reserves.  Zonings are based on Council GIS data and the existing Wingecarribee LEP 1989. The focus of this study is on ‘public’ open space, and hence other than the open space (private recreation) zoned land, only public open space areas have been considered.

As can be seen above, the majority of the open space land in the Shire is located within state forests, national parks and nature reserves and environmental protection zoned land, which is largely bushland. Altogether the above zonings comprise approximately 15 percent of the total land in the Shire.

Based on Council’s property register and register of Crown lands there is approximately 2,940 hectares of Council-owned/managed open space in the shire including Crown land that is managed by Council. This comprises approximately 7.4 percent of the total open space in the Shire. This figure may be an underestimate as the management of many Crown land parcels is unknown.

Table 4.3 provides a breakdown of open space areas in the Shire that are owned or managed by Council.

Again, these figures may be an underestimate as the management of many Crown land parcels is unknown.

The provision of approximately 2,630 hectares of Council owned/managed passive open space (includes natural areas, parks, gardens and ancillary open space) is equivalent to approximately 65 hectares per 1000 people in the Shire. Even with projected growth of the Shire to 53,544 people by 2021, this equals 49 hectares per 1000 people. This is substantially higher than the 1.62 hectares per 1000 people recommended in the Department of Environment and Planning (1985) benchmark.

Similarly, the provision of approximately 310 hectares of Council owned/managed active open space is equivalent to approximately 7.7 hectares per 1000 people in the Shire.

With growth in the Shire, the ratio would reduce to 5.8 hectares per 1000 people. Again, these figures are well above the 1.21 hectares per 1000 people recommended in the Department of Environment and Planning (1985) benchmark.

Active Sporting/Recreational Facilities

Table 4.4 documents the total number of existing Council owned or managed sporting/active recreation facilities in Wingecarribee. The majority of the Shire’s active sporting/recreation facilities comprise sports grounds/sports ovals.

The Shire also has a significant number of outdoor tennis facilities.

In addition to Council-owned facilities, many public and private schools have active sporting and recreational facilities. Also there are some significantly privately owned facilities such as cricket ovals, tennis courts and equestrian facilities.

Most of the additional facilities are regularly used weekdays and weekends, and must be considered as part of the supply of facilities.

.