Port Stephens Council called on the community to help decide between the current location at Pozieres Park and the proposed location at Bernie Thompson Reserve.

Bernie Thompson Reserve received 54 per cent of the votes, with 151 votes received in total.

Brock Lamont, Council’s Community and Recreation Coordinator, says the community’s feedback has been invaluable in helping to choose the best location.

“Shoal Bay is a beautiful and very popular destination, but the current playground is outdated and isn’t suitable for children of different ages and abilities. In fact, residents and visitors often travel to Nelson Bay or Fingal Bay to use their playground facilities instead,” Mr Lamont said.

“Council has set aside $120,000 to replace the playground, but we wanted to make sure it is built in the best location to meet the community’s needs.

Mr Lamont says the new location will provide better shade and a larger area to play.

“The feedback has been clear that Bernie Thompson Reserve offers children a larger area to play, and the space also benefits from lots of natural shade from trees,” he said.

“Some people raised concerns about the need to remove trees if the playground is built at the Reserve. To make sure this doesn’t happen, we are only considering playground designs that do not require tree removal.

“With the location now decided, we can now get on with planning and building the playground that Shoal Bay deserves,” he added.

For more information about the new Shoal Bay playground, visit https://haveyoursay.portstephens.nsw.gov.au/shoal-bay-playground