Eltham North Adventure Playground wins best play space award

A much-loved playground in Eltham that burnt to the ground in a devastating fire has been rebuilt, and named the best new play space in Victoria. Check out what it has to offer.

Nillumbik Council Mayor Karen Egan celebrates Eltham North Adventure Playground’s top honour. Picture: Mark Dadswell

Eltham North Adventure Playground has been named the best new play space in Victoria and Tasmania, just 15 months after the original site was destroyed by fire.

The popular Wattletree Rd space was awarded the top gong in its category at last week’s Park and Leisure Australia awards.

Nillumbik Council mayor Cr Karen Egan said the award belonged to everyone involved in the rebuild.

All that remained after the 2017 blaze at the site. Picture: Eltham District Historical Society

“Our community was devastated when the original playground was burnt down just before Christmas of 2017 and despite this, we really saw the community come together and rebuild this much loved park,” she said.

“While many people gave a helping hand in rebuilding the playspace, this project would not have been possible without the help of the architects, designers and builders — Nature-form, Gardiner Architects and Jeavons Landscape Architects.”

Look at it now - kids and Nillumbik Mayor Karen Egan celebrate the award.

Firefighters who scrambled to extinguish the blaze during the early hours of December 16 in 2017 were greeted with 15m flame heights at the site.

It took seven fire trucks and 40 firefighters almost two hours to bring the fire under control, and left a damage bill of more than $100,000. The incident is still being investigated by police.

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But Nillumbik Council and more than 100 community members helped to rebuild the much-loved playground, which included planting trees, moving mulch, landscaping, painting and creating a dry-creek bed.

Cr Egan previously told Leader it was a “world class playground, which caters to children of all ages and abilities.”

The new playground includes unique wooden structure with tunnels, “hidey holes” and slides.

“Many themes from the previous designs are threaded through this structure, there is even a tractor in the centre,” Cr Egan said.

“In the surrounding play space, there are swing sets, cubby houses and a flying fox.”

The State Government pumped $50,000 into the project, while the Eltham and District Community Bank matched community contributions, dollar for dollar, up to $25,000.

The redevelopment of the Eltham Leisure Centre was also recognised, receiving a high commendation in the Community Facility of the Year Award.

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