Lockyer Valley Regional Council

Project Overview

Official Opening Announced!

It's finally here... Fairways Park (Stage 1) openedfor community use onSaturday 21 August 2021.

The Official Opening scheduled for Saturday 14 August was been cancelled due to COVID-restrictions.

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Construction of Stage 1 Fairways Park commenced early November 2020.

The park, situated on the eastern side of Fairway Drive, Kensington Grove will provide a range of recreational facilities that meet the long term needs of and reflect the environment in this high growth part of the Lockyer Valley. The 14ha park will be developed over a 10-15 year period to ensure sustainability and high-quality outcomes, with Stage 1 scheduled to be completed mid-August 2021.

Council undertook two stages of community consultation for the design of the overall park style and themes. Consultation results were provided to specialist park consultants to ensure the designs reflected the majority of community aspirations.

The Master Plan for the proposed park considers the long term needs and aspirations of the growing communities in the region demonstrates equity with the rest of the Lockyer Valley Region while looking for opportunities for innovations and uniqueness.

Stage 1 is jointly funded by the Queensland Government's Unite and Recover Community Stimulus program, the Australian Government's Building Better Regions Fund and Council and will commence construction approximately October 2020. The Park is anticipated to open for use mid-August 2021.

See the latest construction video in the Video Gallery to the side.

Community consultation has completed for current stages of this project. For more information on the project site considerations refer to the Document Library and FAQs sections of this site, and to stay up-to-date on the construction check our Video library regularly.

Updates
Timeline

Official Opening Announced!

It's finally here...Fairways Park (Stage 1) opened for community use from Saturday 21 August, 2021.

The scheduled Official Opening on Saturday 14 August was been cancelled due to COVID-restrictions.

Created On : 23 July 2021

Sneak Peek - Stage 1 almost completed

Stage 1 is almost complete - get a sneak peek now! Go to the Video Gallery and see the Construction Update - May 2021.

Created On : 24 May 2021

View All

Open for community use - mid-August 2021

Stage 1 was completed and opened for community use in mid-August 2021.
Stage 1 Construction Commences

Construction of Stage 1 is commenced November 2020 and was completed August 2021.
Tender for Construction Components

Tenders will be issued for construction of stage 1 works.
Master Plan - Stage 1 - Published

The Fairways Park - Master Plan for Stage 1 has been published in the Document Library, Concept Designs.
Analysis of Community Feedback

Council's project team will analyse the community's feedback and make amendments to the concept design where appropriate. Approximately October 2019.
Concept Design Update and Master Plan Preparation

Council's project team will update the Concept Design and prepare a Master Plan document. The Master Plan will be presented to the community for review in the next phase.

Document Library

Consultation Results

Consultation Report - Fairways Park Phase 2

Report on Phase 1 Consultation

Concept Designs

Fairways Park - Master Plan for Stage 1 - Concept Design

Concept Design Booklet with Notes and Images

Detailed Concept Designs - Whole Park

Design Concept for Western Zones

Detailed Concept Design - North West Zone

Playground Sketch

Research on Park Designs

White Paper - Balancing Safety and Challenge

White Paper - Formative Role of Playgrounds

White Paper - Shaped by Play - Observation

FAQS & Info

Council has worked with QM Properties to secure appropriate land for the proposed regional park in the Hatton Vale-Kensington Grove area. The park is intended to provide a range of recreational facilities that meet the long term needs of, and reflect the environment, in this high growth part of the Lockyer Valley. The park will be developed over 10-15 years to ensure sustainability, value-for-money and high-quality outcomes.

Council has conducted to rounds of community consultation with the results being used by specialist park consultants to provide Master Plan concept designs.

Construction of Stage 1 of Fairways Park is currently scheduled to commence October 2020 and be open to the public approximately July 2021.

The proposed site includes characteristics which consider opportunities for innovation and limitations such as environmentally-sensitive flora and fauna, geographic features which make level surfaces expensive to create, availability of utilities (power, water, roads and waste treatment) and the overall make-up of the surrounding localities.

The site for the park is on the east side of Fairway Drive approximately centralised between Stephenson Crescent and Arlington Way/Teak Street.

Community consultation will involve several stages including:

Phase 1 - Identifying and understanding community views, concerns and aspirations for the proposed parklands.

This may include a community vision statement for the park.
Broad level focus on types of use, frequency of use, interactions between different features/zones/activities.

Phase 2 - Test and review concept designs for the Master Plan.

The concept designs are based on a combination of the community's ideas from Phase 1 consultation, environmental factors and overall project costs.
This provides the community with an opportunity to see if Council has understood the overall community’s feedback including their concerns and aspirations, and addressed them appropriately.

Phase 3 - Draft Master Plan presented for final comments.

This review will be the final opportunity for feedback prior to adoption of the Master Plan and is likely to include a confirmation process on preferences for the order of proposed stages, within budget constraints.

Phase 4 - Periodic review of Master Plan.

As the development of the park will occur over a number of years and not all at once, Council plans to include the local community in reviewing aspects of the Master Plan prior to implementation of each stage.
This will allow amendments to be made as the population around the park grows and as Council has budget to construct future stages.
This process provides the ability for the Master Plan to be updated so as to reflect changes in local needs and aspiration

Construction will involve the following broad stages:

Stage 1: a, b, c and d

Commencing approximately October 2020 and open to public use approximately July 2021
See the Document Library for more details

Stages 2 and beyond

Includes further car-parking, extended picnic and barbecue areas, sports field, club house, walking trails, and mountain bike trails
Will be constructed as funding allows over the following 10-15 years

Fairways Park (Stage 1) will be open to the public from Saturday 21 August 2021, subject to any COVID-restrictions in place at that time.

For more information on what is in Stage 1 see the Concept Designs in the Document Library.

Fairways Park is a large project which Council is undertaking over 10-15 years, Multiple funding sources will be utilised at various stages to ensure value-for-money for ratepayers and sustainability for Council.

Stage 1 is jointly funded by the Queensland Government's Unite and Recover Community Stimulus program ($2.74M), the Australian Government's Building Better Regions Fund ($0.8M) and Council ($0.8M). This is additional to Council's purchase of the land.

Council appreciates the generosity of the Queensland and Australian Governments.

Park design will start with a relatively empty block providing an opportunity to take an innovative approach with layout and features. Designs will need to be managed within available budgets for both construction and maintenance and the choice of features and timing of installation of some features will be influenced by community consultation.

Council has approached the park design with an open mind and considered all ideas put forward by the community. Choices will have to be made by both the local community and Council about which features can be managed within designated and realistic budgets, which will include ongoing maintenance and operational costs.

One key guide for the community to consider is that Council is unlikely to install any features that would generally be a commercial venture such as an ice/roller-skating rink, bowling alley, cinema or water park. However, it may be possible for designs to facilitate some aspects of those ideas in a way which encourages commercial and community providers to run those activities.

Following a fair and open tender process, the contract has been awarded to TLCC (The Landscape Construction Company). TLCC has been recognised for excellence in the field of landscape construction with more than 30 awards and more than 850 completed projects.

TLCC will engage local contractors on the project where possible, subject to competitive tender processes, capability and availability within the project timelines.

TLCC's previous projects include Queens Park Toowoomba, Walton Bridge Park Upgrade at The Gap and Underwood Park Nature Play in Logan.

The site is approximately 14 hectares (approx 400m x 400m) on the east side of Fairway Drive, Kensington Grove.

It contains approximately 2.5 hectares of remnant vegetation which would be kept as an environmental area possibly including walking trails.

Slopes of up to 5% on much of the land would require more expensive earthworks for some potential uses such as sports field.

Some parts of the site would not be suitable for various types of infrastructure including parking, buildings, playgrounds and sports fields but may be suitable for walking trails, and informal picnicking.

Additional roads would need to be constructed at various stages to meet park development needs. This work may be undertaken by, and as needed by, developers of adjacent estates.

Access to potable and non-potable water and installation of appropriate waste water treatment facilities and effluent disposal would be needed. The accessibility and responsible use of water may also add constraints to final components such as potential water-play features.

Council is very aware of the local wildlife in the area of the park including koalas, wallabies, geckoes, birds and more and will minimise impacts wherever possible.

As per the concept designs, large portions of the site will be maintained as bushland, particularly but not limited to the southern half of the site. Tree clearing in other areas will be selective to provide necessary space for infrastructure without unnecessarily removing the natural wildlife habitats.

A thorough environmental inspection has been undertaken by an independent consultant and Council will manage disruption to natural habitats in accordance with all government requirements.

Settlement of the area dates from the mid 1800s, with land used mainly for farming, both agricultural and grazing. Some housing and population growth took place during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Population was minimal until the post-war years. Rapid growth occurred between 1991 and 2011, with the population more than quadrupling as the area opened initially as rural residential and increasingly as large residential homesites.

From the 1990's onwards, affordable residential development and its close proximity to Ipswich, Brisbane and Toowoomba make Hatton Vale and Kensington Grove popular localities to reside and commute from.

Hatton Vale is home to Hatton Vale Motel, Fairways Tavern and Golf Club, and the IGA Hatton Vale shopping centre, two child care centres and the Hatton Vale State School. The relaxed rural lay out of homesites, as well as close proximity to Ipswich and Toowoomba via the Warrego Highway make this a great location for families.

The population in 2017 of the wider area from Lockrose to Plainland to Summerholm was 9,380 which represents a 13% growth from 2012. Two thirds (65.3%) of the population is less than 50 years of age, and households with children make up almost half the population (46.7%). The average household size of 2.85 persons is above the Regional (2.65%), State (2.54%) and National (2.55%) averages.

Council understands there is strong community interest in the development of a water park within this park or elsewhere in the region, and has considered various options.

The concept designs allow for water play areas that are consistent with limited water supply and water conservation. It is unlikely Council would build a large water park on this site due to both capital and ongoing operational and maintenance costs, however it may be possible for a commercial water park to be included in the future.

Reports on community consultation are published in the Documents Library section of this site. Concept designs based on community consultation are also available in the Document Library.