{"id":37561,"date":"2026-02-21T19:07:59","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T08:07:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=37561"},"modified":"2026-02-21T19:07:59","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T08:07:59","slug":"kids-given-chance-to-add-own-touch-to-foreshore-park-playspace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2026\/02\/21\/kids-given-chance-to-add-own-touch-to-foreshore-park-playspace\/","title":{"rendered":"Kids given chance to add own touch to Foreshore Park playspace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p id=\"isPasted\">One of Newcastle\u2019s youngest residents will become the king, or queen, of the castle by permanently naming the cubby house being built as part of the Foreshore Park playspace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>City of Newcastle is inviting children under 12 years to colour in a picture of the \u201cnuts and bolts\u201d tower structure and suggest a name for the cubby house, which will be located underneath the elevated boardwalk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The competition was officially launched today at a community event celebrating the opening of Foreshore Park\u2019s new accessible amenities building and kiosk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/newcastle.nsw.gov.au\/getmedia\/0ee42d2e-ae28-46a1-aebe-7784494297b5\/Foreshore-Park-community-event-WEB.jpg\" alt=\"Member for Newcastle Tim Crakanthorp, Minister for the Hunter Yasmin Catley, Councillor Declan Clausen and Deputy Lord Mayor Charlotte McCabe attend the community event to celebrate the opening of Foreshore Park\u2019s new accessible amenities building and kiosk.\"><em>Member for Newcastle Tim Crakanthorp, Minister for the Hunter Yasmin Catley, Councillor Declan Clausen and Deputy Lord Mayor Charlotte McCabe attend the community event to celebrate the opening of Foreshore Park\u2019s new accessible amenities building and kiosk.<\/em>Asset Advisory Committee Chair Councillor Declan Clausen said City of Newcastle was continuing to involve the community in the development and delivery of the Harbour Foreshore Masterplan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSince 2020, we\u2019ve been engaging with the community to seek their feedback, collaborate on the design and develop a shared vision for our premier city park and major events space,\u201d Cr Clausen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve now delivered the first project under the Masterplan, with the accessible amenities and Sunnyboy Park kiosk open for the community to enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cExcitement is growing as work progresses on the construction of our flagship Foreshore Park inclusive playspace and waterplay area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe cubby house naming competition is a wonderful way to involve our youngest residents in this project and build anticipation for when they can explore the city\u2019s largest playground for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Foreshore Park projects are supported by funding from the NSW Government\u2019s Everyone Can Play program, Variety the Children&#8217;s Charity, the Touched by Olivia Foundation and the Newcastle Port Community Contribution Fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Minister for the Hunter Yasmin Catley welcomed the opening of the amenities and said she was looking forward to the completion of the playspace project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cForeshore Park is one of Newcastle\u2019s most loved community spaces, and it\u2019s fantastic to see new accessible facilities now open for families to enjoy,\u201d Ms Catley said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cProjects like this are all about making sure every child and every family feels welcome, included and able to enjoy our beautiful foreshore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLocal kids are being invited to help name the cubby house, giving our younger generation a real sense of ownership and pride in their park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to seeing the inclusive playspace completed later this year so even more families can come together to play, connect and enjoy everything this special place has to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Member for Newcastle Tim Crakanthorp said the projects would ensure Foreshore Park can be enjoyed by even more members of the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cForeshore Park is a fantastic community space both for major events and for everyday enjoyment,\u201d Mr Crakanthorp said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThese new amenities will provide high-quality, accessible public infrastructure for all Novocastrians to use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis colouring and naming competition is such a unique opportunity for the children of Newcastle to get creative and leave a lasting mark on this city that they call home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt is also great to see the new kiosk fall into the hands of local operators.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>City of Newcastle Interim Executive Director of City Infrastructure Rob Dudgeon said construction of the playspace and waterplay area remains on track for completion late this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhile work to date has involved mostly in-ground activities to prepare the site including irrigation, stormwater and services, construction activities are starting to ramp up with major concrete pours currently in progress for the waterplay areas, along with construction of the footings for the elevated play structure ahead of its installation,\u201d Mr Dudgeon said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe placement of sandstone seating and retaining walls has commenced across the site, while work is expected to get underway soon on the network of footpaths and associated pathway lighting.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWork is also progressing offsite on the bespoke major play elements linked to the city&#8217;s industrial, maritime and Indigenous heritage, including the \u2018nuts and bolts\u2019 towers, whale-themed swing set and tugboats, which are currently being fabricated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re excited to continue sharing updates with the community as this project takes shape throughout the year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Visit the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/newcastle.nsw.gov.au\/about-us\/news-and-updates\/projects-and-works\/harbour-foreshore-masterplan\">project page<\/a>&nbsp;for the latest information on Foreshore Park, or the cubby house&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/haveyoursay.newcastle.nsw.gov.au\/foreshore-park-cubby-house-naming-competition\">competition page<\/a>&nbsp;to find about more details and access the colouring-in sheet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of Newcastle\u2019s youngest residents will become the king, or queen, of the castle by permanently naming the cubby house being built as part of the Foreshore Park playspace. City of Newcastle is inviting children under 12 years to colour in a picture of the \u201cnuts and bolts\u201d tower structure and suggest a name for &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2026\/02\/21\/kids-given-chance-to-add-own-touch-to-foreshore-park-playspace\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Kids given chance to add own touch to Foreshore Park playspace&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newcastle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37561"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37561\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37562,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37561\/revisions\/37562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}