The playground that generations of Wellington Point children used at Crossley Drive Park is not expected to return, with Redland City Council instead identifying the neighbourhood park for walking, cycling, nature play and informal recreation.
The decision followed the removal of playground equipment that Council said was close to 30 years old and had reached the end of its asset life. Its disappearance prompted two local 11-year-old girls to start a petition asking for the playground to be rebuilt, attracting 22 signatures before it was presented to Council in October 2024.
Council subsequently investigated whether play equipment should return to the site. Its response outlined a combination of constraints that made a straightforward replacement more complicated than putting new equipment where the old playground had stood.
Why the playground isn’t coming back
According to Council, the former play space was within a flood-prone area and close to a drainage easement on the property, which it identified as a risk when considering the site’s future.
There was also the question of distance from the road. Council said a play area needed to be positioned at least 25 metres from the street, but achieving that setback would place it too close to the waterway.
Taken together with the relatively small size of the park, those constraints led Council to conclude that reinstalling the play space at Crossley Drive Park was not supported.
That does not mean Council has declared that a playground could never legally be built there. Rather, its assessment of the site and the requirements applying to a play space resulted in a different role being chosen for the neighbourhood park.
A different kind of neighbourhood space
Council has nominated walking, cycling and nature play as the park’s primary activity, with what it describes as “minimal embellishment”.
For residents, that means Crossley Drive Park remains public open space rather than disappearing with the playground. Council envisages people using its connected pathways for walking and cycling, the grassed areas for informal kick-about activities, and the natural environment for imaginative play. It has also identified quiet recreation as part of the park’s continuing use.
There is no documented commitment, however, to construct a new nature-play facility or another substantial collection of recreational equipment. Nature play in Council’s response refers to interaction with the park’s natural elements.
Where families can find playgrounds nearby
When responding to the petition, Council pointed families towards three other Wellington Point parks with playgrounds: Goodall Street Park, about 350 metres away; Liner Street Park and Plantation Place Park, each described at the time as about 500 metres away.
For the young residents who petitioned Council, those alternatives did not replace the neighbourhood playground they had grown up using. Their petition nevertheless prompted a formal explanation of why the old equipment was removed and why Crossley Drive Park is now being retained for a different mix of local recreation.
Published 18-September-2026
