Culture and leisure
Sport and leisure, recreation facilities, computer and internet use, libraries and arts and cultural activities in Boroondara.
Opportunities to participate in cultural and leisure pursuits are intrinsic to individual and community wellbeing. Boroondara residents have a wide range of recreation and leisure options in addition to formalised sport and exercise.
These include more than 220 parks and gardens, 102 playgrounds, local walks, shared bike and pedestrian paths, Kew Traffic School, school vacation care programs, eight neighbourhood houses and a recreation program for people with a psychiatric disability.
Sport and exercise
Participation in sport and physical activities has increased in recent years consistent with a more health conscious lifestyle. There are 300 sporting clubs in the Boroondara with 30,000 members and 167 different sporting facilities hosting 23 sports.
Walking for exercise is the most popular exercise, followed by swimming, golf and tennis with increasing participation in fitness classes and netball. For children, playgrounds and indoor swimming are the most popular leisure activities.
Recreation centres
There are four recreation centres located in Ashburton, Balwyn, Kew and Hawthorn with a variety of facilities including swimming pools, gymnasiums and indoor courts for ball games. In addition there are other major sporting facilities including Boroondara Tennis Centre, Freeway Golf Course, Junction Skate and BMX Park, Macleay Park Netball Courts and Boroondara Sports Complex.
Libraries
There are five libraries in Boroondara located in Ashburton, Balwyn, Camberwell, Hawthorn and Kew, with in excess of 100,000 users. Libraries are Boroondara's most extensively used community facilities with two thirds of (63.4%) of the population estimated to be members. There is also a home library service involving nearly 100 volunteers delivering books to the frail aged and disabled at home and in community care facilities.
Arts
Boroondara has a number of established arts and cultural groups catering for the interests of residents including music (band, orchestras, choirs), theatre, dance and writers groups, visual art, craft markets, community festivals and heritage activities. Hawthorn Town Hall is a focus for many activities such as performance, including the annual Boroondara Eisteddfod, exhibitions at the Town Hall Gallery, markets and the long-term social dances, which have been held at least weekly since the Second World War.
- Published: November 2008
- Next updated: November 2010
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