Howard Dawson Reserve playground upgrade

Status

We’ll start building the new playground from Monday 15 September 2025.

We plan to finish construction and reopen the playground by the end of February 2026 (subject to weather conditions).

Works will take place from Monday to Friday from 7 am to 3 pm (excluding public holidays). We may need to work on Saturdays.

How this may impact you during construction

During works:

The playground area will be closed.
You may hear construction noise on weekdays between 7 am and 3 pm (excluding public holidays) and on some Saturdays.
Access to the oval, pavilion, BBQ area, tennis courts and basketball court will remain open.
Pedestrian access to the walking routes and shared pathways will remain open.
6 to 8 car parking spaces next to the tennis club will be used by the builder’s vehicles.

Nearby playgrounds

While the new playground is under construction, we encourage you to visit:

Anderson Park playground

Location: 5 Anderson Drive, Hawthorn East
Distance: 22-minute walk or 4-minute drive (1.7 km away).

Nettleton Park playground

Location: 37 Gardiner Parade, Glen Iris
Distance: 13-minute walk or 4-minute drive (1.6 km away).

About the upgrade

This playground upgrade aims to:

create new play experiences for a range of ages and abilities
improve accessibility
complement the nearby Gardiners Creek trail.

Key features of the new playground include:

a play unit with platforms, slides and climbing suitable for younger and older children, and play opportunities underneath
a triple swing frame, including a basket seat
castle-themed features including a drawbridge to the main play unit, a castle moat and rope haul
a frog rocker
animal footprints on concrete paths.

Existing play items in good condition have been incorporated into the new design and include:

junior swing frame
carousel
pommel seesaw.

We will also keep and modify parts of the existing shade sails.

Other features to be included in the wider playground space include:

improved seating overlooking the playground.

Community consultation

We invited our community to share feedback to help guide the design for the new playground.
We received feedback from 71 people over 2 rounds of consultation in February and August 2024. Thank you to everyone who had their say.

You can find out what our community told us and view the final design on our Howard Dawson Reserve playground upgrade page on Your Say Boroondara.

Artist’s impression of final design

Have a look at a selection of illustrations of the upgraded playground design.

Timeline

Date	Project stage	Project update
February 2024	First stage of community consultation	53 community members shared their local knowledge, special memories, stories and ideas to help us develop the draft design.
July and August 2024	Second stage of community consultation	18 community members shared their feedback on the draft design. This helped us further refine and finalise the design.
February 2025	Final design released	We shared the final design for the new playground, which was shaped by 2 rounds of community consultation.
15 September 2025	Construction starts	We'll start building the new playground.
From end of February 2026 (subject to weather conditions)	Construction complete, playground reopens	We'll keep our community informed when construction timelines are confirmed.

More information

To receive updates about all works, visit the Howard Dawson Reserve playground upgrade page on Your Say Boroondara and select 'Follow' at the top of the page.

For more information about construction, please contact or Landscape and Design team on (03) 9278 4444 or [email protected].