A place plan is an integrated approach to the planning, design and management of public spaces. It utilises the local community's assets, inspiration, and potential, with the intention of creating public spaces that promote people's health, happiness, and well-being.

As both an overarching idea and a practical approach for improving a neighbourhood, city, or region, placemaking inspires people to collectively reimagine and reinvent public spaces as the heart of their community.

With community-based participation at its heart, a good place plan capitalises on a local community's assets, knowledge and potential, and the creation of quality public spaces that contribute to our quality of life ideally follow.

The place plan will address all of Haig Park, from Limestone Avenue to Froggatt Street. It will also look at surrounding areas that influence the park including the Turner Tennis Club, Turner Bowls Club and Sullivans Creek Parklands.

The involvement and contributions we have received throughout the first two phases of the community engagement has informed this next phase of the project. The community has expressed a wide collection of ideas and preferences, and we have adopted a place plan approach in order to better facilitate what the community have stated.

A place plan differs from more traditional planning documents by allowing the City Renewal Authority to activate the ideas of the community and Haig Park’s stakeholders with greater agility and flexibility.

A place plan is iterative, conversational and responsive method which allows us to address the ongoing challenges of our public realm, remaining active and engaged as we look to continually improve the places where we live and play.

The place plan sets out three stages: short term experiments and activations, evaluate and change, and long-term improvements.

They will exist as part of a rotating schedule, with new additions being added as the program progresses.

Each activation will have an initial temporary period. Throughout this period monitoring and feedback will be undertaken, and activations may be altered, moved or removed based on that feedback. Finally, after a significant period of consultation and testing, the activations will become permanent features of the park if and when they have support.

The final place plan will identify a range of short, medium and long-term strategies (or actions) to achieve the community’s vision for Haig Park, in line with the themes, objectives and principles in the document.

Budget funding for actions identified in the place plan will be applied for on an annual basis, and be subject to the usual treasury review and approval.

The heritage of Haig Park remains central, and these proposed activations will carefully consider the existing natural features of the park.

Haig Park is listed on the ACT Heritage Register for its function as a windbreak, built to protect the developing suburbs of Braddon and Turner from climatic extremes. It is recognised as a rare example of the mixed evergreen and deciduous row plantings that remain highly intact. The heritage registration specifically cites the location of the trees as well as the species of the trees as being critical to preserving the park’s heritage value. The park is 1780m long and has 14 rows of trees.

The heritage status of the park requires that a Conservation Management Plan (CMP) be prepared to guide any future development and management of the park. A CMP will set out how the heritage value of the park is to be conserved. This will be used to guide the management of the park and any proposed works such as paths or play equipment. The CMP requires endorsement by the ACT Heritage Council.

The complete entry on the ACT Heritage register can be viewed at http://www.environment.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pd...

Yes. As part of the place plan process we are working with Transport Canberra and City Services (the government agency responsible for maintenance of the park) to ensure the design considers the ongoing maintenance costs associated with different infrastructure, such as pathways. This will ensure we produce a place plan that is affordable to maintain into the future. Budget funding will be allocated as part of the annual budget process when the place plan is finalised.

Parking in the area surrounding the park has been raised as an issue by some community members.

The place plan will look at the existing parking within Haig Park, which includes the indented parking bays, and proposals to either maintain or change these to another form of parking, such as on-street. A multi-level car park is not being considered as part of this process, and a proposal for an underground car park would likely significantly damage tree health from large excavations.

Many people have told us that they feel unsafe in Haig Park, and that they avoid walking through it, particularly at night. As part of the planning process, ACT Policing conducted a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) study on Haig Park to understand community safety concerns. The study looked at how factors such as lines of sight and maintenance affect the overall safety of a space. Part of this study also looked at actual crime statistics for the park.

The study found a number of changes could be made to improve the overall safety of the park. Lack of lighting, the density of branches and lack of activity all contributed to making Haig Park feel unsafe. The report recommended improvements such as pruning the lower branches of trees to improve the visibility across the park, and infrastructure changes such as realigning footpaths and improving lighting. These works are included in the place plan.

Haig Park is designated as an area of special interest under the National Capital Plan. A Development Control Plan (DCP) may be required for any permanent works in the park, such as paths, benches and lighting. The National Capital Authority (NCA) is responsible for developing the DCP. The community will have an opportunity to comment on the draft DCP as part of a statutory consultation process before the NCA approves it.

The Haig Park Place Plan being developed will set out the overarching vision and concepts for future works in the park. The final plan will reflect the comments and feedback we’ve received through the community engagement process. When finalised the plan will guide the development of the DCP, which is a more technical document that includes things like construction standards.

The trees are very important to the character of Haig Park. The place plan and proposed activations will maintain, respect and reflect Haig Park's character. The short term and long term activations will be designed and implemented so as to prevent any requirement to remove any trees.