FAQs

Council’s current Open Space and Recreation Plan is now 10 years old and no longer reflects the region’s growth, changing community needs or current recreation trends. 

The new Strategy will use current data and community feedback to guide planning and investment over the next 10 years. 

The Strategy will consider Council managed:

A local park generally serves the surrounding neighbourhood and may include basic facilities such as seating, bins, paths or minor play equipment. 

A district park usually serves several neighbourhoods or a wider community and provides a broader range of facilities and activities. 

A regional park attracts people from across the region and may also be visited by people from outside the Gympie area. 

For specific examples in our region see the section on Definitions above.

The Open Space and Recreation Strategy is a region-wide project covering parks, open spaces, sport and recreation. 

The proposed Gympie Region Sports Precinct is a separate project focused on future indoor and field-based sporting facilities. Feedback received through this consultation will help inform the precinct’s detailed design, including the types of facilities, spaces and connections the community may need. 

Council wants to better understand: 

Anyone who lives, works, studies, plays sport or spends time in the Gympie region can participate. 

Council particularly wants to hear from a broad range of people, including residents, young people, seniors, families, people with disability, First Nations communities, sporting clubs, schools, community groups and local businesses. 

No. 

The Strategy covers both organised sport and informal recreation. You may use parks and open spaces for walking, cycling, dog walking, playground visits, exercise, picnics, community events, enjoying nature or simply spending time outdoors. 

Even if you do not currently use these facilities, Council would still like to understand why.

You can complete the community survey through Council’s Have Your Say page. 

Council will also be speaking directly with sporting clubs, community organisations and other key stakeholders, and promoting the survey at selected community and sporting events.

Part A of the community survey should take approximately five to seven minutes. 

Part B is optional and allows people to provide more detailed feedback. 

These questions help Council understand whether feedback reflects the different people and communities across the region. 

They also help identify whether particular groups experience different barriers or have different recreation needs. 

You can select “prefer not to say” where this option is provided.

The Gympie region covers a large and diverse area. 

Knowing the town or suburb where respondents live helps Council understand whether needs and priorities differ across communities and whether people in different areas have reasonable access to parks and recreation opportunities. 

No personal information will be published as part of the engagement findings. 

Survey responses will be grouped and reported as overall themes, trends and statistics. Any personal information collected will be handled in line with Council’s privacy requirements. 

Community feedback will be considered alongside: 

Not necessarily. 

Council expects to receive a wide range of ideas and priorities. These will need to be considered against community-wide benefit, evidence of need, existing facilities, land availability, environmental impacts, affordability and Council’s ability to deliver and maintain facilities over time. 

The Strategy will provide direction for future planning. It will not commit Council to delivering every suggestion received. 

The Strategy will help identify needs, priorities and possible future directions. It does not provide immediate approval or funding for individual projects. 

Any future project would still need to go through further investigation, budgeting, design, approvals and Council decision-making. 

Yes. The survey provides opportunities to identify the places you use, what you value and what you think could be improved. 

Requests for individual facilities will be considered as part of the wider regional picture rather than as stand-alone project commitments.

No. 

The Strategy covers the entire Gympie Regional Council local government area, including rural communities, coastal communities, the Mary Valley and the wider region. 

Council wants to understand the different needs of communities across the whole region. 

This is the main community engagement phase planned to inform preparation of the draft Strategy. 

Council will keep the community informed as the project progresses and will publish an engagement summary outlining the main findings. The final Strategy will be presented to Council for consideration and adoption.

Council and the project team will review the survey responses and feedback received through stakeholder engagement. 

The findings will be combined with technical information, asset data, growth forecasts and recreation trends to help prepare the Strategy. 

An engagement summary will be published on the Have Your Say page, and the community will be updated when the Strategy is finalised and considered by Council. 

You can follow the project through Council’s Have Your Say page. 

You can also provide your email address at the end of the survey to receive project updates.