THE Jim Donald Parklands at Eastern Heights has received an upgrade thanks to a $600,000 injection of funds from the Ipswich City Council.
The upgrade allowed a new connection to the park by a new footbridge and footpath resulting in a more accessible park for the community by joining the sporting fields over the storm water drain.
Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said Jim Donald Parklands is home to the Silkstone Baptist Soccer Club, Raceview Soccer and Brothers Cricket Club as well as the broader community who enjoy the barbeque facilities, playground and picnic facilities.
“Having both sides of the Jim Donald Parklands accessible by this new footbridge and footpath means residents are able to utilise the whole of this space for exercise and to ensure easy movement around the park,” Mayor Harding said.
“This work has now been completed to complement the newly opened clubhouse which is home to the Brothers Ipswich Cricket Club and Raceview Soccer Club.
Together this infrastructure is ensuring that Council is providing both sporting facilities and easy access for our rapidly growing community, so they can stay active.
“The design of the footpath took into consideration cultural aspects of the historic wetland area with stencils creating dragon fly and turtles with the First Nation symbols included to represent this area as a common meeting place.”
Division 3 Councillor Marnie Doyle said works had been constructed with accessibility in mind.
“During Covid, I was contacted by a group of senior residents experiencing difficulty using the park for exercise and to travel between Madden Street and the Silkstone Village Shopping Centre,” Cr Doyle said.
“As a result, I successfully advocated for council to construct the footpath and footbridge to coincide with completion of the new clubhouse.”
