At Newy with Kids, we’re all about helping families discover great play spaces and so we jumped at the opportunity to do a deep dive about local parks and playgrounds with City of Newcastle.
Did you know there are more than 115 playgrounds across the Newcastle LGA? Playgrounds vary in size from cute local playgrounds where you can meet your neighbours to larger fun-filled playgrounds like those at Gregson Park and Richley Reserve.
There are also multi-functional play spaces such as Stockton Active Hub and Wallsend Active Hub that include fun playgrounds, active spaces along with skate / scooter facilities.
You can search for equipment, location and features in City of Newcastle’s Playground and Sports ground search. It’s a handy way to find playgrounds with barbecue facilities and seating for example.
As well as playgrounds in public parks, City of Newcastle also provide play equipment at its swimming centres at Mayfield, Stockton, Beresfield and Wallsend.
Credit where it’s due – City of Newcastle’s Community & Recreation team does an impressive job designing, developing, and maintaining the spaces our community loves. Keeping our local parks and playgrounds running smoothly is no small task, and it’s a year-round effort behind the scenes.
The Team looks after City of Newcastle’s playground assets, with responsibility for auditing, maintenance, renewal and investment in new playgrounds to meet community needs.
Each year, City of Newcastle choose 4 – 5 local playgrounds to renew and upgrade. These enhancements include upgrading play equipment, installing softfall surfacing, seating and accessible footpath connections.
City of Newcastle undertakes a full condition audit of Newcastle’s play areas every two years and prioritises the play areas in the poorest condition for renewal.
In 2024, there were playground upgrades at Adamstown Park, Coolamin Reserve in Waratah and Rawson Park in Stockton as well as a repair of rubber softfall at Islington Park.
The highlight last year was the much-needed overhaul of the playground at Gregson Park. City of Newcastle delivered a new large, inclusive playground at Gregson Park as part of the Gregson Park Masterplan.
This central playground is popular with families as it includes equipment for a range of ages and abilities, including a six-metre-high climbing tower, trampolines and a balance obstacle course, as well as a softfall mound with slides, rope and rock-climbing elements.
When initiating new projects, the Community and Recreation Team seeks input from the community and pursues grant funding opportunities. For smaller playgrounds, they deliver the project in-house but work with project planners, project managers and consultants to help bring larger projects such as Livvi’s Place at Foreshore Park to life.
Newcastle’s first regional scale playground is on its way, with construction of Livvi’s Place, an inclusive play space and splash pad due to commence at Foreshore Park in late 2025. It will have four separate zones including junior and toddler areas, water and nature-based play areas and quiet spaces, connected via accessible paths, seating, shade, gardens and lawns.
The provision of new and upgraded playgrounds is based on community need, which is identified through extensive community consultation and master planning processes. For example, Livvi’s Place was identified as part of the 2015 Foreshore Park Plan of Management and the Newcastle Harbour Foreshore Masterplan adopted by the elected Council in December 2022.
In June 2025 work began on a new playground and half-court basket basketball area at Beauford Avenue Reserve in Maryland as part of City of Newcastle’s annual Playground Replacement Program. Playgrounds at Morpeth Road Reserve at Waratah West, Johnson Park at Lambton and the playground at Stockton Pool are also scheduled to be replaced.
The Parks staff include people trained and qualified to carry out weekly visual inspections on all of City of Newcastle playgrounds to ensure safety and quality. There’s also a Playground Maintenance Technician and several back up team members who carry out repairs to Australian standards.
Beyond playgrounds, City of Newcastle is home to 250 parks. Whether you’re going for a walk or bike ride, having a picnic or barbecue, or simply soaking up some time in nature, there’s no shortage of beautiful green spaces to explore.
Behind the scenes though are 11 teams of hard-working operational staff who take pride in maintaining our parks and playgrounds. As you can imagine, it’s a huge task to keep sports fields in good condition, mow grass, control weeds, empty bins, clean skateparks, footpaths, barbecues and seating areas, repair play equipment, return escaped sand to sand pits, and plant beautiful seasonal flower displays.
Next time you’re at Gregson, Civic or King Edward Park you might see City of Newcastle’s gardeners, Pat and his team, as they prepare the soil, mark the design or plant thousands of annual flowers and plants in the garden beds.
“The best part of my job is seeing families and visitors enjoy the floral display we create. Making our parks great places to be for our community is our number one priority,” Field Supervisor Pat Lowe said.
At Newy with Kids, we definitely have our favourites when it comes to parks and playgrounds.
If you want a great park for a traditional family day out with playgrounds, flower beds, mature trees and shaded picnic areas, we recommend Lambton Park, King Edward Park, Gregson Park, Jesmond Park and Centennial Park. When its blooming seasons, we love Garside Gardens at King Edward Park and the roses at Lambton Park and Jesmond Park.
For nature lovers, Blackbutt Reserve is a must, with 182 hectares of bushland to explore, free wildlife exhibits, a fun playground and a new multipurpose community facility and café to enjoy.
We love parks with a side of history especially Wallsend Brickworks Park, Cathedral Park, King Edward Park, and the Convict Lumberyard. These provide an opportunity to get out and explore Newcastle’s rich heritage.
If you want cooling breezes in summer time and some views, head to Dixon Park, Empire Park, King Edward Park, and Foreshore Park.
For active kids, head to skate/active hub facilities at Empire Park, Dangar Park, National Park, South Newcastle Beach, Wallsend Park, Federal Park and Stockton, which cater for scooter and skaters of all ages.