New school playgrounds, ovals to be opened to public: Find your nearest new open space

Residents in Sydney’s crowded urban fringe suburbs with little space to play will be given access to new playgrounds and ovals connected to public schools being built in the area, in a stopgap measure to increase liveability in the growth areas.

The NSW Labor government will on Monday announce plans to extend the state’s Share Our Space program to all new schools due to open over the next two years. The program, launched by the Coalition government as a trial in the 2017 summer holidays, has grown in recent years to allow residents to access green space and sporting facilities across 250 public schools in the state – either during holidays or after school hours.

Ten new schools in western Sydney, and 10 more across the state, will automatically be added to the program when they open in 2027 and 2028, Deputy Premier and Minister for Western Sydney Prue Car will announce.

“Giving local families access to space and facilities in schools that would otherwise be locked up after school, over weekends and during school holidays, is something that just makes sense,” she said. “We have worked hard to find timely solutions for those communities, especially in Sydney’s north-west and south-west who have felt left behind, and expanding Share Our Space is an important part of this.”

Schools in Edmondson Park, Jordan Springs, Leppington, Melrose Park, Tallawong, Gables, Macquarie Park, Gledswood Hills and Wilton will open in 2027 with automatic inclusion in the program, in addition to four more regional schools.

In 2028, new schools in Box Hill, Grantham Farm and Emerald Hills (as well as Liverpool High School, which is merging two single-sex schools into one co-ed institution) will also open and be included in the program.

Currently, schools need to opt in to the scheme. The Department of Education employs security guards to unlock and then close school gates each day, and is responsible for cleaning and maintenance.

Schools that currently use the program are mostly on Sydney’s eastern side. Just under 30 schools run the program between Parramatta and Penrith, while about 90 currently run or have taken part between Parramatta and the coast.

Suburbs in Sydney’s north-west and south-west growth areas are among those most impacted by a lack of infrastructure. The Herald in May revealed the series of successive planning failures from multiple governments that led to traffic gridlock and overflowing schools without appropriate green space.

Premier Chris Minns said school ovals and courts “are too valuable to sit unused behind locked gates when there are no kids in the classroom”.

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Anthony Segaert is the Parramatta bureau chief at The Sydney Morning Herald. He was previously an urban affairs reporter.Connect via X or email.AdvertisementAdvertisement