Enmore Park Plan of Management - Land

7.0 REVIEW7.7 Park use and recreationEnmore Park supports a number of park uses predominantly focused on informalrecreation such as walking, playing, kick about and picnics. The park serves animportant walk through function in particular providing a pedestrian through route to theMarrickville Metro Shopping Centre. Children also use the parkas a cycle through route,with older riders more likely to use the on road cycle routes to Black and LlewellynStreets.CyclingThe western side of the park which provides a more defined green park characterserves as a retreat space for more solitary park use such as sitting, lunchtime use etc.The eastern side is more open with the northern section in particular providing thegreatest open area to facilitate informal ball games, kite flying etc. Park signagecurrently indicates that ball games are not permitted in the park however this use isoccurring. Signage and Council’s strategies also note that it is an ‘on leash’ dog useonly park, however the park appears to be well utilised by local residents for ‘off leash’use.The 1991 POM included a park user survey (121 valid responses) and communityconsultations component. While this study was undertaken some time ago, the keyfindings that are believed to be of relevance today have been summarised below.PlaygroundPark User SurveyThe user survey identified that Enmore Park receives a high level of use for a local parkwith an estimated number of between 50,000-100,000 visits each year (excludingswimming pool users which was estimated to total 40,000 visits). This figure is lowwhen compared with other urban parks with swimming pools such as Victoria Park andPrince Alfred Park which at the same time received around 500,000 visits a year.The survey found that the majority of users visit the park at least once a week (58%)and that walking to the park was the most common mode of travel (76%). Generallyvisits to the park were short, with 71% of users spending less than one hour in the park.Central pathwayActivities undertaken in the park include walking (often through the park to MarrickvilleMetro shopping centre), children playing on the play equipment, and using the MagicYellow Bus temporary play facilities.The survey identified that the path running from the centre of the park to the southeastcorner is the most heavily utilised path.The key attraction of the park is the open space available, for 30% of users surveyed.Other attractions to the park included the pool and trees. The main dislike (44% ofrespondents) of the park was the standard of park maintenance, including poorlymaintained grounds and dog excrement.Cycling from Enmore RoadDog useCurrent General Community UseThe following activities generally reflect the ranges of informal uses occurring in thepark.• Walking through• Lunchtime use (predominantly western zone)• Rest and seating (predominantly western zone)• Children’s play• Barbeques• Cycling• Jogging• Dog useCurrent General Community UseThe following organised uses occur in the park.• Magic Yellow Bus (regular mobile play event)• Festival events73 Marrickville CouncilOctober 2012