Tips sought on youth precinct

The group of young residents helping grow Bunbury’s plans for a youth precinct in the city is calling on the community to put its stamp on the project.

Bunbury City Council will launch into community consultation for the long-awaited youth space after appointing designers and consultants, Playce, for the project.

The precinct has been earmarked for development at Luciana Park, across from Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre, and is being driven by Bunbury’s Youth Advisory Council.

Youth Mayor Sean Smith said the dedicated youth space, which was likely to include a skatepark and potentially basketball courts, needed to have input from those planning to use it.

“It must have what young people want, so we don’t want to dictate that, we want young people and the broader community and families to tell us,” Mr Smith said.

“Then we can gather all of the ideas and different perspectives to take that to a design concept.”

He said the end result would be a space where the community could meet somewhere central, that did not cost anything and promoted engagement and activities.

“(It will be) something they can really be proud of and for the next generation and the current generation of young people to really own Bunbury a little bit more,” he said.

A public forum will be held on September 2 at Dolphin Discovery Centre, followed by a technical workshop two days later.

Playce representatives will also be visiting local schools to gather feedback from students as well as hosting a series of pop-up sessions in the CBD.

A draft concept design will then be revealed in mid-October before the community is asked to give its final feedback on the design ahead of council endorsement in December.