Bina Parkland in Balga continues to win awards

Bina Parkland has collected another award, with Ecoscape – who partnered with the City to deliver Bina Parkland – winning the highest ‘Award of Excellence’ in the Parks and Open Space category at the Australian Institute of Landscape Architecture (AILA) WA Landscape Architecture Awards.
 
In May 2021, Bina Parkland was awarded the prestigious title of ‘Park of the Year’ at the annual Parks and Leisure Australia (WA) Regions Awards of Excellence.
 
Tom Griffiths, AILA WA Awards Chair, said the award was given to the work judged to be the most significant for the advancement of landscape architecture in each category, and that the jury was not obligated to bestow an award in each category.
 
The citation reads: “Ecoscape’s sensitive and community focussed approach to the landscape design allows this space to be carefully integrated into the existing landscape and provides new and inclusive outdoor spaces for a broad range of ages, abilities and cultures. The landscape architects led extensive engagement with traditional custodians, school students and the broader community to understand the existing site and transform it into a neighbourhood park with strong community ownership and an authentic sense of place.”
 
Mayor Mark Irwin said that whilst each award the Bina Parkland won was welcomed, it was not surprising that it continues to turn heads given the exceptional job the design team and City staff did in the engagement process when designing the parkland.
 
“Given Bina’s specific focus on the natural environment, reinforcing cultural heritage and providing spaces for social inclusion and recreation, particularly for young people, we are thrilled but not surprised that the parkland and those involved continue to claim high esteem for their work,” he said.
 
“Bina Parkland was a multifaceted project which included cross-functional collaboration between almost all teams at the City and it benefitted from significant community input at pivotal stages of the project – a real team effort which included the design team led by  Ecoscape and the contractor MG Group.
 
“The project was heavily influenced by community consultation, having won a High Commendation from Parks and Leisure Australia Awards as far back as 2016 for exceptional engagement with the community and innovative planning approaches.”
 
Ecoscape Director Patrick Jordan said he was very proud to have received recognition for Bina Parkland.
 
“This project is the result of a long period of collaboration and communication between many different parties, and we think this shows in the way Bina Parkland has been accepted and enjoyed by the Balga community.”
 
The total cost of the park was $6.2 million, with Lotterywest kindly contributing $2.34 million to the overall project via community sponsorship. Aimed at enhancing the quality of life and wellbeing for all Western Australians through funding and support, Lotterywest is Australia’s only State Government-owned lottery where all profits are returned to the community.