Ruth Park - Holden’s Creek Pond Playground — Attraction in District of Molonglo Valley

Ruth Park Holden’s Creek Pond Playground Location - Edgeworth Parade, Coombs ACT

Officially opened Thursday 27th of October 2022

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Ammenities (⭐️⭐️⭐️) really needs toilets, car park and shade sails due to the size and high usage of playground . As well as lack of trees. Would be great to see more fencing to the water to enclose it more.

❌ Toilets ❌ Shade Sail ❌ Tree Shade ❌ Car park Some Street Parking including limited spots and one accessible parking spot ✅ Bins ✅ Picnic Area ✅ All Access BBQ inclusive to wheelchair users ✅ Fencing to the water. Not fully enclosed , fence does end openly

The playground is themed like a birds house in the forest! From a birds eye view the play-space comes alive.

Included In the park is

Dual slide Birds Nest Tower filled with various routes to climb and explore!

Pod Trio with rope ladder connections and single slide Balance logs, posts and beams All abilities carousel Step logs throughout the play space Musical Rain wheel Talking tubes Pendulum Spider net swing Swing Sets including Canberra's first Joey swing seat (adult and infant) and All abilities harness swing Embankment slides of various sizes Duo of Ant Springers Duo if Mini kids in-ground trampolines Mini ground pod with slide Sand and Water Play Areas

The playgrounds original design proposal included toilets and a recreational sports facility but was removed and replaced with more seating and picnic areas along the pond, the playground was also pushed west of the initial proposed site to minimise the visual impact from Edgeworth Parade for local residents.

Parking is provided for nine cars including one accessible parking spot. Please be mindful of where you park legally.

Whilst trees grow, the shade structures chosen are durable metal with perforations to allow air to circulate through. They are designed to look like seasonal leaves.

A selection of trees and shrubs has been planted around and through the play space.

Pond-side seating and shade has been provided as places to reflect and enjoy the view...

This is a fun park with a fantastic view. However my 1 star is due to the fact that this park is advertised as inclusive on access canberra and it is not. Inclusive includes people with disability. As a parent of a child with special needs, my major complaints are:

The playground is not fenced. There is a small portion of the lake fenced but it is not safe.

Due to no fencing, the park is fully accessible to the adjacent road with parking and traffic.

No toilets. Not ideal for children who have toileting issues.

The park design is FUN but it’s cluttered and visually impossible to keep track of a child. Special needs parents especially of autism need to be able to shadow/keep their child in view.

It also did not appear to be at all friendly if you were physically disabled eg. Wheelchair.

Again, This is a great park but it’s not inclusive. It...

4.5/5 for the park itself - tall, fast slides, lots of different features, great landscaping (hopefully bush wee-resistant). The swings are super low though, not great for anyone taller than a 4 year old.

0/5 for the lack of toilets. I don't care that this is meant to be a park for the locals - if the government is investing millions of dollars into a fancy playground that rivals the pod playground at the National Arboretum, they should invest in basic facilities that prevent the need for kids to do bush wees or for parents to do the mad scramble back to the car to find a public toilet (there are some at the small shopping centre up the road). We avoided this place while my youngest was toilet training, for this very reason. There are also likely to be older kids and adults who need access to a toilet at short notice. Really...