We won! Cringila Hills Recreation Park takes out national award

To say we’re excited is an understatement! We’re pleased to share that Cringila Hills Recreation Park has been awarded the national Park of the Year award.

The prestigious award was presented to Wollongong City Council last night (Tuesday 24 October) at the Parks and Leisure Australia Conference Awards in Adelaide. The award celebrates and promotes vibrant, successful, well-designed, and managed parks and open spaces.

It’s a big deal for Cringila Hills Recreation Park to win this award. That’s because it acknowledges the park as an example in best practice design and management. It also recognises the exceptional work of those who designed and built the space, as well as the many community members who participated in the design.

Wollongong City Lord Mayor Councillor Gordon Bradbery AM said that this was a real feather in Wollongong’s hat.

“We were chuffed when Cringila Hills Recreation Park won the state award in May, but to be celebrated as the best park in the country is phenomenal,’’ Cr Bradbery said.

“It’s a great honour for Cringila Hills Recreation Park to be acknowledged in this way. The locals and visitors who use the park every day to ride, walk and play already love it, but this award will share the significance of this park across Australia.

“Cringila is one of our most disadvantaged suburbs and is home to an incredibly passionate and culturally diverse community that continues to grow as those who migrated to Wollongong 60 or more years ago from post-war Europe are joined by more recent migrants from countries within Africa and the Middle East.

“This park is a whole-of-community space. To have a nationally recognised facility right on your doorstep is something of pride for many of our Cringila residents. For our broader community and visitors, it’s simply one of the best places in the city to enjoy.”

Cringila Hills Recreation Park consists of almost 12 kilometres of mountain bike trails cut into the hills of the suburb. It caters to riders of all abilities, from beginners to advanced. The park also includes a jump park for beginner to intermediate riders, plus an asphalt pump track and bike skills playground.

For those who don’t want to ride, Cringila Hills Recreation Park offers 2.4 kilometres of shared-use and walking trails, an inclusive playground designed for children of all abilities and sweeping views over Wollongong’s iconic landscape towards the ocean and Lake Illawarra.

Wollongong City Council General Manager Greg Doyle said that Cringila Hills Recreation Park was an ambitious project that took many hands over many years to make a reality.

“At its heart, is our community. To see what has been delivered is extraordinary. I am very proud of Council’s efforts to realise our vision for a fantastic recreation space. I’m also immensely grateful to our community who have supported and advocated for this project every step of the way,” Mr Doyle said.

“The way in which everyone has worked collaboratively to design, build and care for Cringila Hills Recreation Park is awesome. This is a true community asset that we should all be proud of.

“For Council this is a space that embodies our investment in cycling infrastructure. It’s part of why we earnt Wollongong the prestigious UCI Bike City label in 2021. And it’s something we can treasure as a legacy of hosting the 2022 UCI Road World Championships.”

Keen to check out Cringila Hills Recreation Park for yourself? Of course, you want to! See here for more information including a detailed map of the park.

The Cringila Hills bike trails have been proudly funded by the Commonwealth Government under the Local Roads & Community Infrastructure Program in association with Wollongong City Council.

The Cringila Hills Recreation Park is also proudly funded by the NSW Government through the NSW Public Spaces Legacy Program, Resources for Regions and Community Building Partnership 2020.

Visit our Bike City pages to find more places to ride and explore.