Safer Cities: Her Way trial kicks off in the City of Wollongong

Image: We walked through each pilot location with community members to better understand what made them feel unsafe.

What do exercise classes in MacCabe Park, live music in Dapto Town Centre and fairy lights along Darcy Road in Port Kembla have in common? They’re all trial interventions that will be rolled out across the City of Wollongong as part of the Safer Cities: Her Way project.

Safer Cities: Her Way is a collaborative partnership project between Transport for NSW and Wollongong City Council which aims to improve perceptions of safety for women, girls and gender diverse people when travelling to, through, and within public spaces and transport hubs.

This project will focus on three locations: Wollongong CBD, Port Kembla Town Centre and Dapto Town Centre. Over the next few months, Council will roll out a number of trial interventions across each location.

Wollongong City Lord Mayor Councillor Gordon Bradbery AM said the interventions have been designed to address the different needs of each location.

“Earlier in the year, we asked women, girls, and gender diverse people to review the three locations and provide feedback on where they felt unsafe and why,” Cr Bradbery said.

“We also worked with Wollongong Police and community volunteers to run several day and night walks through the spaces as well as co-design workshops to generate ideas. We’ve taken this feedback and developed a project plan which Transport for NSW has given the green light.

“By taking a community-orientated approach, we’re able to work with the people who intimately know these spaces to develop interventions that are useful.

“An example of this in practice is looking at Port Kembla. Community members there told us that Port Kembla Town Centre already has a great nightlife, what they needed was for Council to improve the amenity of the streets to make it feel safer to travel to and from the train station to the Town Centre.

“In comparison, people told us that they’d like to see more activations in MacCabe Park in the Wollongong CBD, especially in the evenings. As a result, we’ll be focussing on trialling activations such as a weekly evening picnic in the park as well as exercise classes and cinema nights.”

Image: Night walk through the Wollongong CBD.

Transport Minister Jo Haylen said everyone deserves to feel safe in public spaces and on transport networks.

“Transport for NSW’s Safer Cities Survey found women are twice as likely not to feel safe in public spaces at night compared to men, with women outside metro areas feeling even less safe.

“We know events and activations like this one in Wollongong are exactly the kind of thing that can help change these statistics. It’s fantastic to see Transport’s Safer Cities program fund trial initiatives to positively enhance public spaces.”

Member for Wollongong and Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Paul Scully said that it is crucial for everyone to feel safe in our fantastic local public spaces.

“It is essential when providing public open spaces and active transport routes, that consideration is taken to make sure that everyone can feel safe and welcome in these spaces.

“Too often girls, women and gender diverse people can feel unsafe in our community – and this can so often be solved with simple changes to amenity like increased lighting, greater line of sight through open spaces, and more accessible connections between public transport and the places that people want to visit.”

Transport for NSW Executive Director Cities Revitalisation and Place Brooke Wharton said it was fantastic to see this Transport for NSW program funding meaningful improvements in regional communities.

“The state-wide Safer Cities Survey conducted earlier this year highlighted that women in regional areas often feel less safe at night due to fewer people and inadequate lighting compared to metropolitan areas.

“The positive impact of Safer Cities: Her Way funding is evident in supporting trial initiatives and activations directly addressing these concerns. This effort aims to boost vibrancy and improve pedestrian connections in public spaces and at transport hubs in Wollongong CBD, Dapto, and Port Kembla Town Centres."

What to expect over the next few months?

Wollongong CBD – focus on MacCabe Park

Things to do:

• Picnic in the Park – weekly Thursday night music, food, and art events in MacCabe Park for women, girls and gender diverse people aged 12 to 24 years. Starts Thursday 30 November.
• Exercise in the Park - for women and girls of all ages – weekly Tuesday morning classes, 9.30 - 10.30am starting from Tuesday 5 December (except public holidays and over the Christmas and New Year period).
• Cinema in the Park - running on the 3^rd Saturday of the month from 8.30pm, starting Saturday 16 December. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Changes to how the space looks:

• Installing new lighting to reduce shadows and help make women and gender diverse people feel safer and completing landscaping work to improve lines of sight.

Dapto Town Centre – focus on Dapto Square

Things to do:

• Sounds in the Square – live music events on Fridays from 5-7pm. Starting Friday 8 December. All welcome to attend.
• Cinema in the Square – Monthly event held on the third Friday of the month from 8.30pm. Starting Friday 15 December. All welcome to attend.

Changes to how the space looks:

• Installing new lighting to reduce shadows and help make women and gender diverse people feel safer, such as LEDs, fairy lights, mood lighting. Relocating the benches to a better position and replacing the light pole with a smart, recharge pole.
• Replacing the damaged shade sail with a new shade cover.
• Installing a temporary stage for live music events.

Port Kembla Town Centre

Changes to how the space looks:

• Installing new lighting along Darcy Road and Wentworth Street to reduce shadows and help make women and gender diverse people feel safer, and to make it a more pleasant place to walk at night.
• Installing new wayfinding signage to help people travel to and from the train station.
• Commission an artist to place a new artwork on the concrete anchors of festoon lighting installed around the station.

The Safer Cities: Her Way project will run from December 2023 until the end of April 2024. Council will seek community feedback at the end of the trial period so that we can report on the results to Transport for NSW.

For more information about the upcoming events follow the City of Wollongong Facebook page or visit Council’s website.

Safer Cities: Her Way is proudly funded by the NSW Government through the Safer Cities Program led by Transport for NSW.