ERA was engaged by Sorell Council to prepare a new open space strategy for the municipality.

The Sorell Open Space Strategy (the strategy) will sit alongside the Sorell Open Space Policy in guiding the delivery, maintenance and acquisition of open space and recreation areas in the Sorell municipality. Various state and local policies and strategies were reviewed as part of preparing the strategy and have been key in informing open space benchmarks and priorities.

The Sorell municipality has undergone considerable change in the last 10-15 years and is projected to experience the second fastest growth rate in the state. The strategy assesses population growth, characteristics, and settlement patterns to inform decision-making on the provision of open space for the growing, diverse community.

A key component of developing the strategy was the community engagement phase, which provided the opportunity to understand what the community values in terms of open space, what is working well in the open space network, and which areas require improvement. On a broad level, the community expressed dissatisfaction with the quality, distribution, access to, and maintenance of existing public open space areas in the municipality. However, there was a broad appreciation of the natural values and coastal bushland character of the municipality, as well as an understanding of the changing needs of the growing population, particularly in the suburbs of Midway Point and Sorell.

The strategy concludes with a list of priority projects and recommendations that aim to improve and strengthen the existing open space network, and to ensure the network is sufficient to support the current and changing needs of the community in future.