Fairfield Council is partnering with Transport for NSW on the Safer Cities: Her Way program which will see a $1 million investment in Canley Vale aiming to improve feelings of safety, particularly for women and girls in public spaces.
About the Program
Safer Cities: Her Way is investing $10 million over two years to partner with 10 selected pilot councils across NSW to help improve feelings of safety in NSW cities and towns, particularly for women and girls moving about in public spaces near transport hubs. Fairfield City Council is one of 10 pilot councils in NSW partnering with Transport for NSW on the Safer Cities: Her Way program.
The program will engage women and girls to understand their feelings of safety when using public spaces and work directly with them to co-design and trial temporary improvements to the public spaces to help them feel safer.
Safer Cities: Her Way is part of the wider Safer Cities program led by Transport for NSW.
Engage with us
We asked for feedback on your experiences of safety in public spaces in Canley Vale, and you delivered. We recently held an online webinar to present back to you the findings of engagement and input from over 250 people on our survey, interactive map, pop-ups and walkshops. The webinar outlines what you told us about your feelings of safety in Canley Vale, your suggestions for temporary public spaces improvements and the next steps on this project. Thank you to everyone that contributed to this important work.
Click below to watch the recording of this webinar.
Click here to watch the Safer Cities Webinar
Following consultation with the community, these are the main ideas that you have said will help improve feelings of safety:
- More and different types of lighting
- Temporary activations
- Improve overall look and feel
- More public artwork
- Shopfront activation and night life
- More signage and wayfinding
- More surveillance
Implementation
The below map shows the main locations where public space improvements have been made.
Based on community feedback, the following public space improvements have been implemented in each location.
Location 1: Adams Park
- Providing good lighting around pathways and playground
- Providing table tennis with custom painted artwork
- Providing chess board tables
- Installing more bench seating
- Installing new directional signage and shared pathway line markings
Location 2: Diggers Lane
- Providing bollard lighting in the laneway
- Decorative lighting above shared pathway
- Painting on the pathway
Location 3: Canley Vale Road
- Providing accessible parklets for outdoor dining and seating options using parking spaces
- Enhancing look with customised artwork, lights, pergolas, umbrellas and planter boxes
- Creating opportunities for more people to be around and have ‘eyes on the street’ during the day and night
- Pathway areas in front of parklets will have custom artwork
What is a parklet?
A parklet is when a footpath extends on to a parking lane to provide more public space and amenity such as seating and planting when narrow footpaths prevent the installation of traditional sidewalk cafes. They combine smart transport planning with safety and good design to create an attractive destination for people to sit, eat and socialise.
The parklets on Canley Vale Road are designed with driver and user safety in mind, using sandstone blocks as buffers to ensure everyone’s safety. The sandstone blocks are positioned within the parking lane and do not present a threat to drivers and cyclists.
Location 4: Westacott Lane
- Creating a mural along the fence line at Westacott Lane
Location 5: Underpass
- New mural to replace existing artwork
- New wayfinding and warning signage
- Line marking along shared path
- Replaced halogen lights with LED lights
- Fixed lighting adjacent to rail bridge
Public Art Sites
- Creating a mural along the fence line at Westacott Lane
- Providing pathway art along Diggers Lane
- Customising ping pong table with a painted artwork
- Customising parklets with artist designed decals
- Creating murals on the retaining walls at the underpass cycleway
- Creating a mural at 2 Canley Vale Rd (subject to owner’s approval)
- Providing pathway art in areas in front of parklets on Canley Vale Rd
Measuring our impact
An important part of this program involves assessing the impact of the public space improvements, to understand the difference these changes will make for you and your community. We collected your feedback before we started work and now that we have completed the majority of works, we want to hear what you think!
Click here: https://fairfieldcity.mysocialpinpoint.com.au/her-way-canley-vale/ to complete the survey and have your say.
Photo gallery
See below photos from some of our engagement activities:
Emergency Support