Koolambidi Woola – Bunbury Youth Precinct

Bunbury’s first-ever youth precinct was completed late June 2022 and officially opened to the public on 4 July with the name for the site being revealed to the community at an event on Thursday 7 July 2022.

The precinct boasts a multi-sports court, parkour areas, mini golf, a youth services building, beach climbing net, event and performance space and more.

The precinct was designed by skate park designers Playce and built by Advanteering Civil Engineers. Local business Geographe Civil was also involved in bringing the project to life.

Koolambidi Woola is located at Luciana Park - a site specifically chosen for the precinct and endorsed by Council after much community consultation and engagement.

The community was heavily involved in this project from the beginning.

Naming of Koolambidi Woola

After significant consultation with the community, including local Wardandi Noongar Elders, the name was chosen to reflect what the facility will represent.

Koolambidi Woola translates to ‘celebrating young people’ – Koolambidi meaning ‘young people aged 12 to 25 years’ and Woola meaning ‘celebrate’.

The in-depth consultation process involved research into the history of the area, stories from local Elders and identifying key words the local community felt resonated with the precinct.

The City of Bunbury worked with key stakeholder groups from youth, skateboarding and Indigenous communities before Koolambidi Woola was selected and endorsed by local Elders, Bunbury Youth Advisory Council (YAC) and subsequently Bunbury City Council.

The City engaged a Noongar language expert to help with the translation of the name and to ensure the combination of words are culturally appropriate.

Youth Services building

Anglicare WA was awarded a contract to deliver a youth engagement program at Bunbury’s iconic and award-wining attraction in the purpose-built youth services building.

Anglicare's team operated from the building from November 2023 to April 2023.

The program was for young people aged 12 to 25 years offering a range of engaging activities while providing an accessible and visual presence for young people to seek advice, guidance and support if they are experiencing hardship and mental health issues.

The program’s key outcomes were to:

• Increase activation of Koolambidi Woola.
• Increase the perception of young people feeling they have access to support and increased awareness of services available to them.
• Increased sense of belonging and social connection for young people.

Community service organisations and groups are encouraged to use the Koolambidi Woola building to deliver programs and be an accessible hub for young people. To book the space contact the Event Bookings Officer on 9792 7216 or email events@bunbury.wa.gov.au

This project has been made possible thanks to a $2.5 million grant from major supporter Lotterywest.
Support for the project has been provided through a grant from the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications - Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program and the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries.

Park of the Year recognition

Koolambidi Woola has been named Park of the Year at the Parks and Leisure Australia 2023 Regional Awards of Excellence!

It was also recognised with the Playspace Award for projects more than $500,000.

The Park of the Year Award celebrates and promotes vibrant, successful well designed and managed new or significantly revitalised parks/open spaces by recognising and rewarding exceptional examples of best practices in terms of design and management.

While the Playspace Award is given to a playspace that contributes to the creation of a sense of “place” for its local community and exhibits landscape and/or structural design innovation that delights and aids childhood development.

We would like to thank our co-award winners Playce who were the design consultants for Koolambidi Woola as well as the community who helped get this project off the ground and supported it.

Koolambidi Woola will now be a finalist at the National Awards of Excellence being held in October.