In April, councillor Jane Diffey asked for the council staff to look into any unused parcels of council owned land in Brocklehurst that could be turned into a park.

Cr Diffey also called for consideration to be given to the construction of a cycleway between Brocklehurst and Dubbo.

A parcel of land on Ulomogo Street has been identified as the best option for the playground. Half of the land is used for the Brocklehurst Sewage Pumping Station but council has deemed it suitable to be used.

However, while $21,000 is available for the playground, another $30,000 is needed to complete the project.

If council finds savings at the end of the financial year they’ll be allocated to the project. Council will also look at applying for grants to fund the playground in Brocklehurst.

Investigations will also be made to see if recreational spaces can be created in other villages.

Mayor Ben Shields said the villages were a great place to live and raise a family, but if they were underserviced it was something council needed to fix.

Improving the facilities at the villages help them to thrive, Cr Shields said.

“I always use Wongarbon as a great case study of what happens when you put new facilities into a village. In this case it is water. Back in 2004 town water came to Wongarbon. At the time we didn’t see much economic growth or many new houses but over the years we’ve seen a mini economic boom within that village,” he said.

Cr Diffey said a cycleway between Brocklehurst and Dubbo would encourage a healthy lifestyle and make it easier for cyclists to travel between the two towns.

Similar cycleways in Victoria had proven popular, she said.

Councillor Mohr said he travelled between Brocklehurst and Dubbo numerous times and there were always cyclists on the road.

Cr Diffey’s requested would allow council to determine if a cycleway was feasible, Cr Mohr said.