Maitland Park Green Connect Project

The Story So Far

2023 — The first Masterplan including a vision for Maitland Park was developed in close consultation with the Geraldton Community. It explored safer transport and new community facilities for the precinct and enabled the City to pitch the project to the Federal Government.

2025 — Work on the project resumed, funded by the Regional Precincts and Partnerships Program Initiative (rPPP). It expanded on the previous Masterplan to examine the precinct in a holistic way, drawing on additional specialist expertise in traffic, sustainability, access and inclusion, engineering and advisory.

2026 — A Stakeholder Reference Group (SRG) including representatives from key organisations including schools, bus operators, and community groups like FrOGGs, was established alongside student groups. A concept design for the park and the adjacent roads was developed and tested with the Stakeholder Reference Group, school student groups and the community through a series of workshops.

Now — We're seeking your feedback on the proposed direction before it moves into detailed design.

The Challenge

There are five schools located around Maitland Park: Geraldton Primary School, Holland Street School, St Francis Xavier Primary School, Geraldton Senior High School and Nagle Catholic College. Similar start and finish times, insufficient parking and limited student drop-off facilities have resulted in traffic congestion during school pick-up and drop-off times — congestion that is expected to worsen as enrolments grow.

Aside from the safety issue, the park offers limited amenity, shade, or biodiversity. While much-loved, it is an underutilised asset which offers significant potential for exploration, social interaction, community connection and activation.

Maitland Park has been part of Geraldton life for generations, and its next chapter should be shaped by the people who use it every day — students, families, neighbours and the wider community.

Why Maitland Park Needs to Change

Three consistent themes have come through the analysis, engagement and technical studies:

Unsafe

• The five schools near Maitland Park create heavy and conflicting traffic.
• There are currently five points around the park where the paths of vehicles, cyclists, buses and walking students cross. This is a significant safety issue.
• Wide roads encourage speeding, and crossings and pick-up/drop-off zones are unclear or poorly defined. This creates unsafe conditions at all times of day.

Unsustainable

• Keeping the park's turf green currently uses a lot of water for irrigation pruposes. Water-sensitive urban design can significantly improve this.
• Most streets around the park offer little or no shade, and Geraldton's hot days are projected to increase in the decades ahead. Heat stress is a significant public health risk, especially for children and the Elderly.
• The park has low biodiversity and habitat value. The carefully curated Botanic Gardens offer a glimpse of what an alternative could look like.

Underutilised

• Maitland Park is one of only a handful of large, high-quality green spaces in central Geraldton, yet it offers limited reasons for people to visit, stay or gather. We’d like to change that.

What's Being Proposed

The draft concept design responds to these issues through three key moves:

Safer streets and crossings

• Upgraded footpaths, narrower lane ways for cars, and dedicated cycling infrastructure
• Controlled pedestrian crossings with shorter crossing distances
• Formalised, shaded bus bays and designated Student Promenade connecting the two senior schools.
• Designated pick-up/drop-off areas, and separate public parking areas

A cooler, greener park

• A generous, central turf area, reducing water use and maintenance costs while providing sufficient space for much-loved events like Farmers Market and Carols by Candlelight
• Revegetation with climate-resilient native species, providing shade and habitat
• A wetland that captures stormwater, supports local wildlife and enables educational opportunities including sharing of Yamatji Culture.

A park for everyone

• A nature playground and several picnic and BBQ spots for family gatherings
• An extended botanic garden, arboretum, and a sculpture trail
• A multi-use community pavilion and event lawn for markets and concerts
• A community plaza and upgraded car parking to support visitors and events
• A pedestrian loop connecting outdoor learning spaces

The Concept Designs

Maitland Park

The concept design for Maitland Park, reimagines the public open space that isn't currently reaching its full potential by creating a more inviting place that supports recreation, community events and everyday use by residents and visitors.

Streetscape Scenario 1 - Two-Way Traffic

• Retains two-way traffic on local streets
• Formalised bus bays and pick-up/drop-off areas
• Raised pedestrian crossings at all school frontages
• Upgraded footpaths and dedicated cycling infrastructure
• Planted verges and street trees
• Healthy Streets Preliminary Evaluation Score: 66/100

Streetscape Scenario 2: One-Way traffic Loop

• Converts Carson Terrace and Maitland Street into a one-way loop
• Creates approximately 2,500m² of additional public space by reallocating road area
• Larger bus shelters and expanded pedestrian areas
• Wider footpaths and improved cycling infrastructure
• More street trees, planted verges and natural shade
• Shorter pedestrian crossing distances
• Healthy Streets Preliminary Evaluation Score: 90/100

How were the streetscape scenarios developed?

Technical analysis, independent traffic modelling and stakeholder engagement the informed the development of a number of scenarios. These scenarios were then measured against ten Healthy Streets approach, an internationally recognised, evidence based framework adopted by many WA Councils for embedding public health outcomes in the design of streets and public spaces.  The framework is built around ten Healthy Street Indicators (see table below) that focus on the human experience of using a street including how well the design supports health, safety and everyday life.

The existing Maitland Park street layout scores 25 out of 100 points due to it limited shade, narrow footpaths, complex street crossings and car dominated streetscape.

FAQs

What is contributing to traffic congestion in the area?

Investigations undertaken in 2020 and again in 2025 found:

• Limited parking supply in and around Maitland Park
• Frequent illegal or unauthorised parking occurring throughout the area
• A lack of designated drop-off/pick-up areas for light vehicles
• Poorly connected pedestrian paths and lack of controlled pedestrian crossings
• Congestion caused by the intersection spacing at the Maitland Street/Carson Terrace intersection and turn restrictions from Carson Terrace onto Cathedral Avenue

How does the Concept Masterplan improve pedestrian safety?

Formalised bus bays, carpark and student pick-up/drop-off areas separated from traffic,raised pedestrian crossings at all school frontages, upgraded footpaths and dedicated cycling infrastructure, large bus shelters and expanded pedestrian areas, more street trees and planted verges and shorter pedestrian crossing distances will collectively help improve pedestrian safety. Currently, pedestrians must navigate four lanes (on street parking, two lanes of traffic, bus bays) to safely cross the street.

How does the Concept Masterplan reduce congestion?

Formalised bus bays, carpark and student pick-up/drop-off areas separated from traffic,raised pedestrian crossings at all school frontages and simplified intersection treatments will collectively help reduce traffic congestion.

Won’t the carpark decrease the size of Maitland Park?

No, it won’t. The footprint of the proposed carpark covers the area currently used by the Croquet Club. In fact, streetscape scenario 2 will add approximately 2500m2 of additional public open space through the reclaiming of road area.

What is going to happen to the Croquet Club?

During the investigations, the Croquet Club indicated their membership is growing and they require more land to build additional greens and to increase the size of their carpark. As their current site no longer meets their needs, the City has been working closely with club members to identify an alternative location before their lease expires in 2025.  The City would assist the club with relocation.

What about the Botanic Garden and Famers Market?

The Friends of Geraldton Gardens (FroGGs) botanic garden plans have been involved with the development of the Concept Masterplan and will have a continue to be involved with the project which includes the current Botanic Gardens.

The reimagined Maitland Park masterplan includes spaces the Farmers Market can use on weekends.

Who is funding this design project and when will it be built?

The Australian Government has provided the City with $3,382,420 from Round 1 of its regional Precincts and Partnerships Program for the Green Connect Project that will supports the development of the detailed designs of the precinct and the development of a comprehensive business case for a multi-use parkland precinct, small-scale pavilion and sustainable transport hub. More here. At the end of this planning project the City will have all the documentation needed to seek external funding for the delivery stage of the Project. No commitments have been made by Council to fund construction works associated with this design project.