Rules to Protect a Park

Centennial Park Rules  

Like most public parks, Centennial Park has rules to make sure people can enjoy the park sustainably and safely. Park rangers enforce the rules at Centennial Park and people can be fined if they break the rules.

[Image: Dog off leash sign in Centennial Park]

Here are some of the rules at Centennial Park:

• The maximum speed limit for cars and bicycles is 30 kilometres per hour
• Tents are not allowed
• Damaging or removing plants is not allowed
• Throwing anything into the ponds is not allowed
• Dogs must be on a leash unless they are in an off-leash area of the park
• Dogs are not allowed near ponds, on the horse-riding track, or close to children’s playgrounds
• Playing loud music without permission is not allowed
• Lighting fires is not allowed
• Fishing in the ponds is not allowed
• Cows, sheep, and chickens are not allowed in Centennial Park!
• In the past, the area that is now Centennial Park was used for grazing livestock (e.g. cows and sheep) which might be why the last rule is there. 

[Image: dog on a leash]

Littering problems

Littering is illegal in all parts of Australia, so it is also against the rules in Centennial Park. Unfortunately, not everyone does the right thing when it comes to putting their rubbish in the bin. Only about 8% of the waste from Centennial Park is recycled. A lot of recyclable items get thrown in the non-recycling bins. Also, recycling bins get contaminated with food scraps and other rubbish that is non-recyclable.

Most people know that littering not only looks bad, but it can also be very damaging to wildlife. Here are a few ways littering can be harmful to the wildlife at Centennial Park:

• Animals can mistake rubbish for food and eating rubbish can cause an animal to become sick or die.
• Eating human food scraps like bread and chips can cause birds and other animals to become sick. Even fresh fruits and vegetables can harm wildlife if the food is not part of an animal’s natural diet.
• Animals can get tangled in plastic bags, fishing line, and other rubbish. 

There are a lot of turtles living in the ponds in Centennial Park. If a turtle eats plastic by mistake, it can become very sick and even die.

[Turtles on a log in Centennial Park pond]

Centennial Park is home to over 140 different types of birds. Some of the largest birds in the park are the geese, black swans and pelicans.

[Image: Black swans in Centennial Park pond]

Fishing is against the rules at Centennial Park but occasionally people try fishing in the ponds if they don’t know or don’t care about the rules. If they care even less about the wildlife in the ponds, people sometimes leave behind pieces of fishing line that can be a big threat to the birds living in the ponds.  

[Image: Pelican. John Spencer/DCCEEW 141599]

One day, a large pelican became tangled in fishing line. The fishing line was around its legs and also twisted around a large branch. The pelican could swim slowly with the branch trailing behind it in the water, but it could not fly. Luckily, a team of five wildlife rescue volunteers visited Centennial Park to save the bird. They paddled two canoes in the pond to guide the pelican to the bank. A volunteer on the edge of the pond held a large net to catch the pelican. Even though the pelican was scared of getting close to people, the volunteers did what needed to be done to rescue the pelican and cut it free from the fishing line.