Park visitor facilities policy

Park visitor facilities provide sustainable, safe visitor access to parks at a standard appropriate to each location and setting. Infrastructure and facilities are carefully planned to protect the natural and cultural values of the park, balanced with visitor needs and consistent with legislative requirements.

Principles

• The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) undertakes appropriate planning prior to the installation or upgrade of park visitor facilities.
• Visitor facilities planning and design processes are sensitive to the environment, culture and heritage of the area, and visitor needs.
• Visitor facilities planning and design meet legislative requirements and relevant government and industry standards.
• NPWS visitor facilities have a recognisable identity and image that is consistent across New South Wales, while reflecting local cultural and physical character.
• The NPWS Park Facilities Manual provides detailed design principles and guidance and is applied to all park visitor infrastructure and facilities.

Policy

1–5. Park Facilities Manual

1. NPWS develops, implements and regularly reviews and updates the Park Facilities Manual (the Manual).
2. The Manual provides a coordinated set of standards to ensure delivery of well-planned, consistently recognisable, and quality visitor infrastructure and facilities in parks. The Manual also provides scope to tailor the design of infrastructure and facilities to take account of specific site conditions or characteristics.
3. The planning, installation or upgrade of visitor infrastructure and facilities follows the principles and technical specifications within the Manual.
4. Variation from the Manual may occur with the appropriate approvals specified in the Accountabilities section of this policy.
5. The Manual is for use by staff and project contractors engaged by NPWS. Copyright of the Manual sits with NPWS. Sharing the Manual with external parties, or any part of it (such as technical designs), requires specific approval.

6–8. Planning visitor facilities

6. Overall planning and statewide priority setting for new and replacement park visitor infrastructure and facilities occurs in accordance with the Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) system and NPWS Asset Management Plan (AMP).
7. Proposals involving new sites or significant expansion or upgrade of existing sites require the preparation of a master, precinct or site plan that addresses the planning, design and construction of visitor infrastructure and facilities in that location. The type of plan(s) required will depend on the scale, complexity and type of proposal being considered (refer to the Definitions section of this policy).
8. All planning processes will respond to and address:
   1. a location’s natural characteristics (such as topography, geology and vegetation)
   2. local heritage and cultural influences
   3. recreation opportunities that are compatible with park values, in accordance with the relevant plan of management or statement of management intent
   4. the design principles and relevant requirements of the Manual
   5. advice and inputs, as necessary, from relevant specialists (such as landscape architects, heritage experts, architects, engineers, and accessibility consultants), and the community and key stakeholders.

About the policy

Policy adopted December 2008

Policy last updated October 2025

Scope and application

This policy applies to all lands acquired or reserved under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 (the Act) except for lands reserved under Part 4A of the Act (unless the Board of Management for those lands has adopted the policy). However, NPWS staff can use the policy as guidance when working with Boards of Management and on Part 4A lands.

Objectives

This policy aims to support consistent application of the NPWS Park Facilities Manual to deliver well-planned, designed and constructed visitor infrastructure and facilities. 

Definitions

Manual means the NPWS Park Facilities Manual.

Master plan is a document that considers the entire area of a park or set of parks. A master plan provides a broad long-term vision and strategic framework for future use. It sets out overarching guidance on visitor infrastructure and facilities, rather than specific design details.

Park means a reserve gazetted under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 (the Act), including a national park, nature reserve, historic site, Aboriginal area, state conservation area, karst conservation reserve, regional park or any land acquired by the Minister under Part 11 of the Act.

Park visitor facilities are:

1. assets that enable visitor access into and within a park. Typical examples include walking tracks and related structures such as bridges and boardwalks, campgrounds, access roads and trails that support visitor use, as well as public car parking areas. This does not include park operational management infrastructure such as staff carparks or water assets (such as dams and weirs, bore heads and pumps).
2. specific, tangible elements, such as publicly accessible buildings or structures that provide a specific function or service within the park at a particular location. Examples include visitor centres, buildings for short stay accommodation, toilets, shelters, barbecues, picnic tables, seating and fire rings within a day use area or campsite. This does not include park management facilities, including buildings used for operational purposes (depots, offices and staff accommodation), roads, airfields and helipads.

Plan of management means a plan of management under Part 5 of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 for a park.

Precinct plan is a document dealing with a specific area of a park that often has a consistent landscape setting and character. It covers a smaller area than a master plan and can be standalone or focus on a ‘precinct’ within a larger master plan area. A precinct plan provides detailed guidance on visitor infrastructure and facilities in the identified area and shows how these elements intersect with the broader vision and framework for the park. 

Site plan is a document for a specific, project-related definable area within a park or precinct. It provides finer level details about the location, layout and construction of infrastructure and facilities for visitor use, supporting implementation and delivery.

Accountabilities

This section outlines NPWS staff with significant responsibilities for ensuring implementation of the policy.

Positions with significant responsibilities