Hey there, The mural on the wall sounds like a great idea. We have built small running water streams before in childcare centres (obviously they are not more than a few millimetres deep), but thats enough for the children to play with their toys in. A dry creek bed is always good or even a vegetable patch. A car track, or a small kitchenette for play. Obviously a cubby house and something to climb (within fall area reg's) is a must. There is a great book called 'outdoor kids' by Jamie Durie which has wonderful garden ideas. These are all the obvious things but sometimes they are the best. In my experience as a garden designer of numerous child care centres and even children's hospital play areas I have found that children will have fun no matter what. Maybe let the children decide and build it together? If your in Melbourne and need a consult, find us on Facebook or the net and give me a call. David - Mars Landscapes

You know, Alipetecampbell, I think a lot of good could be done by simply not allowing houses to be built unless they're designed by a qualified architect and signed off by a qualified engineer, and built to minimum standards that ensure proper passive climate control (insulation, glazing, orientation etc.) and social linkage issues - let's ban the food desert and the nappy valley. Developers have a vested interest in building cheap, and those rubbish houses sell because (a) there's not much else on the market and (b) superficially they look okay. You'd argue that what I'm proposing would raise housing costs, but let's stop making billionaires of developers, let's stop councils from charging silly money for planning fees (eminently doable if housing is professionally designed) and, as I have said above, use less land for more housing AND more greenspace too, and the cuts in cost these measures would create could go towards making all houses better.

Thank you Julie. Its so rewarding going onto our completed projects to see how it has blossomed and is giving back to the owners of the garden. Regards Chris Slaughter - Lead Designer www.scenicbluedesign.com.au

A residential draftsman needs to know about design, orientation, etc. They go broke if they don't as their plans will not be approved without meeting thermal performance requirements. Times have changed, we can't just knock up a plan and submit to council without providing evidence of it performance. No one wants to submit to council and not get approvals.