Many local governments and other public authorities responsible for venues of outdoor recreation struggle with the challenges of deciding what level of risk the authority should accept, in other words, how should the risk of accident or litigation be apportioned between the authority and uses?
This page is dedicated to documents that may assist authorities in making the necessary judgements, encapsulating them in policy and applying them.
Policy on whether to permit private organisations or commercial firms to occupy public land, and on what terms, are covered in a post on secondary use and a Queensland kit for the trustees of public reserves.
PaRC has unearthed a permitting policy dated 16 September 1986 by the Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works to Apply in Its Metropolitan Parks. This is from an earlier era, but could serve as a useful checklist for a modern practitioner. And here is another paper, even earlier, 1980, at a time when the Metropolitan Parks Branch was grappling with heavy usage of its nascent park system and consequently, requests from families and other groups to reserve tables in the picnic areas.
This policy paper dated 18 December 1985 applies to photographic, filming and scientific activities.