Ex-mayor backs public space retention

Chronicle Opinions 25 Jan 2006

I AM writing in support of the Pelican Court residents in their campaign to save their neighborhood children's playground.
    They have every right to be upset at the plans of the Rural City of Wangaratta to close and sell their park. As stated in last Friday's Chronicle the residents want to retain their local neighborhood playground.
    They do not like the idea of their small children having to travel longer distances over busy roads to a central playground. I fully agree with them.
    Our children are our future. I served in excess of a decade as a councillor of the previous City of Wangaratta. Most of that time I held the position of chairman of the Town Planning Committee. I believe that I have a good understanding of why there is so many small parks scattered throughout the city.
    I further believe that I am well qualified to comment on the intention of the present day council to sell off many of the children's playgrounds throughout the city.
    During my time as chairman of the planning committee, and probably for decades prior to that time, it was a requirement of developers to set aside a proportion of their development for 'Public Open Space'.
    Many of them did not like the idea of foregoing profit in order to meet this requirement. However, developers had no choice in the matter, it was mandatory.     Previous councils in their wisdom saw the need for local neighborhood playgrounds. They realised that the residents of the various developments would require a safe local area where their children could play.
    I do not believe that it was ever the intention that all parks would be developed with playground equipment such as swings and slides etc. Children also require safe open spaces where they can run around and kick a ball as in the Pelican Court playground.
    The idea of getting rid of the local neighborhood parks in order to finance a large fully equipped central park is ludicrous. No caring parents of young children would be at all happy or willing to send their children to a remote playground with the necessity of crossing busy roads in order to get there and home again.
    The current council is being very short sited in their stated intention to sell a significant number of these playgrounds. They do not appear to have heeded the wisdom of their predecessors when it comes to child safety.
    Having been there in the past, I have no doubt that the decision to flog off these public assets would have originated from an idea of a senior officer of council. They are more interested in a short term quick fix. The new councillors must do all within their power to rescind these recent decisions.
David Allen,
Past councillor and mayor,
Former City of Wangaratta.

It is good to see that the new council does not automatically accept the recommendations of the beauacrats presented to them at council meetings. They have recognised the ground swell of public opinion regarding the selling off of neighbourhood public space by delaying the final decision regarding the sale of these 'parks'.

Ex-mayor Allen clarifies the issue by showing that these 'parks' are actually council mandated 'public spaces' and the beauracracy has no right trying to abolish that mandate. Let us hope that our newly elected councillors continue to represent the electorate.