By Di Ferrara
Kingsville resident
Maribyrnong City Council is proposing a redevelopment of Beevers Reserve in Kingsville under the State Government’s ‘community-led’ Pick My Park program.
The plan includes better play equipment, landscaping and seating, and these are welcomed. However, it also includes a public toilet for the reserve and the closure of nearby Coronation Street. These last two proposals have triggered an overwhelming opposition from local residents.
I have lived opposite Beevers Reserve for more than 20 years and have never seen this level of opposition from local residents.
Across multiple consultation sessions residents have repeatedly raised concerns about a public toilet being built there. When asked to place dots on voting boards to indicate our stance on the proposal the ‘no’ dots were in the overwhelming majority.
Residents are adamant that a public toilet does not belong in a small residential pocket park surrounded by homes and used daily by local families.
There is already anti-social activity occurring in the park on a regular basis at night, especially in summer months; fights over drugs, knife fights, guns, and monkey-bike riders tearing up the turf.
A toilet block will lead to a loss of visibility and ‘passive surveillance’ making it even easier for anti-social behaviour to occur.
Residents are also concerned that closing Coronation Street will funnel additional traffic into local streets, including Wales Street, directly beside the reserve where children play every day.
There are additional concerns that proposed BBQ facilities will further intensify activity, rubbish and traffic around an already limited neighbourhood green space in an already contested parking setting. The BBQ is an intrinsic element in council strategy, as they believe that once this goes up the need for a toilet will become evident.
By distinct contrast, McIvor Reserve in Yarraville, which constitutes 46 acres and has a BBQ and rotunda, has no toilet!
Beevers Reserve is a ‘pocket park’ by definition and by the Council’s own description (Beevers Reserve is a small neighbourhood open space with playground and kick-about space) and is designed to give nearby residents a chance to spend some time in a grassy area away from frenetic activity. Council is intent on making this something it was never meant to be.
None of our concerns appear to matter. Despite our opposition, the final council decision retains the key disputed elements.
At the April 21 council meeting, residents were not permitted to speak before the unanimous vote.
Formal questions submitted for the public record were not answered before the decision proceeded.
A later April 30 meeting regarding the Coronation Street closure was then cancelled at short notice while residents were in transit.
When residents raised concerns about safety and visibility, they were told ‘peer surveillance’ would help address these concerns. Many residents found that response astonishing.
If overwhelming visible opposition changes nothing, was this genuine consultation, or simply a procedural exercise before a foregone conclusion?
