Pleasant People Want a Park - Melville City Herald

Pleasant People Want a Park - Melville City Herald, Volume 21 No 35, August 28 2010

More than 200 Mount Pleasant locals want an old water treatment station transformed into a park.

They turned up on-site last week to make their feelings known, saying preservation of open space is even more important given the council's enthusiasm for it's high-density Canning Bridge Precinct plan.

Rhonda Kerr says the recently demolished Water Corporation plant in Clive Street frees up 3200sqm. Turning it into a park would require the council to purchase the multi-million dollar site.

"Whilst the state standard for public open space is 10% of the area, Mount Pleasant has only five per cent - and that includes the car park at the rowing clubs," Ms Kerr said.

The council's own policy states locals should be no further than 400m from public open space, but many Mt Pleasant residents are 800m or more away from the nearest green space.

"The proposed park is close to the Canning Bridge Precinct [which] projects a massive increase in density and population, 1000 per cent increase in the number of workers and 234 per cent increase in the number of residents," she says.

Stoke Street's Graham James says families need access to safe parks where children can play.

"This area, bordered by Clive Street, Baldwin Avenue and Ogilvie Road, is perfect for a park as it is close by but on quiet local streets." "Melville has some great parks, including those at Heathcote, Deep Water Point and Point Walter, and these parks are heavily used by the community. More parks are needed to cope with the increased numbers of people in the area."

Ms Kerr has whipped up 230 signatures on a petition to hand to the council next week.

Council CEO Shayne Silcox says the land is not city-owned and "hypothetically the owners may decide to develop the land for residential purposes."

Water Corp flak catcher Clare Lugar says the station was only recently decommissioned and it's too early to say what might happen.

Park Push for Mt Pleasant - Melville Times 17 August 2010

Park Push for Mt Pleasant


Published: Melville Times, 17/Aug/2010 

ABOUT 200 residents turned out to a community barbecue in Mt Pleasant on Sunday to appeal to the City of Melville to buy and turn a demolished water treatment station into open parkland.

Melville Action Group members, schoolchildren, seniors, Tangney MHR Dennis Jensen and candidates David Doepel (Labor) and Pete Best (Greens) and Liberal Senator Chris Back spent the afternoon discussing why the land should be turned into parkland and how it could be done.

In July, the Water Corporation demolished the water treatment station on Clive Street and community members now want the site turned into a park.

Mt Pleasant resident Rhonda Kerr said the 3200sqm vacant block presented a “rare opportunity” to provide vital public open space to the suburb.

“The state standard for open space is 10 per cent, City of Melville’s average access to open space is 18 per cent, but the access to open space in Mt Pleasant is just 6 per cent and this includes the Rowing Club and the car park,” she said.

MAG member Graham James said the aim of the barbecue was to influence local and State government representatives to ensure that development throughout the City satisfied the needs and wishes of the Melville community.
“The residents want the space to be turned into park, not into a three-storey housing development,” he said.
“The city’s policy is that every resident should have access to public open space within 400 metres of their homes, but most people in this area have to walk for 800 metres or more.”

But Melville chief executive Shayne Silcox said the pumping station land was freehold and not owned by the city, so “as long as it met the requirements of the Community Planning Scheme, it was up to the owners on how they developed or sold the land”.
“The land is in three parcels owned by the Water Corporation, Landgate and the Crown Land Department,” he said.
“The land has a multi-million dollar market value and hypothetically the owners may decide to develop the land for residential purposes.”

Mr James said the community group would hold a meeting every Sunday afternoon at the open space bordered by Clive Street, Baldwin Avenue and Ogilvie Road until their message was made clear.

Comments:
Alan Diggin, 31/08/2010

The City is already protecting old road reserves in the precinct in the review of the Town Planning Scheme. These were previously identified for a sell of by the Crown for housing . The same should be done here . The land should be zoned for open space under the Scheme review. That would be a good start to getting a park rather than housing on the land.

Thanks for Your Support!





Nearly 200 Mt Pleasant residents gathered in the new found shade of a temporary park on the old Water Treatment site in Mt Pleasant on Sunday the 15th August.

Speakers discussed the important issue of poor access to usable public open space for young children and older residents unable to walk 700m to the nearest park. Mt Pleasant has less than 5% public open space compared to the Melville average of 18%.  Local Residents overwhelmingly agreed, that the purchase of this land by The City of Melville, is a once in a lifetime opportunity for our community and is too important to pass by. Residents showed their support by signing a Petition to The City of Melville and were also encouraged to contact the City of Melville's Elected Members directly, to voice their concerns.   

The importance of public open space for local community use was described as the one area of complete agreement for the political rivals for Dr Dennis Jensen's Seat of Tangney.

Both the Greens Candidate Pete Best and the Labor contender David Doepel warmly endorsed Dr Jensens’ call for access to public open space where kids can kick a footy and play.

‘Sunday in the Park with Balls’ looks like becoming a regular event for the 40 or more children of the area who now have somewhere off the streets to play. Families and neighbours often meeting for the first time, intend to make good use of the area until the City of Melville approves the sale of the land for 4 more large houses.

As local resident Murray Meaton said, “The benefits of a park for the community may outweigh the addition of only 4 houses to the City of Melville rate revenues.”

Thank you again for all for your support and we look forward to meeting regularly each Sunday afternoon at 2.00pm at our park.

Have Your Say Now!

Want to sign our Petition? 
Great. Call Rhonda Kerr 9364 5982 and we will arrange for your support to be included.

Who is my Local Elected Member and how do I contact them?
Full details of your local members can be found at Elected Members of The City of Melville

How do I contact The City of Melville online, to show my support for increasing public open space in Mt Pleasant? 
For the first time Melville Council is using an online forum to make getting involved easier for residents.

Over the next three months, this forum will listen to your thoughts and views about our community to help the council create a Cultural Vitality Plan. Online Council Forum

or better still......get your kids involved and enter the Photo-voice project.Melville City Council - Photo Voice Project

Grab your kites, balls, friends and get set for some fun!

Get set for some fun in our park and spread the news!

We are planning an event in which people can use the beautiful open space 

located between Baldwin Ave, Clive St and Ogilvie Rd Mt Pleasant

for kite flying, ball games and loads more fun 

on Sunday 15 August 2010, from 2.00pm onwards.

We are also expecting to replace the white roses which were stolen from the site recently.

Dr Jensen, MP and Prof David Doepel who is the ALP Candidate for Tangney, have both confirmed their attendance. We have also extended invitations to Senator Dr Chris Back, Dr Janet Woollard  along with the local press and the West Australian.

We would love to see everyone there to show your support for our campaign . Please pass on this information to all you know to ensure there are plenty of people in attendance.

Say Yes to more open space in Mt Pleasant!

Welcome neighbours!

As a resident of Mt Pleasant, you may have noticed the Water Corporation's Clive Street Pumping Station was demolished in July 2010. The old pumping station was not used for many years and located on Ogilvie Rd bordered by Baldwin Ave and Clive Street.

It is only now that the walls have come down, that people can truly appreciate how wonderful this area is for a local park. It’s an ideal size in an ideal location in a Ward that needs more parkland.

We agree that this site will make a truly wonderful park in an area of Melville that is very short of local parks and parkland. From this shared belief, our local community action group "Real Parks for Mt Pleasant" was born.

Real Parks for Mt Pleasant meets each Sunday afternoon at 2.00pm at the site of the old Pumping Station, to rally support from our community to convince Melville City Council to consider this site as a valuable addition to the city's beautiful open space.

As we all know there are many and significant benefits for the community. Some of the benefits include:

•  Just like when Council purchased the land of the old Melville school site a few years ago, this is a one-off opportunity that must not be missed. 
•  There will never be a better opportunity for the Council to purchase an appropriate area of land for a park in Mt Pleasant than they have with this site.
• It’s in close proximity to the Canning Bridge Precinct, and the Draft Canning Bridge Precinct Vision projects a massive increase in density and population (1000% increase in the number of workers and 234% increase in the number of residents).
• A significant increase in population will require much more in terms of local parks for children and families, and some of these need to be:

a) of a reasonable size, and

b) located away from the high traffic along Canning Highway

• This location is perfect, and it is easily and safely accessible for people living in the Canning Bridge Precinct on the south side of Canning Highway.
•  The Council has a policy of a local park within 400 metres of every home. This vicinity and this Ward doesn’t come close to meeting this policy. Existing parks are around 700 to 900 metres from this location. I believe the council has an obligation to seriously look at trying to purchase land in this ward to help it address the current shortage of local parks in this vicinity.
• It’s in a relatively quiet and safe area that is easily accessible but it doesn’t have the hazards of high traffic volumes on any of the surrounding roads. This site is clearly visible and is an open area which is good for safety.
• This site is ideally located mid-way between:

· Canning Bridge and Deep Water Point;
· Canning Highway and Coogee Street;
· the Canning River and Ardross Street.

•  It’s ideally located mid way between other parks. It’s approx:

· 850 metres to Apex Park (at Canning Bridge)
· 750 metres to Deep Water Point
· 950 metres to Shirley Strickland oval
Note: the policy of the city of Melville is for every resident to have access to public open space within 400 m of their home.

• It’s not too far from current thoroughfares and areas planned for higher density and many more residents. It’s approx:

· 340 metres from the Canning Bridge Precinct
· 630 metres to Canning Highway along Ullapool Rd
· 680 metres to Canning Highway along Ogilve Rd
· 320 metres to Reynolds Rd

• It will never be cheaper to buy than it is today. And the Council can negotiate with just one stakeholder (Water Corp) to pay a fair price for the land.

Thank you for those of you who were able to meet today for a very positive beginning to our campaign for a park in Mt Pleasant. I must apologise to those who did not get information about the meeting today but hope that next week we can gain your input and ideas.


We look forward to our meetings each Sunday at 2.00pm until we can get the job done. The more residents who can be part of these times to share ideas and information the better so please share this information with your neighbours and friends.