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 Highway and Coogee Street;
· the Canning River and Ardross Street.
- It’s ideally located mid way between other parks. It’s approx:
· 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:
· 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.
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.
I totally agree with the following statement in an article on page 32 of the West Australian newspaper on Tuesday 10 August 2010..
ReplyDelete"Curtin University professor of health policy Mike Daude said all levels of government should be striving to increase public open space, not cut into it."
I believe the City of Melville is concerned about increased water consumption that will occur when parkland is added. A few comments:
ReplyDelete1. A park will be watered using bore water, so less metropolitan scheme water will be used with a park than if there are houses there. This means a park is a better option when considered holistically.
2. I believe that no more water will be used for a park than will be used by the residents of four houses (all of which will have gardens, and many/all will probably have a swimming pool).
3. The City of Melville water useage PER RESIDENT on parkland in this area is surely decreasing. The density of housing, and the number of people living (and working) in Mt Pleasant area, has increased significantly in the past 20 years. The City of Melville needs to provide adequate parkland for residents and people working in the area. With the increase in density that has been occurring in this area, and will continue to occur in the Canning Bridge Precint, I believe the City of Melville has a responsibility to provide more parks / parkland in this area.
The work of Prof Mike Daube is internationally respected and I think his advice on the importance of public open space for health is worth paying attention to! Well done Graham for bringing this to our notice.
ReplyDelete