Once upon a time there was a boy and a girl. They lived near a large open space with trees, corners and spaces, it was a land of discovery. Once upon a time as well there was an old man who used to walk his dog in the land of discovery oblivious to the fact that he was navigating his way through a saharan desert with moon landing facilities and secret passageways.
Neither the boy the girl or the man thought about the exercise they were taking as they used their space, neither thought about the calorie burn, the team bonding, the skill development, but they did used to say hi and wave as they traversed each other's landscapes.
As the boy got older he stopped making moonscapes and started sitting under trees - both to ponder the meaning of life and to watch girls walk dogs. As the man got older he walked slower and woudl rest near the boys' tree. They would discuss life, progress and the superiority (or not) of Collingwood.
The boy and the girl grew up and went off to travel the world, the man grew older. The girl returned from her travels and had children of her own. She returned to her park but it wasn't a land of discovery any more. Now it had an enormous pavillion, shelters, barbecues... The land of discovery faced a big brick wall, and 3 of the corners were paved car parks. It was no longer a place to be human it was a place to do sport, to arrive for a purpose, complete a purpose and leave. Her children played soccer at 12 on a Saturday, cricket at 5 pm on on a Friday and she and her partner attended the odd function in the multi-purpose centre.
The boy came to visit the girl. They tried to describe the magic that had been lost, but their own children didn't understand. They understood exercise in terms of organised sport, they did not have the space to listen to the ducks or sit under a gum... In their sports sessions they mixed with other kids their age, and rarely had need or opportunity to talk to the old people doing their laps of the park.......
The girl and the boy suddenly realied the beauty of absence, the opportunity of space to simply be, where random encounters with community members could occur. More importantly they realised that their place was now just like everywhere else, bound by rules and defined by starts and finishes...
The moral of my story is to ask Boroondara Council whether true public consultation shouldn't consider some of theses questions?
- Why does development always mean adding things, couldn't development mean taking things away, or a lack of things.. Why do we always have to have MORE - more of everything - tables, shelters, huge social rooms and car parking. How do we store and maintain value of existing facilities and why does improved always mean more? All the inputs on the steering committee were from special interest groups and infrastructure related. Whats wrong with not much!!!!!
- Isn't good development that which builds and does not detract from a spaces' assets. What has happened to public consulation and service design when the needs of young people to have a place to experience natural environment, when the needs of parents to walk with their children and feel sunshine and pick up leaves, the needs of retirees to meet friends and walk and run - are subordinate to the need of organised sport to have custom grounds.
- Doesn't local mean community generated. What if the community doesn't want another sports ground, but is quite happy with their shabby a bit scrubby place of beauty. We have a unique asset different from all of the other sports grounds. Do we really want to paint the big brush of uniformity across all our spaces...
- Why does everything need to be structured? What is wrong with unorganised sport. As we struggle with obesity and fitness I sometimes wonder about the organised structured nature of activity - I want my kids to learn the joy of an aimless walk, the feeling of sunshine on their faces and the pleasure of a stolen nap under a tree.. So they grow up wanting to be fit, not wanting to be a brilliant sports person.
..and the background to my story is.....
Yesterday I went to a strange and somewhat 1970s like meeting of mainly older activists wanting to stop development in my local park (they even had a megaphone), I arrived sceptical and left puzzled and touch angry.
Hay's Paddock is an anachronism - a unique pice of natural bushland with an old fashioned oval and a play space designed for able and disabled kids - full of discovery.. It has a couple of barbecues a couple of tables and a lot of beautiful trees, corners and spaces.
2% of the park users play organised sport, 98% of park users amble, walk, play, sit under trees, walk their dogs, bump into neighbours, (run around like maniacs - those under 14...).
First, I'm very happy that we are providing more bike paths, but why does the high speed commuter route run right through a park? There is plenty of space for it to run around or behind the park. I see some problems in the co-existence of high speed commuter cyclists and children. Council's response "You are getting a networked bike path like it or not". (Gee thanks guys for the consultation).