Page 3884 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 30 November 2021
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is happening all over Canberra. It is another great reason why now is such a good time for us to be having this conversation. Urban open green spaces, including our dryland ovals and parks, are one of the great things about living here in Canberra. Most residents can walk to their local park or oval and kick a footy or play with their dog, or use a playground, and we need to make sure that those places are special.
From Dunlop to Macquarie, local residents have come to me with ideas on how we can make that community open space better for everyone. I have heard every pitch possible. I spoke to a Dunlop woman recently who wanted the kids in her suburb to have a place where they could build their own BMX track. She was a grandmother; she was not looking after her kids; she was thinking about other people’s. Several people have asked for micro-forests, possibly on the model run by Edwina and The Climate Factory.
A lot of people want nature playgrounds, adventure playgrounds or all-abilities playgrounds. Disc golf, outdoor gyms, community gardens, fairy forests; there are so many great ideas. A lot of dog owners want more enclosed dog parks, and that in itself is another great Canberra conversation. Before we had them, I remember cynics saying that they would never work—“Just think of the dog fights; think of the dog poo”—but now enclosed dog parks are an institution, and I think our repurposed dryland ovals will be like that soon, too.
What I have learned from all this feedback, and from these community-led experiments is that governments should not be prescriptive. I have heard more ideas about our local dryland ovals than I have for almost any other issue, and this shows we need to listen to communities and work with them on what they would like to see. Different communities have different wants and needs but the important part is to listen to all of them and to allow them to listen to one another. The local area can then make an informed decision rather than us implementing a top-down approach from government.
I have already sponsored a great local project in Holt, which, while not on a dryland oval, represents the same kind of community spirit we would like to see brought to all 31 ovals. The Holt micro-forest is a brilliant community project brought to life by dedicated locals who saw a small, underutilised park near their homes and imagined it as a more vibrant community space that could bring people together. That project succeeded in their fundraising goals, and it is now in the works. It was great to see how it achieved tripartisan support.
I am also glad to highlight the success of popular programs like Adopt-a-Park and the community gardens grants. These provide support for local community groups to access funds from government to improve their local areas. Ensuring the community is both listened to and resourced to achieve their vision is so important, and every year we seen dozens of groups which receive these grants delivering on great ideas. I thank Minister Steel for his work on the play spaces review and for his willingness to incorporate unique consultation on dryland ovals as part of the upcoming urban open space management plan.
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