By Emily-Rose Toohey
Southern Downs Regional Council (SDRC) held a Connecting with Council meeting in Maryvale on 6 April, and residents discussed concerns about the park opposite the town pub.
Maryvale local Pat raised the issue and said children were not allowed to play in it for a number of reasons
SDRC Mayor Vic Pennisi and SDRC CEO Dave Burges said this may be because of a lack of equipment.
“Suitable equipment in the park would encourage kids to use it,” Mr Burges said.
Cr Pennisi said that in the long run, the kid’s playground will inevitably move to a bigger park.
“This is part of the Urban Design Framework (UDF),” he said.
“However, there is no time frame for this so there may be an opportunity to put some equipment in the existing park – it will definitely be a budget consideration.”
Nonetheless, a second local said that another reason for the park’s lack of use was not just poor equipment, but the residents beside the park are prone to bad and abusive language
“It’s become a junk yard and is not an appealing place to be,” the resident said.
“There’s a fence around the park to keep everybody out.”
Cr Pennisi said council will take this on board and consider it alongside the Park’s Optimisation Program.
“The program has been getting some pretty good outcomes,” Cr Pennisi said.
“We will have those discussions and also discuss this with the UDF going forward.”
