Rationale for parks

THE number of parks in the Southern Downs area could be reduced under a new plan currently being rolled out by the Southern Downs Regional Council.
The council will use a variety of methods to gain public input into its Parks Rationalisation Program, rolling out over the next two years.
Parks Rationalisation Committee chair Cr Vic Pennisi said councillors and staff had worked intensively on the program to ensure there was a balance between keeping the region’s well-utilised parks at the highest standards of maintenance and investigating other options for pieces of land that weren’t put to best use.
“There are over 160 parks in our region and our committee has studied each one and toured the region to look at the size, boundaries, geography and other issues of most of these.
At least 100 of the total 160 parks will be retained and are not part of the process.
“It has been a huge exercise but we have done it because we want to have an efficient use of council resources into the long term. We don’t need to be mowing and maintaining large tracts of land that are no longer used or of value to the community.
“We will be taking a long-term approach to the rationalisation process, so we can make considered decisions, taking into account feedback from our community.
“It should be emphasised that rationalisation can mean a number of different options for our open space, including reducing services, changing services, exploring leasing opportunities, subdividing land, handing back services to other owners, retaining or selling,” he said.
At the March General Council Meeting, councillors agreed to place six parks onto a land register to be considered in the 2016 budget.
The six parks are: Arcoola Park Lysaght Park, Ditton Street Road Reserve, Houghten Heights Park, Shilliday Park and Victory Park.
“These parks are all freehold and have very low usage but again council will make the final decision once we know what the community thinks,” Cr Pennisi said.
There are also the costs for surveying land, infrastructure requirements and other considerations,” he said.
Cr Pennisi said the Parks Rationalisation Committee had decided to consult with local communities in a number of ways, depending on the issues relating to each park.
“For some parks, we will hold a public meeting, for others we will hold meetings with neighbours and/or key stakeholders and others council will liaise with the State Government about handing back to government or converting the tenure of the land.
“Public opinion is very important to the decision making here – we don’t want to make assumptions about usage of parks.
“We’re also very aware that we need to think about the future use of parks and land and whether holding on to some assets will benefit or disadvantage communities in the long term.
“There are many iconic parks in this region that will have no change. These parks have very high usage, hold a great deal of community value and are part of the appeal to our region.
“We look forward to community input into parks rationalisation. It means community members are part of the important planning process of our open space,“ he said.
Anyone interested in contributing to the Parks Rationalisation Program can go to www.sdrc.qld.gov.au or phone 1300 MY SDRC (1300 697 372).