Skip to main content

Contested territory

Little seems to evoke inner city community outrage as much as a battle over public open space, particularly where dogs are involved. At Elsternwick Park, emotions have become unleashed, as dog owners and sports fans vie for contested territory.

It’s a typical weekend morning and Elsternwick Park is filled with people. There are parents with children at the playground, people kicking the footy, walkers, joggers and fitness groups. There are also people wielding clipboards, seeking signatures to preserve one of the area's largest off leash dog parks.


Bayside Council’s proposal to rejuvenate open space into two ovals is causing residents to drop the ball, with reports of ‘aggro’ encounters between park users, and suggestions of a misinformation campaign. The 14.9 hectare park has provided space for passive recreation, off leash dog walking and sports, like hockey and Auskick, over its many years. But some residents are concerned that the proposal to fence and light ovals will cause noise and light pollution, put pressure on carparking, and diminish their property values. Most hotly contested is the temporary reduction in off-leash space in which residents can socialise and run their dogs.

One dog owner commented on a local Facebook forum “It’s all good. Let them play footy. We’ll just give our dogs laxettes and a run on the field before a game. They’ll soon fuck off.” 


Flyers have been left in the park by community group www.ElstyPark.com, stating that there will be a ‘large sports pavilion’, FENCE(D) OFF ovals, and eight floodlight towers and ‘AFL practice sessions EVERY WEEK NIGHT during winter under lights’. ‘Save Elsternwick Park for Everyone!’ say the flyers, stating that 50% of off leash space will be taken away.

Bayside Recreation Planner, Jason Sharp, responded to claims that the park off leash space would be reduced by 50%, and that the light towers would be AFL level, as claimed by ElstyPark: “No, that is not true.” He confirmed that Bayside ovals are at 100% capacity on weekends, and that the off leash spaces would still amount to 9.2 hectares when ovals were in use. 

When local resident Meg* was there recently, she was approached by petition wielding dog owners, keen to make sure the space remains as it is. When she instead expressed support for the oval plan, she claims she was met with an “incredibly pissed off” response. 

Meg* has been surprised by the venom generated by vocal dog owner groups. “The dog lobby seems to be made up of many self serving individuals–they seem to have no concern or regard for the community...My post grad studies are in student welfare. We need our girls to stay in sport for many, many reasons,” she said. Another resident, a parent of a young female football player, expressed exasperation at the attitudes of those who aren’t keen to share. With AFLW growing fast, he said, “We are looking for community shared facilities; not excluding anyone from community assets, be it dog walkers or Under 14 girls' footy.” 

Bayside City Council has arranged community information sessions, which a number of residents have described as 'scary'. The consultation period has been extended until August 17. Bayside Council will consider the matter on Wednesday 19 September, at a Special Council Meeting. Residents would do well to keep themselves under effective voice control.

*not her real name. Quotes used with permission.

An assignment in news writing for RMIT PWE, 2018





Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Widening Crack

The little flame in our forty-year-old wall furnace, the one that was supposed to hold tight, hang on and persist, was being extinguished, again and again. The pilot light had become unanchored, blown away and shut down. We were in lockdown, in a Melbourne winter.  We had been bunkered down in our homes on and off over the last two years. We had sat tight as we amassed days upon days of lockdown. At one stage, the summer came. We had mask-free beaches, we had open cinemas and bars.  But then, another Covid gust gutted us in 2021 and shut us back inside. Here we were, like a little pilot flame, buffeted and blown away but still holding out for better days. I would walk past the heater to find that the fan was blowing cold air into the small home. Each time we re-lit the pilot light, it didn’t last long before it was gone. Still, we kept holding onto hope as we sat through the days of rising case numbers and deaths. The gas technician (essential worker; exemption) was on his hands and kn
Post a Comment
Read more

The Waiting

Morning walk.  I wake too late to do my nature writing workshop so I decide to get out into nature instead! Head off at about 7 am, sustained on half a cup of hot water with lemon, a banana and a snack KitKat. Make it to the backbeach in time to see the gold coming up from behind the sand dunes, flowering light from the lighthouse. Tiny black and white wren on the rocks, the Plover family just foraging. A heavy gull takes off when I approach. It flies past me, sits and waits, and flies back as it senses I’m no danger. I take photos and slow-mo videos. I can hardly make out the flying birds as they rise into the dark clouds.  I keep stopping to look at things. At one point I lie with my back in the sand on the edge of the dunes. All around the waves continue coming in and the birds call. What would I do without this?  At the lighthouse, Galahs wheel and screech, their pink bellies exposed as they fly above me. A couple fall behind, screeching ‘wait for me, wait for me!’ Further around t
Post a Comment
Read more

Currawongs Spinning me Home

When the branches of Eucalyptus botryoides fall, as they often do, they root again and continue to grow. The tree is its own ecosystem. Currawongs, sleek black birds with their flash of white at the tail, build their nests, made of sticks and lined with soft material, high up in trees like this.  Some months ago, I stood in shock as arborists began to cut this tree on the next block down, over two days of vicious chain-sawing and woodchipping. I filmed the screaming tree, as it shuddered, shook and then gave way, limbs falling with the ‘thunk’ of a human body.  The tree danced a ballet for its dying and the currawongs lost one of their homes. Many love the currawong for its song, a mix of honey, with a note of uplift, a soaring whip almost, mellifluous on the updraft, ringing from up high. It sounds like an entreaty, a lament and an invitation. The onomatopoeic word, currawong , depicts the sound of their call.  Decades ago, for me these birds were synonymous with NSW, and it was a st
Post a Comment
Read more