Hi to everyone,
Please see the link below to the Council Active living strategy which I played a major part in putting together and was a major reason why I put my hand up to stand for council. I believe we must do a lot better in our playgrounds, picnic areas, and amenity to support active lifestyles.
Please take the time to fill out the survey. If you agree with some of the points I raise below please add support where you are asked for comments. Also feel free to add your own ideas which can form part of the final plan.
One of the things I have tried to push for is to add a pavilion including a café/restaurant to Bellerive beach, and then down the track to consider Little Howrah, Lauderdale, 7 Mile and even Lindisfarne to support people using beaches, coastal trails and participating in aquatic or other events.
The best part of my approach is that these facilities can be built and operated by business and include outdoor dining spaces, better public toilets, showers and changing facilities at no cost to the community and will create a better exercise amenity, and support a healthy culture and more social interaction for all ages. The land would not need to be sold, but leased and the revenue received can go back into council coffers to support the rest of the public open space. A win win for everyone.
But I can only achieve these sorts of things if people get behind me when I ask my colleagues to consider them. The reason why we do not have beach pavilions is because we have not demanded them. This has to change. Sure there will be some against this sort of thing But the positives outweigh the negatives in my mind.
We also need a longer term plan to improve our playgrounds to cater for all ages and abilities, not just toddlers. And our picnic areas need better amenities like more BBQ’s, tables and seats and I’d even like to consider fire pits to make them more useable in winter. We don’t really have any great areas where you can arrange a large gathering which is set up to do that.
A more trans parent application for funding process is also vital. At present there are no council processes to apply for funding of infrastructure that ensures that all requests are captured and processed in a timely manner. Too often discussion happen with staff, aldermen, the General manager and mayor and even sporting associations without everyone knowing who is saying what to who. Outlining what is required when applying and keeping a structured process will definitely support better decision making.
Also a move away from organised sport means that we need things like the change rooms at beaches, wash down points for water craft, more local bike pump tracks for kids as well as better exercise spaces such as ninja trails, covered open spaces in parks with soft fall for individuals to do stretching, yoga, functional training etc that can also be hired by commercial providers to run group exercise classes. Local jogging trails with distance markers, lights, chin up and other functional bars, and provision for coffee vans in high use areas to support existing recreation activity.
Essentially we need to make our environment more attractive to people who want to keep active and engaged in their local community. We still need organised sports infrastructure but that must be multi use/multi purpose and no more one team, one ground facilities moving forward.
Anyway have a read and add your 2 bobs worth and if you agree with some of the above, please add support where you can. If we don’t get a lot ofd positive feedback I fear that things will not change at the pace I think most of us would like to see.
Cheers
PS Please do it now so you don’t forget and remember to share this link with other people who you know may be keen to contribute.