Warringah Council urged to abandon John Fisher Park Park plan

Friday, 06 July 2001 10:00

A proposal to by Warringah Council to recategorise parts of John Fisher Park, Curl Curl to sportsground and develop sealed netball courts would alienate the park from public use the Total Environment Centre warned today.

Total Environment Centre (TEC) Urban Campaigner Mr Leigh Martin said "John Fisher Park is a unique space in a heavily populated and developed area, it provides an area where the benefits of open space and lack of congestion can be enjoyed. This will be lost forever if Warringah Council's plans to develop the park as a sportsground proceed."

Public submissions on the draft plan of management that would categorise parts of the park as sportsground and develop ten sealed netball courts close on Monday night. Council will vote whether to adopt the plan in coming weeks. Once categorised as sportsground management of the land will be focused on sporting uses rather than public open space values.

Locals are fiercely opposed to the plan and TEC has joined the campaign, writing to the General Manager and Shire Councillors urging them to abandon the proposal
"The biggest concern is that categorising sections of the park as sportsground will allow even more development above and beyond the ten netball courts currently proposed.

We call on Council to abandon this crazy scheme to hand public parkland over to vested interests" Mr Martin said Warringah Council's plan is part of a wider trend by Council's throughout NSW to allow the alienation of public parklands by handing them over to vested interests so that they can reap a financial dividend from exclusive leases.

"Councils throughout the state are handing precious parklands over to vested interests for the sake of making a quick buck. John Fisher Park must not be allowed to become yet another example of this shonky privatisation of public open space", Mr Martin said.