Is the Boyd Park fight finally over?

It would seem so. On December 1, the council considered, and endorsed, a planning application for a 42-storey tower in the back corner of the park where the basketball court and orchard are located.

It was not for this council to consider whether the development should or shouldn’t proceed but merely to evaluate whether it complied with the planning scheme, which Southbank Residents’ Association (SRA) always knew it did.

In any case, SRA made a passionate representation to the council highlighting the importance of this space in our community.

It was also heartening to see more than 120 submissions made by concerned members of our community.

We have always known this building was coming, and over the years SRA has made significant representations to the council against its plans to develop the site.

While the outcome is certainly not ideal, as we have argued with each opportunity the plans have been revisited by the council, we have successfully argued for some concessions.

Twice we have had the development footprint reduced, the site relocated to the other side of the park to be parallel to Kings Way, thereby casting no shadow over the park and hopefully mitigating some of the traffic noise, and most significantly the community has secured 920 sqm of community space within the development.

The library has been oversubscribed for years and the largest of the meeting rooms is too small.

Hopefully this extra space will allow for more community activity. It was good to see the basketball court was also a topic of contention.

The current location of the court was at the request of SRA after it was supposed to have been temporarily positioned at the front of the Boyd Library and children’s play area where the community garden is currently located.

Yes, the basketball court was always temporary, because in the City Road Masterplan there is a basketball court under the Kings Way overpass.

However, the City Road Masterplan is now approaching three years behind schedule.

If it wasn’t for SRA lobbying, we wouldn’t have the developed park we have now.

The park was always supposed to be provided by the developer as part of its development.

With the continual delays, year after year, contractor after contractor, we asked for our park now and not later – the council conceded.

However, it may have only stoked local anger when the community thought it was losing its park that it has come to enjoy over the past nine months.

These expectations could have been better managed by the council.

In any case, the park as we know it now will never be the same.

COVID-19 highlighted the importance of open space, particularly green open space.

While decisions of past councils can’t be blamed on this council, we certainly feel our new council clearly understands the needs, but more importantly the sentiments of our community.

In our submission to the council meeting, I asked for this council to commit to the residents of Southbank and have a dialogue with us to talk about the future and what the green and open space solutions may be.

The community needs clarity on what the council plans for Southbank, and for it to commit to a timeline.

The Southbank 2010 Structure Plan already proposes open space by covering over the Domain Tunnel entrance, however this has never been costed.

It is currently just a tease to our residents and honestly, we have had enough. In the meeting we received a commitment from the council and also a personal follow-up email from the Lord Mayor reiterating commitment to this dialogue.

Our committee is now searching for a venue large enough to accommodate our concerned residents to begin this discussion. We will certainly keep you posted.

This is just one example of the advocacy of our committee, but without membership our voice won’t be heard.

We would love your support. You can join via our website at southbankresidents.org.au, also follow us on Facebook – SouthbankResidents.

Membership is only $10 per financial year.

Finally, after a very challenging year, from our entire committee we extend our warmest wishes for Christmas and the New Year.

With a controlled COVID environment, we encourage everyone to try to get away for a well-earned break with the family hopefully over a COVID-safe summer.

Stay safe and see you in the New Year.