Unexpected support_3001

Testing Grounds garnered some unexpected support last month, through the City Rd consultation.

The consultation included an interactive map (see our story on page 3), which included four positive comments about Testing Grounds, which makes up over 20 per cent of all positive comments about City Rd during the consultation period.

Comments included:

“Being part of the local community and watching the way that open public space can transform and be transformed by art and the free access to it has been both a pleasure and a privilege. We have high hopes for the future of the precinct and hope we can play our small part in its development;”

“Love Testing Grounds. A great use of the site, and brings some life back to the area;” and

“Testing Grounds is probably the one nice thing to go to on City Road. I hope that it can stick around.”

Testing Ground’s Joseph Norster said he was proud of what the space had brought to Southbank.

“We think that it has added a point of difference,” Mr Norster said.

“It is an unusual place for Southbank in that it is a little wild and untamed and yet the overwhelming comment we get is that people feel like they are stepping into their own back yard,” he added.

While pleased with the response to Testing Grounds, Mr Norster also said that it was never going to be a permanent space.

“Testing Grounds is very much about how to activate vacant places so it is, in its very nature, that it will one day be gone,” Mr Norster explained.

“The important thing about Testing Grounds is that it helps people become aware, that just on their door step (forgotten for close to 20 years) is a real possibility for a public space,” he added.

“Whatever happens to the site once we are gone, that memory will remain and guide future planning for the site that takes into account the lessons learned and desires of the community.”

Mr Norster said he hoped Testing Grounds would stay put for the next 12 months and, depending on the community response, possibly longer