PETITION FOR THE REMOVAL OF THE NEW FENCE ON GLEN FORREST SPORTS OVAL

In the last days of June Mundaring Shire Council erected a 1.3m high galvanised iron and mesh fence along the eastern edge of the Glen Forrest sports oval (also known as Burkinshaw Park). This transformed what was an attractive tree-lined perimeter with a rural appearance into an ugly piece of suburbia.

(Note that this was just before the end of the financial year, when the local press published the Shire’s boast that it had balanced its budget by further deferring necessary maintenance on public buildings.)

No prior public consultation or polling appears to have been conducted to ascertain the community’s views on the need for the fence, or its advisability.

Reasons given by the Shire - “to stop cricket balls going into the creek”, and “to stop children playing in the drain” are questionable at best: retrieval of balls going over (or under!) the fence will now be significantly more difficult - and dangerous if players vault the obstruction - and it does not prevent access to the gully by children, even if parents had wanted this.

The fence,
• is an eyesore, totally out of keeping with the rural aspect that residents value and seek to preserve and enhance;
• will cause the narrow pathway it creates along its outer perimeter to become degraded and the grass to erode, forming a dirt track that will be muddy and dangerous in winter months;
• closes off a long-established right of way between the oval - a public recreational facility - and Braxan Street, one of its main access points.
• forces those wishing to enter the sports ground from the eastern end of Braxan Street to skirt along the outside of the fence to the access gate at Hudson Street;
• is unwanted and has no apparent support among the local community;
• has no obvious purpose, or any that outweighs its drawbacks.

In calling for the removal of the fence in the following petition, it is pointed out that the cost of the fence, its installation and subsequent removal would have been saved if adequate community consultation had been conducted beforehand.

It is therefore felt that the Shire has failed to exercise due diligence in its conduct of this matter.