Residents criticise council's Port Fairy skate park location

Members of the Campbell Street Residents Group told The Standard they were unhappy with the location of the facility and the consultation process that had led to the council's decision. The council has defended its "extensive" consultation process and said several steps had been taken to minimise the impact the park would have on neighbouring houses.

Concerned resident Jo Levey said she and her neighbours hadn't had a problem with the original skate park site, which was behind the basketball stadium in Southcombe Park, but had been "blindsided" with the council's decision to move it into one large recreational space at Russell Clarke Reserve.

"The first we knew of the skate park going in Russell Clarke Reserve was when the council announced it was happening," Ms Levey said.

Fellow neighbour Bernie Freeman said the consultation process was "based on the skate park being in Southcombe Park."

"That was very clear through the process. Now the council may say that it only received two responses to its consultation but that's because it was based on a totally different proposition," Mr Freeman said.

"That makes the site consultation reports flawed, and we have evidence to show they're flawed."

Moyne's assets and community director Edith Farrell said there was nothing wrong with the process.

"Council has conducted extensive consultation on the draft concept designs with residents, our community advisory group, school children and other stakeholders including Port Fairy Park Run," Ms Farrell said.

"Consultants Convic are now working on incorporating the feedback into the final concept designs."

Mr Freeman said the council needed to explain how Convic became involved in the project and how it came to the decision to move the project to Russell Clarke Reserve.

"The council hired urban design consultants Outline to find a site for the park, but they came back to say there was no ideal location, but developed the concepts for the Southcombe Park site, which they then consulted the community on," he said.

"Then the council went and hired the mega skate park company Convic, which suddenly selected Russell Clarke Reserve as a location for the whole thing.

"The council project officers then claimed the community was behind this proposal using the feedback from the previous consultation. It beggars belief.

"We're really concerned about the governance and decision-making process."

Ms Levey said residents were worried about the size of the skate park being a blight on the natural beauty of the reserve, and didn't like the idea of skaters being so close to a residential area.

"Kids are important, families are important, and we need these play spaces, but that doesn't mean our needs as residents shouldn't be considered," she said.

"The council may well say Russell Clarke is the only option, but why does it have to be that particular part of the reserve, it's the most picturesque section?"

Mr Freeman said the move was also out of step with the environmental "pillar" of the council's mission statement, which calls the natural environment Moyne's "biggest asset". "They're going to destroy one of the biggest environmental assets in town for a massive slab of concrete," he said.

Ms Farrell said the size of the proposed facility hadn't changed from the beginning of the consultation process and would occupy only a small section of the reserve.

"The size of the skatepark is the same as what was previously proposed, the layout has changed slightly to take into account the new location," she said.

"The proposed skate and play site encompasses approximately 4000 square metres within the wider public Russell Clark Reserve of 16 hectares (160,000 square metres).

"The skate and play area equates to 2.5 per cent of the total reserve area. This will retain significant open space for passive recreation."

Ms Farrell said the council had gone to great lengths to ensure the new space would have a minimal effect on existing neighbours.

"The skatepark and play space are set back a minimum 50 metres from properties which is above the standard 30 metres for noise reduction. Council has also committed to undertake a detailed noise study when we reach the detailed design phase," she said.

"Both the skatepark and play space will be extensively planted with vegetation to reduce visual impact and the playground has been deliberately positioned the furthest away from residents as studies show this is typically the facility where the most noise comes from."

Ms Farrell said the council couldn't rule out anti-social behaviour coming from the skate park, but said this was "the case for any public open space within any community" and the council would work with police to stamp it out if it did happen.

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