I attended the Council's drop in information and feedback session this evening. It was a very productive discussion.
Key points I took away:
- The Council has not yet decided that the rocket must be removed, however that would be the easy option from their perspective.
- The Council is now well aware of community feeling - THANK YOU and keep up the good work - please continue to raise awareness and give your feedback.
- The Council believes much work will need to be done to keep the rocket in current form but appeared open to discussion.
- They believe the rocket is non-compliant with current playground design standards (noting, however, that the public cannot access the Australian standards without charge).
- The Council is not able to give details about what it says are the issues because "it's complicated" and further work needs to be done.
Some relevant considerations (in my view):
- Just because it is non-compliant does not mean it's unsafe.
- Much of the modern "compliant" equipment appears far more risky eg rope climbs, bouldering etc, even monkey bars.
- It is about risk analysis:
1. what is the risk?
2. what is the consequence if the risk occurs?
3. is that consequence acceptable or manageable?
- Only once that analysis is considered can a decision be made about whether to retain the rocket.
- The city of Benalla (Vic) has a rocket park, which was recently upgraded and the rocket retained.
Please continue to share the discussion with your friends, give your feedback via the survey and ask questions of the Council.