Attention Petitioners: Please ensure you update the CITY/SUBURB and POSTCODE to match your own, for location accuracy. If you want to contribute with more just a signature, please contact us at friendsofmcivorreserve@gmail.com.

To: Maribyrnong City Council

This petition draws to the attention of the Maribyrnong City Council (MCC) the Petitioners' strong opposition to construction of an indoor sports stadium and any associated carpark on McIvor Reserve or any other municipal green open space across the City of Maribyrnong. We believe construction of such a stadium would detrimentally impact park users.

All Petitioners request that MCC not build an indoor sports stadium or associated carpark on McIvor Reserve or any other green open space in the city, and that MCC, instead:

1. Make the preservation of open space a top MCC priority now and into the future;
2. Set green space, open space, and mature tree canopy targets that dictate the MINIMUM amounts of these resources that should be indisputably protected and preserved;
3. Elevate the implementation of the Open Space Strategy to the highest priority and strictly adhere to its guidelines;
4. Advocate more strongly on behalf of the community for State Government assistance securing 'brown land' sites for the development of public infrastructure that is not “dependent on its location in open space for its viability and function”; and
5. Form a community-based green and open space advisory committee to help MCC be informed in a meaningful and timely manner regarding community expectations on the use and preservation of green and open space assets. 

In support of this Petition, the Petitioners note the following:

McIvor Reserve is a well-used and loved public park, with key activities including exercise, dog walking, playing or watching sports, use of the BBQ and playground, and generally relaxing. McIvor's parkland must be preserved to fulfil the recreational needs of the rapidly growing local population, accelerated by the influx of thousands of residents from the Bradmill development on the edge of the reserve.

If unstructured parkland is lost to a large indoor stadium, not only will the aesthetic of green open space be spoiled by such an imposing structure on the natural landscape, parkland usage will be concentrated onto the playing fields, over-loading those resources, impacting the kids and adults alike that participate in structured sports. This will be compounded by the city's predicted shortfall of 27 sports fields identified by MCC back in 2019. Greater pressure will similarly spread to the already crowded local neighbourhood streets surrounding the park. All users will be affected no matter where the location of a stadium on the reserve. It would be irresponsible for Council to try to fix one problem by creating so many others.

Parkland is free for everyone to enjoy, and is working for us 24 hours a day. McIvor Reserve's trees and green spaces are significant to the community for urban heat island prevention, as a wildlife habitat, for combating noise pollution and for absorbing airborne chemicals and releasing oxygen, which is particularly significant due to the proximity of the West Gate Tunnel exhaust and freeway. Green space is a long term social and health investment in our community, as was made abundantly clear during the hardest days of the pandemic here in the most locked down city in the world. The community's priorities have changed immensely in recent times and the Council's priorities should reflect that.