It's been a while since we shared an update about McIvor Reserve, but I wanted everyone to know that we have not given up on protecting our parkland.
On April 19th 2023, in a disappointing display, the four Labor-aligned Maribyrnong City Councillors, Cr Michael Clarke, Cr Cuc Lam and Cr Anthony Tran and Mayor Sarah Carter, voted to build on public green space at McIvor Reserve, against the insistence of the community who wished to protect this precious part of our parkland network. The motion was lost with a vote of 4 to 3 with Cr Bernadette Thomas, Cr Jorge Jorquera and Cr Simon Crawford voting in favor of protecting green space.
While this decision did not seal the fate of our parkland, it did give the Maribyrnong City Council(MCC) authority to continue developing plans for a Stadium at McIvor Reserve.
There has not been a lot to report since that decision. As of writing, the MCC has allocated another $320,000 in the budget to develop the Stadium plans for the site; funds that we feel would have better spent on path lighting or toilets for park users.
Fortunately, the CFMEU and the Building Industry Group of Trade Unions stands by the Green Ban on the site and there is currently no State or Federal funding on the horizon to complete this project. I should point out that the lack of funding is more related to a lack of funds generally, right across the economy, rather than a lack of enthusiasm from Labor State and Federal representatives from our area, who gave the thumbs up to the successful endorsement of a plan to build indoor sporting infrastructure on public green space.
Consequently, the lack of funding also means that the useful upgrades to park amenities that users are crying out for, will also be suspended in limbo as they are intrinsically linked to the Stadium Plan.
Some positive outcomes:
- We did help prevent the Yarraville Footscray Bowling Club from being absorbed against the insistence of members who wished to maintain their autonomy and character. After investing thousands of ratepayer dollars on private consultants and a year of planning, MCC had to have the Stadium plan hurriedly re-drawn to exclude the Club, two weeks before it was endorsed. The Stadium and the associated traffic (if completed) will still encroach to a serious degree on Club's parking as it is currently proposed in the Masterplan.
- We also reduced the potential amount of parkland lost to car parks being built within the precinct, and we prevented one quiet residential side-street from becoming a busy public parking space.
With regards to the Save McIvor Reserve Petition, the MCC has not implemented any of the recommendations of the Petition except to say that it 'continues to make protecting green space a high priority'; a position that is hard to comprehend given the exhaustive efforts we have made to prevent just one park being lost.
Our Petition has been successful in demonstrating just how much the community cares about our natural environment and the rights of residents.
Until we have a Council that is serious about protecting public green open space and honestly engaging with the residents of our city, the Inner West will continue to suffer these kinds of incursions.
We continue to pursue the idea of locating the proposed stadium infrastructure on a brown-field site and I'm confident that we will prevail, particularly if we elect a favourable group of Councillors at this year's Local Government Elections 2024.
Some things are worth fighting for.
Below is the link to the project report for the Masterplan. It is, in my opinion, just an awkward space that has been designed to accommodate a facility that shouldn't be there. As a result all the other proposed park amenities have been omitted, or incorporated with very little enthusiasm or insight. It's just a mess. We need a do-over.