David Tuxford has stated that he will not reconsider this unused plot of grass. He is content for ratepayers to continue covering the upkeep of this empty space, citing claims that his staff were harassed or treated poorly.

I have not witnessed any such behaviour. There was one claim that rangers were sworn at, which I was present for, and it was in the context of “Oh those f*ckin neighbours called you on us, didn’t they.” The rangers involved stayed back for over 30 minutes chatting with me afterwards and showed no signs of feeling harassed.

Andrew Latta, who has since resigned or left his position, was seen yelling at a park goer who is on the spectrum. It appears that council may be deflecting from this incident.

However, I digress. Even if council’s claim were true, anyone who treated staff poorly would still live locally and visit other parks. It is unclear how that justifies closing this space and disregarding the hundreds of locals who use it responsibly.

Mr Coure continues to liaise with council to explore this venue or an alternative.

Many members of council have voted against the park, and we understand that without full context it can be difficult to go against the majority. However, Mayor Elise Borg, General Manager David Tuxford, Councillor Christina Jamieson and Councillor Ben Wang have been informed of the facts, yet have shown what appears to be bias and a lack of impartiality toward those with differing views. The community believes this behaviour reflects a disregard for public needs, community feedback and the voices of residents.

This statement is made in good faith and in the public interest, consistent with the right to freedom of expression and political communication as recognised under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the implied constitutional freedom of political communication in Australian law.

We ask everyone to keep the noise up as Georges River Council continues to push us aside and hope that we move on.