The Herald Sun reached out for an interview about our petition. As part of that the process the Mayor of Banyule was spoken to by the paper and the Mayor has confirmed they are sticking with their plan to only guarantee one more fenced playground for the entire LGA.   Banyule Council has 7 precincts, 6 with fenced playgrounds already, but only 5 of them safe for absconders. 

Families who do NOT want a fenced playground have numerous options... within just a few minutes walk of my home we can be at a number of different playgrounds, there's one within a block or two in every direction, but all are open and unfenced. We're not asking Council to fence all playgrounds, nor we do not want them to fence any that can currently or in the future will be made accessible for those in with different physical abilities. We are just asking for 1 playground per suburb to be fully fenced so neuro-diverse families, those with multiple kids, grandparents who want to take their young grandchildren to the park etc can all do so safely. 

Just one Mayor Melican. I am so disappointed that Council is not listening to our desperate cries for inclusion, for acceptance and for some very basic childhood joy.