LEGISLATIVE changes to the management of crown lands were behind the stalled progress of a draft plan of management for Wyatt Park.
Responding to a request by councillors Ned Attie and Joe Rahme for a progress report on the site’s Master Plan, the council’s director of works and Infrastructure, Peter Fitzgerald, confirmed that the draft was waiting to come back to the council.
He said it was effectively “sitting on the shelf in the office of parks and recreation”, adding that a commercial request from a private operator, which councillors had been briefed on, was also part of the holdup.
The 23-hectare parkland is home to several sporting and community facilities including the Ruth Everuss Aquatic Centre, Lidcombe Oval, Auburn Youth Centre, Cumberland Basketball Centre, Parramatta Auburn Netball Association and PCYC Auburn.
Under the draft which was on exhibition in April last year, a number of upgrades were proposed including improved accessibility and connectivity for pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles.
However Cr Attie said he wasn’t happy with the draft, describing it as “fundamentally, totally different from what council was envisioning back then” and he wanted further community consultation, particularly with existing stakeholders.
He also said the council should approach the appropriate minister to discuss possible funding options.
“We have a big open park for big open things to be done, and the Government likes to do big open things because it makes them look good,”
Cr Ross Grove
Cr Ross Grove noted that the State Government had “buckets of money” to spend on open spaces and parks and that they just wanted to “wrangle a share of it”.
“We have a big open park for big open things to be done, and the Government likes to do big open things because it makes them look good,” he said.
“In fact they’ve created their own portfolio to look like they are creating big open things, called the Minster for Public Spaces that’s also the Minster for Planning.”
