Dolphins In Park Take On The Dogs

Sydney Morning Herald

Tuesday April 24, 2007

Sunanda Creagh Urban Affairs Reporter

RAIN cut short football training for the Coogee Dolphins under-10s, but their coach was putting in the hard yards lobbying Randwick City Council until late yesterday.

The club wants the council to approve the installation of three 18-metre floodlights at Coogee's Bardon Park and allow them to train there two afternoons a week.

The proposal has elicited a flood of objections from locals who want the park to remain a passive recreation space - suitable for dogs off the leash, picnics and quiet afternoon walks.

"There's a big shortage of green space in this area but children's sport should have dominance over any person with dogs," the coach, Peter Trothe, said yesterday, explaining that the teams had outgrown their current training ground at Coogee Oval.

"We have dog owners who want the leash-free area but we are not stopping them. All we are asking is that [on] Tuesday and Thursday night they keep the dogs on [leash at] that time so we can train."

But it is not just about dogs, says John Langford, who has lived next to the park for 72 years.

"Traditionally the park has been purely an open park for people to use as they wish and when they wish. To put floodlights, especially at that height, would spoil the character of the place," he said. "We are already short of open space accessible by the public. We have enough areas which are for organised sports, and I don't think any more are justifiable."

The dispute is causing a headache for the council, which will decide the issue tonight. The council's planners recommended that installation of the lights be approved, but the deputy mayor, Murray Matson, said he would put forward a compromise, for lights to be installed at nearby Grant Reserve so players could train there.

The mayor, Paul Tracey, said that would just move the battle over public space elsewhere.

"There's a real dogfight going on," Cr Tracey said yesterday.

"Open space is shrinking and more and more people want these facilities."

Professor Bill Randolph, an urban planning expert with the University of NSW, said such conflicts were increasing all over Sydney, especially as inner suburbs attracted more families with young children.

He said some new developments included open private space in their plans, but governments needed to include more open space in urban planning. "If we're going to have compact cities we need the space to support them."

© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald

Back to News Index | Back to Home