Our green spaces must be protected
It’s one thing to approve new large-scale residential developments. Even more important is providing the infrastructure and amenties these residents will need.
The Lane Cove community is fortunate to have access to beautiful bushland, waterways and green open space. It is not surprising that so many people want to make our local government area their home.
The difficult Covid period has made us more aware than ever of the importance of natural, green spaces. It’s well understood that being close to nature has tremendous mental and physical health benefits.
At the same time, our expanding community does need more sporting facilities and this need must be met. But this should not be at the expense of the natural spaces we already have.
It is 13 years since Lane Cove Council completed its Recreation Action Plan. A lot has changed since then! It’s well past time to undertake a full review of sporting needs and where best to place facilities and this should include exploring the option of sharing facilities with other local government areas.
The attempt to repurpose Bob Campbell Oval as a synthetic sports ground in the middle of beautiful Gore Creek Reserve has been a wake-up call for all of us. Council’s attempt to ram through a synthetic field in an environmentally sensitive area is a warning that the community must do all it can to preserve its green space and bushland.
The Lane Cove Golf Course site is another area the community must pay attention to. Council seems wedded to the idea of building its large and expensive Sports and Recreation Facility on this environmentally sensitive site with no business case to support it.
If I’m elected as Councillor, holding a full review of sporting facilities will be priority. I will ensure that all options are investigated rather than allowing Council to simply default to clawing away our open green spaces.
