Gosford Council has resolved to develop a Narara Valley Precinct Playground on a site at Willari Ave, despite strong opposition from Cr Gabby Bowles.
Two locations had been proposed by Council’s Playground Committee as being suitable for the development of the playground; Willari Ave Playground at Narara and land adjacent to Niagara Park Stadium off Washington Ave, Niagara Park.
The delivery of the new playground is allocated $280,000 from the land sale of the former Narara Hall.
Community consultation was undertaken in October and November last year to determine the community’s preference of the two potential sites with 57% of the 126 survey responses received nominating Niagara Park as the preferred location.
The Playground Committee also recommended Niagara Park Stadium as the preferred location. But at Council’s meeting of Tuesday, February 24, Cr Vicki Scott said building the playground on the “ugly” Niagara Park site would be short changing the community.
She said the Wallari Ave site would be “a destination, not a playground to go to for just 20 minutes”. “The people at Narara Valley have gone without for a long time,” said Cr Scott.
But Cr Bowles was passionate in her promotion of the Niagara Park site and cited problems such as access and security at the Wallari Ave site. “This is something that is really needed in this area,” said Cr Bowles.
“The Niagara Park site ticks all the boxes, Willari only ticks some. “I think we’re grossly underestimating what it would take to make the Willari Ave site a precinct park,” she said.
According to the report by Council’s department of Community Growth, there is $280,000 available for the delivery of a new precinct playground, although with lifecycle cost predicted to be an additional $105,000 at Niagara Park Stadium and $697,995 at Willari Ave based on a 15 year assumption of essential maintenance.
“The signifi cantly higher lifecycle costs at Willari Ave are due to the lack of public amenities such as toilets and the additional staff needed to maintain the servicing of the larger area.
“The cost at Niagara Park Stadium can be reduced and absorbed into ongoing operational costs due to the existing infrastructure and staffi ng levels already in place at the Centre.”
As part of its resolution, Council also agreed to fund the toilet facilities for the Willari Ave site from the sale of a property it recently sold in Umina.
Council will also investigate, among other things, the development of a small fenced pocket playground outside the new library being built at Niagara Park Shopping Centre.
Gosford Council agenda
GRO.5, 24 Feb 2015
Kaitlin Watts, 24 Feb 2015