The Mandalay Newsletter July 2005

 

Park Redevelopment further comments

The public viewing of the proposed master plan for Biami Yumba park on June 5th was reasonably well attended but the format was not appreciated by a lot of people who were there.

Hopefully next time we will have a more formal meeting without the butcher’s paper.

My first sighting of the plan was at a meeting in City Hall a couple of months before it was displayed in the park. There were three people at the meeting, Cr Jane Prentice, Mr. Frank Andrews from the Council’s Assets Department and myself. Certain items were included in this discussion that have been denied by the Council. These included a proposed walling of the edge of the la-goon to prevent weed growth and to make the lagoon easier and less expensive to maintain. Also discussed was a late proposal to include goal posts in the “kick-about” area.

A transcript of the meeting showed that these issues were discussed and I have requested a written guarantee that they are no longer on the agenda.

Your committee discussed the plans yet again at our re-cent meeting. The most important thing is to keep the park as natural as possible. We accept that toilet facilities are needed and the playground equipment may need replacing because of newer safety requirements. The Council has promised to provide similar types of equipment and not the ugly plastic stuff that would look out of place in a natural parkland. Frank Andrews has now also promised not to remove the Willow and Jacaranda trees.

The committee’s main concerns are the proposed concrete pathways and in particular the proposed basketball half-court.
These half-courts have a sad history all over Brisbane of becoming meeting places for young people you wouldn’t really want on the estate.

The half courts are usually covered with smashed bottles or used by hoons to do burnouts and doughnuts.
We feel that facilities in the park should be for young children who still require parental control. In short we are happy with a playground but not a sporting facility.

Biami Yumba park is pretty much unique in a number of ways for example; although he Council imposed a levy on every block of land sold in the original Mandalay estate for the purpose of building the park, the money was spent on a sporting complex in Bulimba. The weeds were two metres high in what became a rat & snake infested swamp which the Council flatly refused to even slash.

The Progress Association decided to build the park our-selves and we did just that. We burned it, slashed it with reaping hooks, brush hooks, a borrowed tractor and mowed it with domestic motor mowers which was one hell of a job. We planted trees and watered them until they were large enough to survive by themselves. It took us years but we built ourselves a park. The Council finally added it to the mowing list after all the hard work was done. Our aim has always been to have a natural park and not a plastic Council creation. It still is our aim.

JUST A COUPLE OF NOTES

We may not be able to collect our membership fees door to door this year, but we do need strong member-ship numbers so that we can represent residents more successfully and to organise and pay for social activities. Please help us out by putting your $10 family member-ship subscription in the envelope provided with the last newsletter and placing it in the secure locked letterbox at 28 Michelangelo Street. If you have misplaced the envelope and membership form please use the membership form below.

The noticeboard in the park is the property of the Progress Association. We are delighted that so many people use it for birthday greetings etc., but please don’t cover our website address and remember to take down your notice after the event.

Our committee has received a number of complaints about palm fronds and other rubbish being used to barricade a section of Mandalay Street. This is obviously the work of children but the activity is dangerous and il-legal. Our Association is reluctant to pass the com-plaints onto the police and hopefully a little parental control will prevent further action.

The following are the members of the committee for 2005. Please feel free to contact any members of the committee should there be issues you would like dis-cussed by the committee.

Warren Fletcher, 40 Romanella Street 3378 8927
Jane McLauchlan, 9 River Place
Stephen Norris,17 Tofanella Street
Rachel Tew,36 Romanella Street
Damien Lacey, 54 Mandalay Street
Tony Del Arco, 50 Mandalay Street
Tony Hoare, 52 Mandalay Street
Pauline Wyatt, 3 Bellini Court
Col Williams, 17 Kenny Street

 

Warren Fletcher
President

 

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© 2001 Mandalay Progress Association Inc