By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Two disused kindergartens could be set to become ‘pocket parks’ after a stunning reversal by Greater Dandenong Council.
At a 27 August meeting, councillors overturned council officers’ recommended sell-offs of the Gove Street, Springvale and Fifth Avenue, Dandenong West sites.
It was a victory for people-power, with a petition of 42 signatures from a nearby school as well as emails and texts flooding councillors’ in-boxes after the agenda item was publicised days before.
Dandenong West resident Peta Rose said the Fifth Avenue site was required open space as more residents squeezed into higher-density apartments without backyards.
It would be a small, quiet park option for families with young children. In contrast to the bustling nearby Hemmings Park with skate facilities or Greaves Reserve that’s the other side of a busy highway.
“I’ve got neighbours who have two young children just playing in the driveway.”
The nearby pre-school and child-care centre, as well as a keen group of elderly walkers, could also utilise the potential ‘pocket park’.
It would be up to the community – but possible uses include a community garden or a playground, Ms Rose said.
Had the site been sold off, it would have been an opportunity lost, she said.
“We would have to wait so long for this sort of land to be available for a park.
“It’s a great outcome for the community.”
Mark Dalton, of Springvale, said the Gove Street site would provide a park for residents who couldn’t access Warner Reserve across the highway.
“There’s a nice tree in the middle (of the site) – put a couple of chairs and a rubbish bin there…
“It doesn’t worry me what now goes in there. As long as it’s green and somewhere to sit in the sun.”
Silvia Mastrogiovanni, of the Dandenong Community Association, said public open space was becoming more of a necessity as a common meeting point.
“It seems with more apartments, the more we lose a sense of community.
“The closer people live to each other, the more they shut themselves away – they are a bit more fearful, a bit more isolated.”
Both sites were well smaller than the council’s minimum 2500-square-metres for new parkland.
However, Cr Matthew Kirwan said parks smaller than this threshold were already being enjoyed in other parts of the municipality.
“Residents asked me why would sell land that we already own?
“Why would we give away potential open space that we already have?
“When land prices rise we won’t be able to buy it back. Make sense to me.”
Cr Sean O’Reilly – who favoured the land sales – said there were existing parks within walking distance of the sites.
He said the council’s limited resources were best allocated in other areas that more desperately needed open space.
Cr Tim Dark said the sell-offs would have gone towards the council’s affordable housing fund.
“Surely, affordable housing takes priority over surplus land.”
