Letters to the Editor - Central 7 May 2008

MTV AWARDS

JUST dropping you a short note to compliment Central on its great coverage of the MTV Awards.

It's pleasing to read positive news about Redfern and the Australian Technology Park.

In fact, Central overall seems to have been significantly revamped with much more community and other news and information.

Keep up the good work.

- ROBERT DOMM, Redfern-Waterloo Authority CEO and Australian Technology Park Managing Director
 

COME ON, FEEL THE NOISE

ABOUT comments by Robert Domm, CEO of the Redfern-Waterloo Authority, in Central's "Redfern Residents Brace for MTV Awards".

It shouldn't matter whether one or 100 people complain.

If the noise is above the specified level then it's not acceptable.

It would seem obvious that the easy way to determine whether or not noise levels are excessive is to test where residents are complaining.

- BARBARA FOX, Alexandria

REDFERN NEEDS OVALS TOO

REFER to Nicola Cunningham's letter (Courier, April 30), regarding playgrounds in Redfern.

The City of Sydney has 87 formal playgrounds that provide a diversity of play experience for local children. The city aims to have at least one playground within 500m or 10 minutes' walk of all residents.

The city is also committed to providing high quality playgrounds with six playground upgrades planned this financial year at a cost of $1m, and a further 10 upgrades planned over the next two financial years at a cost of $3m.

Including the new playground and water play feature currently being built at Redfern Park, there are a further seven playgrounds within 500m of Redfern Park, and two of these are fenced.

Surry Hills has eight playgrounds for residents, four of them fenced. Playground fencing is planned on a site-by-site basis in the city.

Unless required for safety, fencing is limited as it can instil a false sense of security to carers, being used to enclose children in lieu of supervision. Fences also cause access issues for some disabled groups.

All playgrounds are maintained in good condition under the city's Parks Maintenance Program, which includes daily inspections with an ongoing program of auditing and small park upgrades.

The Redfern Public School site is not owned or maintained by council. It is owned by the Indigenous Land Corporation and is the subject of a development application to provide a community recreation centre in Redfern which will be accessible to local residents.

Play equipment provides one part of a wide spectrum of play opportunities for children, with other open spaces, including ovals, catering for self-directed play, creative play, running, informal sport and ball games. Large grass areas are vital to play experience and the public school sports oval will be a welcome addition to our overused ovals and sportsfields.

- JOEL JOHNSON, City of Sydney Manager, Parks, Trees & Recreation