Past Council Resolutions and History of the Park

Questions have been raised in regard to the history of the park and previous Council decisions. The following comments are provided in response to these questions and other people interested in the history of the park.

Fenced Dog Area, south of Stirling Highway

The decision and actions relating to a fenced dog park south of Stirling Highway arose as a notice of Motion moved at the Council meeting of 26 August 2008. The Council at this meeting resolved "That the administration investigate alternative locations south of Stirling Highway for the installation of a fenced dog park and reports back to a Council Committee in November 2008. - What happened then?

Fencing at Carrington Park

To clarify the matter around fencing in Carrington Park, there are three distinct actions associated with the current fencing arrangements.

Prior to 1994, a chain-wire fence was installed around the perimeter of the park for safety reasons. In 1994 the basketball court and playground were installed without additional fencing other than the existing perimeter fencing. After receiving complaints about interactions with dogs and the new playground, a fence was installed around the playground.

Following a Council resolution in September 2008, the fencing around the playground area was extended to include the steam roller.

Administrative Liaison Working Group (ALWG)

An Administrative Liaison Working Group (ALWG) was established in 2006 with the purpose of investigating current and future uses for Carrington Park, reasons for any upgrade of the park, potential options for upgrading the park and to investigate other alternatives for improving the quality and/or quantity of reserve land within the Hollywood Ward.

Following an extensive period of investigation and community consultation regarding these issues, five separate options were developed and presented for consideration. The options looked at Carrington Park in isolation and in the context of the wider Hollywood area.

The findings of the ALWG were presented to Council and a preferred option was chosen and submitted to the 12 August 2008 Council meeting. The matter was referred back to Administration for further development and budget consideration.

The amended report was submitted to the 23 September 2008 Council meeting. A notice of motion was moved when the item was considered which resulted in the Council determining not to adopt the recommendations of the report and essentially endorse the current arrangements at the park

Current Concept Plan

The proposed concept has been developed as an attempt to enhance the Council endorsed facilities at the Park and to resolve a number of current and future management issues specific to the park and surrounding public realm.

There are three principal objectives for initiating the development of a master plan concept for Carrington Park, these are:

1. To re-examine the community’s views in respect to Council’s resolution of 23 September 2008 that gave rise to extension of the fencing of the playground area within the park, retaining the park as a dog exercise area and supporting the sharing of the park between numerous user groups;
2. To provide an agenda for discussions and feedback during the community consultation period which provides an indication of the degree to which the park might be considered for redevelopment and the issues seeking to be resolved. It is expected that a range of issues will be raised by the community, some specific to the park and others more general, and the intent is to capture and present the feedback to assist Council’s future decision-making processes.; and
3. Present to the community current and future issues the City faces specific to managing Carrington Park and the surrounding public realm and to provide potential solutions to these issues for the community’s consideration.