Apr 10, 2023 3 min read

False, false, false

Does the parking lot of the Town Hall complex at Ivanhoe qualify as "public open space"? A place for a picnic, to throw a frisbee, to have a scratch cricket match? Banyule Council claims it is!

A map to mislead?

What are we to make of this map published by Banyule Council in its's Open Spaces strategy?

Sadly this map is flawed. Beautifully drawn but flawed in the information it delivers.

Is it a deliberate misrepresentation? We do not know.

Is it a misunderstanding? It will be very disappointing if the very people paid to manage public open spaces do not understand the situation they are responsible for.

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FACT: the private parks owned exclusively by the adjoining property-holders in the Burley Griffin designed Mt Eagle Estate cannot be claimed by the Banyule Council as "public open space".

The area shaded in that fetching salmon (or is it tangerine?) is meant to represent places that are more than the set standard of 5 minutes walk, or 400 metres from public, open space.

All of the zone defined by the rail line, Lower Heidelberg Road and Banksia Street - except the immediate qualifying surrounds of Albert Jones Reserve & The Righi Reserve - should be shaded salmon.

The entire sector south of The Eyrie is bereft of public open space.

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FACT: the John Street tennis courts and bowling green are not public open space. Council chose to alienate this land from the public by according exclusive use to 2 membership based sports clubs - it is literally locked away!

The sign erected by the owners of the private park on Outlook Drive.

The public is locked out of this alleged "public open space in John Street Ivanhoe.

On Banyule Council's own standards there should be three
local parks in the area south of the rail line between Eaglemont Station and Ivanhoe Station.

Council is well aware that public open space is not equitably distributed across Banyule.

Successive reports on provision & management of public open space have acknowledged this "inequity" issue. Solutions have even been put forward.

In 1982 a local park in Locksley Road was identified as a priority need by (then) Heidelberg Council. 41 years later nothing has happened to provide this park.

Nowadays 75% of houses being built in Eaglemont are multiple occupancy developments. Many of these smaller dwellings are occupied by families with young children.

Family homes with yard space disappear, only to be replaced by units with no private space. The problem is not the type of building - it is the lifestyle allowed.

Grandparents providing day care for toddlers, and holiday care for older children, need parks they can easily walk to.

They need public open space as private open space is becoming a rarer and rarer privilege.

For most multiple dwellings Council receives a 5% development levy to fund the necessary public infrastructure and services arising from the population density changes.

This contribution is NOT reserved into a fund by Banyule Council to spend near where it is raised. It seems to be treated as just another source of "general revenue".

Friends of Eaglemont Village is lobbying Council to remedy this open space deficit in Eaglemont.

You can help by supporting us, and letting your Council know that you want local parks.