Linde Reserve / Dunstone Grove Master Plan

NPSP Council has released a draft plan for the redevelopment of Linde Reserve / Dunstone Grove at Stepney and has announced a period of community consultation regarding the plan. Details of the draft plan and the reasons behind Council’s proposals are available at the Council website and further information will be available at the Open Day being held in the park on 15 March 2008 from 1:00pm - 4:00pm.

The Combined Residents Association (CRA) supports many aspects of the draft plan, including the naturalisation of Second Creek, the demolition of the Scout Hall and the addition of sporting facilities such as a soccer goal and hard court.

The CRA does have concerns about other aspects of the plan and draws the community’s attention to the following components of the plan:

• The demolition of two of three historic cottages on Nelson Street seems at odds with the Council’s desire for more people to use the park as the cottages act as a home base for a variety of community groups which provide many of the park’s regular users. Although Council has committed to re-housing the groups many of the users will not be ideally accommodated within the confines of the St Peters Town Hall complex due to its lack of open spaces. The cottages are also of historical significance to the local community which we wrote about last year.
• The demolition of the St Peters Youth Centre will leave the park without any permanent covered structure which can be used for community events such as the St Peters Fair.
• The removal of many of the park’s most mature trees seems unnecessary and of particular concern is the proposed removal of a mature River Redgum Tree which Council’s own documents show to only have minor decay. The CRA believes this tree would thrive in the proposed naturalised creek bed and does not need to be removed.
• The plan does not provide for the inclusion of a community garden despite there being significant support for one. The area which is currently an un-used artificial bowling green which Council is proposing to convert to car parks, would be ideal for such a use.
• Although the plan expresses a wish for more users of the park there are limited draw cards for people to use the park in the proposed plan. Extra playground equipment and sporting facilities are a good start but the CRA would also like to see the addition of a community space such as a sound stage to encourage concerts and other events.

The CRA will make a submission along these lines to Council and urges all groups and individuals who use or enjoy the park to view the draft plan and make their own submissions.

The closing date for submissions is 5:00pm on Friday 28 March 2008 and the address to send them is:

Ms Bronwyn Herbert
General Manager, Community Development and Library Services
City of Norwood, Payneham & St Peters
175 The Parade
Norwood SA 5071