Rushcutters Bay locals fenced in over oval concerns
Image: Former Deputy Lord Mayor Dixie Coulton is opposing council's planned changes
Rushcutters Bay residents are up in arms over an upgrade to Reg Bartley Oval that they believe will fundamentally change the passive nature of the park.
The City of Sydney council is proposing replacing the timber picket fence around the oval, which was built in 1885, with a metal lookalike for maintenance reasons. Council is also planning a significant lighting upgrade for the oval, which would see an increase in brightness, and the height of existing lights doubled.
Former Deputy Lord Mayor Dixie Coulton opposes the planned changes, which she says will drastically alter the purpose of Reg Bartley Oval.
“Obviously, what they’re planning to do is to hire that space out on a professional basis to … [sporting clubs] there at night,” Ms Coulton said. “It’s not an SCG oval, it’s not a sports stadium. This is a community.”
In a report presented to council at a meeting in February, director of city projects and property Michael Leyland wrote that the lights will be upgraded in order to meet the Australian standard for outdoor sports lighting.
“The new lighting will meet Australian quality standards and make the oval, canal path and foreshore safer in winter for the hundreds of existing park users,” a council spokesperson said.
But Ms Coulton sees any upping of the oval’s capacity to host sporting matches as a threat to its heritage significance.
“It’s really changing the nature of that park away from a passive park where you do have low-key sporting events and enjoyment to walk around and do what you like,” she told City News.
Ms Coulton is also concerned about the potential for light to spill into surrounding residential apartments, despite arguments made by council that the taller light posts will help better direct light downwards.
“Do you know any lights that don’t spill? [This is] one of the most densely populated areas in Australia,” Ms Coulton said.
Another point of contention for local residents has been council’s intention to replace the 129-year-old picket fence around the oval.
According to Mr Leyland’s report to council, the fence “requires regular repairs to address broken pickets, wood rot in the support structure and vandalism (graffiti), and is in need of full replacement”.
Potts Point and Kings Cross Heritage Conservation Society president Andrew Woodhouse says council has been inconsistent in answering residents’ questions.
In a letter from the council’s legal department responding to Mr Woodhouse’s enquiries about the fence, it is stated that no decision will be made until reports are circulated at a future council meeting where “members of the public will be able to address the committee in relation to the matter.”
However, a council spokesperson has told City News that the City will go ahead with its plans.
The spokesperson also said that the council meeting to facilitate community consultation regarding proposed changes to the fence, which was mentioned in the letter, will be to assess the two tenders received to replace the fence.
“Cricket balls hitting a timber fence will bounce off it, but cricket balls hitting a metal fence will dent the fence. It will also probably require more maintenance in the long run,” Mr Woodhouse said.
Both Mr Woodhouse and Ms Coulton argue that council should submit a development application for the site, which is on Crown land, but this idea was rejected by a City spokesperson.
“A development application is not required for these works under state planning laws,” the spokesperson said.
