Elderly residents locked out of new Ashfield park by lack of zebra crossings

By ROBBIE MASON

The Inner West Council has failed to introduce pedestrian crossings yet for a new park in Ashfield, which will soon to open to the public, causing concerns over accessibility and inclusivity. The oversight locks out elderly residents from using the park, some critics are saying.

The recently-upgraded park, Lewis Herman Reserve, is bordered to the south by Ashfield Baptist Homes, a nursing home, while a vacant lot to the park’s east is earmarked for future development as a retirement village with 48 units. A couple of blocks to the south-east sits the Cardinal Freeman Retirement Village with over 400 residents.

As Greens Councillor Dylan Griffiths explained to City Hub, the Inner West Council intends for the site to be the “Inner West’s first dementia-friendly park” and “a passive space” in an especially built-up area which lacks adequate green spaces.

But Gisele Mesnage, a blind Ashfield resident with hearing loss who lives at Cardinal Freeman Retirement Village with her guide dog Nyota, told City Hub that she has significant difficulties even accessing the park due to a lack of zebra crossings in the surrounding areas.

“We are virtually stuck on an island at the Cardinal Freeman Village where we live,” she explained.

Cr Griffiths has been deeply involved in advocating for the park’s upgrade. In 2021, he worked with residents to obtain $985000 in grant funding from the NSW Government’s Public Spaces Legacy Program for the neglected park. Prior to this, state government bodies looked after the grasslands – inadequately according to Cr Griffiths.

“For decades it had sat vacant and locked up in one of the LGAs with the lowest amount of green space per capita.”

Like Gisele Mesnage, Cr Griffiths wants to see improved road safety conditions, and he fully supports Mesnage’s campaign.

“Holden Street has become busier and busier and there’s more traffic around those streets in south Ashfield than ever before,” he stated. “But pedestrian shouldn’t just stop with the Holden Street pedestrian crossing. We need to make areas safe like Victoria Street and Clissold Street.”

In recent months, the Inner West Council passed a motion unanimously which designated the park an on-leash zone for dogs due to the park’s size restrictions and proximity to aged care facility. The Council also resolved to investigate and report back to the Council’s Traffic Committee on the expressed community need for a pedestrian crossing for the new reserve in Holden Street, Ashfield.

But Mesnage said she is running out of patience. She wants to see swifter action and less talk. Demanding better road safety in the park’s surrounds has been a “ten year battle”, she stated, and the commitment to an investigation is a clear disappointment.

“We get so much information,” she said. But as a person with a disability – she uses a screen-reader – absorbing all the information and attending consultation sessions is tiring. In this era of health consciousness and awareness of disability rights, the Council’s actions have confused her.

“They’re building a new park; it should be evident that they have to provide zebra crossings,” she said. “There shouldn’t be a consultation to do that.”

“I would love to take my guide dog Nyota to this new park on Sundays so we can spend a little quality time together and enjoy fresh air and a picnic like other members of the community. But the lack of safe pedestrian crossings to walk to, and from this park in effect deprives us of access to this new community facility,” she said.

Community support for better pedestrian safety

Mesnage is demanding Mayor Darcy Bryne and the Inner West Council make a public commitment to install safe pedestrian crossing around Lewis Herman Reserve and her retirement village by the year’s end. She has the support of her fellow residents and concerned locals.

During the community consultation period, Professor Susan Thompson from the School of Built Environment at UNSW wrote a submission to the Inner West Council, advocating for an “age friendly neighbourhood”.

“Being able to be physically active and socially connected is important for everyone,” that submission stated, “but for older people this usually takes on a different quality as home becomes the focus of daily life.”

“Walking to local facilities and services, enjoying time in green spaces, getting to public transport and home again, safely and efficiently, and meeting up with friends and family are all key activities.”

Introducing road-safety measures, however, is a notoriously slow process as local council representatives consult not just with local resident but state government agencies.

Labor Councillor Mark Drury said that the Council is “aware” of the issue and in the process of working with local residents to improve pedestrian safety. In response to communication from City Hub, Cr Drury sought and obtained an update on the investigation by council staff.

According to that update, council staff are waiting for the end of school holidays to track and obtain more typical traffic data. They are also investigating pedestrian crossing across Queen Street which will “lead residents from the [retirement] village to Lewis Herrman Reserve”.

A report presented to the Inner West Council Traffic Committee in April this year recommended the construction of a pedestrian refuge and kerb extension in Holden Street, Ashfield, to improve pedestrian amenity. Work on the refuge is slated for the 2023/24 financial year. But, according to Cr Drury’s update from staff, “there was insufficient pedestrian movement at that location to warrant a pedestrian (zebra) crossing with only 5 movements recorded in the peak hour.”

Councillor Marghanita da Cruz has indicated that she hopes to see a zebra crossing with a refuge installed. She also wants additional measures, such as reduced speed limits, introduced to protect walkers and cyclists in the park’s surrounds. She said this is “doubly important” around aged-care facilities.

The vision for Ashfield platformed by these Greens Councillors, Cr da Cruz and Cr Griffiths, involves less cars on the road, more cyclists and better access to bus stops for elderly residents – a walkable city rather than one subservient to car drivers.

Cr da Cruz highlighted the value in seeing Ashfield anew through the words of Gisele Mesnage and spotting otherwise ignored issues.

As Mesnage told City Hub, “the footpath needs to be resurfaced. There are a lot of tripping hazards. These are big issues.”

“For me, I like to walk and be active. It’s not just about catching the bus. It’s about the walkability. We’re taught to walk and improve our heart and our weight. We need to exercise and we can’t,” Mesnage continued.