Luis Feliu
Brunswick Heads’ popular central park has suffered from recent hot and windy conditions, like most of the area, with its family-friendly grassed areas all but gone.
But it’s human, rather than natural, intervention which has riled locals puzzled as to why loads of fine gravel dust had recently been laid around the old pine trees and children’s playground area at Banner Park opposite the town pub.
The say laying the cracker dust has only added to the dry, deteriorating look of the area, visited by thousands of locals and tourists each week.
It comes as the state-appointed trust managers of the foreshore parks in the coastal village tomorrow take locals around for guided information tours of the parks to let them know what plans they have in store for them under new management proposals.
Ironically, the tours tomorrow (Tuesday) also come as the controversial Crown Land Management Bill 2016, which gives the lands minister discretionary power to privatise public crown land parks and reserves, could potentially include the Bruns parks.
The fear of a sell-off has sparked a petition calling for the new bill to be deferred for at least six months.
A Brunswick Heads Progress Association spokesperson told Echonetdaily the new bill ominously replaces the word ‘public’ for ‘public purposes’, and the state government’s new direction on crown land was ‘extremely uncomfortable’.
As for the new unsightly gravel adding to the dust at Banner Park, a Foreshore Protection Group (FPG) spokesman said blue metal and woodchip had been laid there ‘instead of top dressing and returfing it’.
‘It looks disgusting and will be completely denuded after another Christmas crowd and woodchop carnival,’ FPG spokesperson Michele Grant said.
‘Spreading cracker dust and woodchip is killing the grass, especially when it’s extremely dry,’ she said.
‘Why isn’t water from sewerage plants being reused to keep parks alive?
‘It’s really bad management, as there are sandpits at Banner Park and subsidence along riverbank.
‘We must strongly reject current management practices and the abject neglect of our parks,’ she said.
Echonetdaily is waiting for response on the issue from Byron Shire Council.
Meanwhile, a community action group which has launched the petition to the NSW Legislative Council on the new bill said the land up for a new future under the bill involved around 42 per cent of the total land mass of NSW.
The community.run.org website says ‘What was previously Crown Land or fell under other Acts such as Common Land, now due to be designated as Crown Land, will at the discretion of the minister and be able to be privatised, leased, sold to whoever for whatever purpose’.
‘ Previous Crown Land Management Bills have “reserved” much Crown Land in a way that this is not possible,’ the petition says.
‘Public lands were for public use and were intended to be held in perpetuity.
‘All previous protections will be removed with the passing of this new bill on Tuesday, 8 November.
‘It also includes the abolition of Commons, reserve and other Trusts and the Western Lands Advisory Council.
‘This may effect many public spaces such as parks, showgrounds, pony clubs and commons’.
The bill can be viewed at https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/bills/DBAssets/bills/BillText/3348/b2012-167-d13.pdf
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