ehx_pub

Report by Beaumaris
Conservation Society Inc. observer
of the Public Meeting held below:

The meeting was
ably chaired by Murray

Thompson, MLA for Sandringham,
who was thanked at the end by
strong applause. Speakers
representing groups associated
with Beaumaris Reserve, including
the Tennis Club, Soccer

Club, Art Group, and Returned
Services League
(principal watchers over the Cenotaph)
gave their reasons why they could
not accept a skateboard ramp near
their areas of concern. They were
followed by representatives of Friends

of Balcombe Park
(Joan Couzoff), Bayside

Friends of Native Wildlife
(Michael Norris), and Beaumaris
Conservation Society Inc.
(its Secretary, Ron Morris). Each
speaker addressed the meeting for
up to 5 minutes.

The conservation speakers said
they were not in favour of removal
of indigenous vegetation, but
stressed that Balcombe
Park had by far the greatest
priority for protection.
Peter Wolstenholme, of Neighbourhood

Watch, spoke of problems of
facilities that attract certain
age groups. A resident of Cloris
Avenue gave his views of
concerns about a site on the north
of Beaumaris Reserve. Mrs Elspeth
Black, of the Twelve

on Victor Bed and Breakfast
house opposite the proposed
Beaumaris Reserve site, explained
her rejection of that site. Both
Bayside councillors for Beaumaris,
Crs Ken Beadle and Derek Wilson,
attended, but neither spoke.

Individual
speakers then spoke for a similar
time. They included former BCS
Inc. member Tina Owens; two
teenage boys, Nick and Tom, who
were skateboard enthusiasts; and
Geoffrey Goode. Tina spoke
strongly on the need for physical
recreational facilities for
teenagers beyond ball games, and
urged those present to do
something positive to cause such
facilities to be built. The
teenage speakers told of their
keenness on skateboarding, and the
need for a ramp. They instanced
other sites, such as the
north-west corner of Banksia
Reserve. Geoffrey gave background
to problems with a previous ramp
(reverberant timber, not
concrete), and the Bayside City
Council commissioners’ sale
of  two grassed spaces on the
east corner of Cloris Avenue and
Scott Street.
 

Speakers asked
why the Beaumaris

Campus of Sandringham
College,
which has considerable grassed open
land, could not arrange for its
north-west corner to be leased to
the Council for a skateboard ramp.
Murray Thompson said that the School
Council had to agree if that was to
happen, and that it had so far not
been in favour of that.

The meeting
concluded with a show of
hands, for each of the 3 sites
below, of those favouring them
for a ramp. Few favoured any
of those 3 sites. Nearly all
hands were raised in favour of
the Council examining further
sites than those three.
People accepted invitations
to join a Working Group to
pursue speakers’ concerns.
Beaumaris Conservation Society
Inc. chose not to provide a
representative for that Group,
but offered to give its views
on any new sites proposed.

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Residents  
Conservationists 
Cricketers  Skateboarders

Senior
Citizens       
    Soccer
enthusiasts      
Artists

Dog walkers   
Tennis Players
       
RSL Members

Library members
           
Friends of Balcombe Park

WE
NEED YOU!

We intend forming a
Working Party of interested residents
to investigate more closely a possible
requirement and/or a suitable location
for a Skate Board Facility in
Beaumaris.

At the Bayside Council
Meeting on 22 August
2005 there was stiff opposition to all
three possible sites:

· Balcombe Park bushland,

·
the Concourse Green, and

·
Beaumaris Reserve at Victor Street.

The meeting was well
attended by a large number of
residents. Councillors Beadle, Ryan,
McLorinan, Dwyer and Wilson voted
successfully to defer a decision until
after a Special Council Meeting to be
held at 7 p.m. on 13 September 2005,
where residents and other involved
parties can each have their say.
Councillors Andrews, del Porto and
Carroll unsuccessfully opposed that
decision, saying they would have
deferred the issue until after the
Council elections ended, on 26
November.

As this Special Council
Meeting is less than three weeks away,
many of those attending Monday’s
Council Meeting decided a “Call

to Action Meeting” was required.

Please support your
Beaumaris Community by attending a
Public Meeting at

Beaumaris

Community Centre

At
7:30 p.m.

Thursday, 1
September, 2005

Due to obvious time
constraints, individual speakers will
be limited to 3 minutes each. Please
tell your “Interest Group” Coordinator
before the meeting if you wish to
speak.

The Chairperson might
also allow each identified “Interest
Group” that registers with one of the
people below before the meeting to
have one representative speak
for up to 10 minutes.

To further discuss any of
the above items, please contact

Elspeth Black  9589
0198 / Norm Stewart 9589 1435 / John
Lawler  9589 4020

YOUR
ATTENDANCE AT THIS MEETING IS
CRUCIAL TO GENERATE A
UNITED COMMUNITY APPROACH ON THIS
VERY IMPORTANT COMMUNITY ISSUE.