GREATER Bendigo councillors could doom communities to cycles of playground misery if they fail to stick with a closure plan, municipal staff have warned.
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Elected officials will decide on Monday whether to demolish Epsom's Melbury Court Playground.
They gave it a stay of execution in 2020 after an outcry from 180 petitioners but council officers say the ageing space can no longer limp on.
They have already removed two pieces of run down equipment and have no plans to replace them.
The officers would like to build something new a block away at Botanical Drive but those plans remain uncertain while the current playground stands.
A 2018 council plan earmarked 28 playground removals over two decades. Another 26 were planned to rise over the same period.
But council officers have warned that elected officials will deviate from those plans if they do not follow through on playground closures like Melbury Park's.
Council officers fear ad hoc decisions compromising a plan that is supposed to spread play spaces across the growing city more equitably.
They are reluctant to simply build new ones while old equipment stands nearby because it gives them more planning system certainty about what will be needed.
"Each site while empty will continue to require maintenance while constituents are left wondering what the future will bring, causing unrest and discomfort for users or neighbouring areas," they said.
The council manages 163 plays spaces, the bulk of which are publicly accessible in parks, reserves and community facilities.
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Tom O'Callaghan
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
