Stokes urged to adopt Federation Model for Sydney’s iconic Parks.
MEDIA RELEASE - 25 OCTOBER 2021
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The Alliance for Public Parklands believes there is an alternative model for the management of Sydney’s iconic parklands Centennial Park, Callan Park, Parramatta Park, Western Sydney Parklands, and Fernhill Estate.
“We believe in a federated, community model rather than the centralised, top-down model that is being advanced in the Greater Sydney Parklands Trust Exposure Bill.” APP spokesperson Hall Greenland announced.
Under this alternative model each of the iconic parks in the Greater Sydney Parklands would have its own Trust to manage each park.
The membership of these individual Trusts would combine community members with local knowledge of each park, First Nations representation, experts in heritage, biodiversity and park management, and a representative from the local Council.
There could still be a central Greater Sydney Parklands agency advocating for Sydney’s parklands for equitable government funding and providing back office, maintenance and infrastructure services and taking advantage of economies of scale.
In the White Paper on the Greater Sydney Parklands published earlier this year Rob Stokes, the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, said: ‘Removing local park trusts and the community voice is not what we will do. ‘Any decision on the future of our parkland must be validated by the views of the community. They are the park users and the park experts. Their voice gives meaning to what we are trying to do.’
The Alliance believes that the best way to translate those worthy principles into reality is to entrust each of our parks to its own Trust and not to a centralised bureaucracy with a board of directors made up of representatives appointed by the Minister from the ‘big end of town’.
“If the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Rob Stokes is sincere in his desire to leave a legacy for the people of NSW and our iconic parks, then we urge him to adopt the Federation Model”, Suzette Meade spokesperson for APP said.
Media inquiries
Email: alliance4parks@gmail.com
Phone: Hall 0408 643 786 or Suzette 0412 990 880
