Barwon Playground renewal to continue

Councillors officially responded to a petition with more than 300 signatures asking the council to halt the works at their October 22 meeting.

The playground is near the banks of the Barwon River just off the Princess Highway.

It has various pieces of art incorporated into its design that some of the locals do not want to lose.

The petitioners’ concern is that the replacement of the Barwon River Playground would see some of Winchelsea’s heritage lost, and the petition asked the council to reconsider their planned renewal of the playground.

“We ask Council to halt the project until a proper community consultation can be done,” it states.

“We want a say in the future of our playground. We want to know if it can be restored or a replica rebuilt, rather than lost to history.”

The petition’s initiator Trudy White brought the matter up with council during public question time in September.

She said the council’s consultation process did not adequately involve the community.

“I was sent an email with a space to write feedback, however I get the feeling that it has already been designed.

“The form asks for feedback on what is proposed instead of asking people what they want from the start.”

The Barwon River Playground was included in the council’s 2017/18 Renewal Program, but lack of funding meant the project was put on hold.

The council’s agenda stated that it felt the community’s attitude towards the playground’s renewable was predominantly positive and therefore the renewal should continue.

“Overall it was felt that the majority of the feedback towards the proposed works were positive with some conditions on the final look and reuse of existing artwork.”