Concerns over Taylor Park’s future

FRIENDS of Taylor Park are concerned about the potential effect of the planned Torquay Town Centre Project may have on Taylor Park and its tree life.

The project will see the Zeally Bay Road and Fischer Street car parks sealed, as well as wayfinding signs, three pedestrian crossings, and two bike racks around the town centre.

The Zeally Bay Road works are planned to be delivered before Christmas, with the rest of the project to then be delivered in stages during the remainder of the financial year.

Friends of Taylor Park Victoria Inc. president Ian Convery said sealing the car parks had the potential to deprive the trees in the park of a vital water source.

“With Zeally Bay Road, currently the car park is unsurfaced and water flows from that into the park,” said Mr Convery.

“There’s a lack of water along there. You can see in the open space area how dry it becomes during the summer.”

Mr Convery said he believed these issues could be amended with some minor adjustments to the plans.

“When you look at it (Zeally Bay Road), it’s downhill, it wouldn’t take much imagination to run some water into the park,” he said.

“Fischer Street’s an even worse one because at the moment all the water runs down into the park. If they do the same thing there, they’d really be cutting off a lot of water to the park.”

Surf Coast Shire council acting general manager Governance and Infrastructure John Bertoldi said council was confident of completing the works without having a detrimental effect on Taylor Park.

“Council is aware of the environmental importance of existing water flow into adjoining Taylor Park, and runoff is not expected to be impacted as a result of the sealing work,” said Mr Bertoldi.

“The Zeally Bay Road car park is very flat, captures minimal stormwater and cannot be easily reshaped to direct water towards the park. Water-sensitive designs are being investigated to direct stormwater flows from Fischer Street into Taylor Park.”