Dubbo Regional Council will go back to the drawing board for a new play space at Joira Oval.
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Earlier in the year, council sought feedback on a draft design for a play space at the oval. It was designed to cater for the growing population of Delroy Parklands and Grangewood Estate.
However, there was a flood of complaints from nearby residents on the location of the play area, the lack of parking and the possible anti-social behavior.
Council staff recommended the $280,000 project be scrapped.
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At Tuesday night's council meeting, councillor John Ryan brought forward an alternative. He's called for a masterplan to be developed for the wider Joira Road open space precinct that would consider staged delivery, the lifecycle costs and a community consultation plan.
Cr Ryan said there were a lot of people who seems to be concerned the playground "didn't go far enough".
After talking to council staff, Cr Ryan said he thought what the community really wanted and expected, as well as what council could afford, all needed to be considered.
One of the complaints against the proposed play space said it was "the wrong choice for a playground in west".
"Joira Oval is an extremely poor choice. Location is unsafe due to traffic, dust bowl of an area, it's out of the way - and will most definitely not be used by locals to the best of its ability because of a poor location," the submission to council said.
Despite the concerns, mayor Stephen Lawrence said he had a "sinking feeling" at the thought of not constructing a play space.
He said it was obviously needed in the area, especially with the inequality of playgrounds between east and west Dubbo.
"The issues raised by the residents were obviously really important, and well put in their submissions, but I had a real sinking feeling about abandoning the project," Cr Lawrence said.
A decision on the play space will be made after the additional information sought by Cr Ryan goes before the council.
If the play space is not constructed, the $280,000 set aside for the project will be kept for future play space improvement opportunities.
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