A new petition has been put on the back-burner after civic leaders heard a plea for the fencing of a planned new play space at Dubbo's Victoria Park.
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Petition organiser Hannah Browne says talks with Dubbo Region Mayor Stephen Lawrence and Cr Jane Diffey have paused the pursuit of signatures.
Last week, Dubbo Regional Council announced its plan to turn the popular and fully-fenced Livvi's Place in Victoria Park into a "dedicated fitness zone" and create a new play space alongside the Dubbo Aquatic Leisure Centre Pool Deck Kiosk.
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Like Livvi's Place, the new play space will cater to children of all ages and abilities but current planning does not include fencing.
Mrs Browne, the mother of Naomi, 4, Esther, 2, and Abigail, seven months, says the "council wants to keep it an open space and allow parents to use the kiosk".
But she and other proponents of the fencing of the new play space would choose the safety of their children over all else.
"We are not really as interested in access to a kiosk as we are in fencing," the mother of three said.
Mrs Browne said the most attentive parent would be challenged keeping multiple children safe in an unfenced playground, especially if they had special needs.
"It doesn't matter how active you have been in your supervision, kids still run," she said.
"I know some parents who have children with special needs children who .. tend to run away."
Livvi's Place had allowed families to relax and have fun together, Mrs Browne said.
"You could go there any time of the day and there was always parents with multiple children," she said.
Mrs Browne said parents supporting the proposed fencing of the new play space believed the council to be family-focused and appreciated all it provided to them including parks.
But she said the users of Livvi's Place had not been given the opportunity to tell the council what they wanted in a new play space.
"It's such a huge project and such a loved park and there was no community consultation," Mrs Browne said.
"They are making this for us and for our families but they didn't ask us what we would use."
Mrs Browne said Cr Lawrence and Cr Diffey had committed to speaking to the "CEO of council and council staff to address our concerns".
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