Environmentalists fight on to 'Save Regand Park' as their petition gains traction

The petition holds over 800 signatures and will be delivered to DRC on Friday, September 9.

Creator of the petition Margaret McDonald said she was alerted to a problem with the Regand Park status in February 2021 by Stephen Lawrence, the deputy mayor at the time.

In February 2021 the council welcomed a mayoral minute from Ben Shields that proposed for the St John's Junior Rugby League Football Club proponents to potentially develop up to 10 hectares of Regand Park.

"That was quite untoward, because a mayoral minute is only supposed to be brought in in an emergency so they can progress something before the next monthly meeting and what he was doing was progressing St John's JRLFC," she said.

As part of the mayoral minute by Mr Shields, it included the need to rescind the policy that stopped any infrastructure from being built on Regand Park.

"I spoke at the March [2021] meeting asking for there to be public consultation before they did that, but the majority voted and the policy was rescinded," she said.

In April 2021 Dubbo Environment Group began their petition, but when Mr Shields had a vote of 'no confidence' and a new mayor stepped in, the group put the petition on hold until DRC found some "stability".

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In January 2022 DRC voted to start a new masterplan for the Regand Park area but they hadn't rescinded the previous rulings that allow for a sporting facility to be put on the land.

"Seeing that it was still unprotected I brought the same petition out again in July and that apparently was a surprise to the mayor and we consider that he probably wouldn't agree that it's anger, but he has certainly expressed his disappointment that we're campaigning," she said.

"It is our job as environmental advocates and it is definitely the right thing to do for Regand Park, which is to keep it as environmental and with no development on it."

The group has had six street petitions where they have gone out into the public and made residents aware of their cause.

"At the August standing committee and the following August ordinary meeting, councillors have expressed their concerns that their trust has been questioned and I've been called aside by the mayor at a climate change and resilience community committee meeting and asked why we are doing this petition to 'Save Regand Park'," she said.

"Well clearly there is something to save."

Ms McDonald said she had been to the consultation meetings that St John's JRLFC had also attended.

"I'm interpreting that to mean that the feedback we will get for the masterplan will have environmental and rugby league sporting fields, but the rugby league people are the ones that will answer the call, so I have questions about the whole process," she said.

Ms McDonald said she felt that mayor Mathew Dickerson was not encouraging her to show him the community concerns and that he was acting "petulant" because the public were questioning him.

Some of the environmental concerns the group has is that Regand Park is "precious land" in Dubbo.

The Daily Liberal reported in 2004 that the Regand Park would be used as "open space people can walk through" and that it will "be landscaped and have bike tracks running through it linking to other recreational areas, the CBD and various parts of the city".

"There is very little public access to any river, it's mostly owned by private land holders and this was an opportunity the 2004 Dubbo Council took, and purchased it and they were very proud to have purchased it and it was to be public park land," she said.

"The people don't like that a private sporting group is wanting to be down there at all."

According to Ms McDonald in 2020 the Dubbo Environment Group had a meeting with the executive officer at the time who took them through Regand Park and explained the area was being returned to pre colonial vegetation.

"They said they would consult the community on other things like bike riding and horse riding, that's not what's happening," she said.

"It was a wonderful vision and a modern vision embracing environmental priorities that we need to embrace."

At the August ordinary meeting, Barbara Sutherland from SOS Tree's Dubbo spoke in public forum and said until August 11, 2022 DRC were "less than transparent" on the St John's JRLFC proposal and councillor Josh Black's motion for all the meetings and contact between the parties to be provided to council was a positive sign.

That motion was then amended so the documents wouldn't be released.

"So now we have a master planning process in place for a private football club who represent one section of the organised sporting community," she said.

"To the exclusion of all other sections of the organised sporting clubs when we know the strategic documents predict a shortfall of sporting fields but an even greater shortage of passive open space."

Ms Sutherland said the proposal of this private sporting club is to the detriment of the whole community.

"How can it be in the public interest to gift initially 10 hectares of our multimillion dollar public passive open space to a private sporting club? Do you intend to gift the water licence too!?" she said.

Ms Sutherland said the rescinded Regand Park master plan was to reinstate fully structured woodland on the floodplain and would have initiated an intergenerational approach to habitat restoration.

"The north and south precinct should designate the remaining undeveloped floodplain as public parkland for environmental restoration," she said.

When going through DRC's strategic documents Ms Sutherland said they "contradict" the current masterplan process.

"It is agreed our masterplans need to be updated. These updated plans would guide council and the whole community on the future needs to make our local government area attractive and liveable," she said.

"Only then should council start a process to masterplan for both active and passive space for future generations. The North and South precinct masterplan is premature and rushed. Why?"

Ms Sutherland questioned whether DRC was acting on the interest of the whole community.

"Twice some councillors have actively voted to keep the general community in the dark about the plans of the private football club that wishes to develop football ovals," she said.

"What has council done to inform the general public? Very little. This issue is bringing discredit to Dubbo Regional Council when the whole community had such hope for a transparent new council after the December 4, 2021 election."

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