By ALENA HIGGINS
TWELVE parks currently controlled by Southern Downs Regional Council have been flagged as some of the first to be scrutinised under council’s Parks Rationalisation Plan.
Over the coming months, each park in the list below will undergo a stringent criteria assessment in a bid to sift out inefficiencies and glean whether they are suitable for the cost-saving measure.
Strategic significance, operational costs, community usage and proximity to other parks are just some of the benchmarks the parks will be judged on.
Contrary to public perception, Cr Vic Pennisi, who is one of three councillors on the parks rationalisation committee, said rationalisation did not just mean “sell”.
“When we talk about rationalisation, it’s not ‘hey we’ve got 160 parks and we are going to get rid of 80’, it’s let’s see if we can rationalise the parks in some way,” he said.
“We are going to go through every single park and see if there is any way of identifying some efficiency in the way we maintain those parks.”
He said leasing, sub-dividing or reducing maintenance and services would also be considered.
“We can’t surmise that all the parks are in villages and in towns; we have parks out in the middle of nowhere so it might be recommended to come back and lease the area to the farmer next door to grow corn on,” Cr Pennisi said.
“There is a whole raft of possibilities that could flow out of this new process that we have embarked on.”
“It just can’t take forever to do.”
Each recommendation will go back to council before it is approved and community consultation will be undertaken on a needs basis, with the first round of parks likely to go before council in August or September.
Council has been discussing the Parks Rationalisation Plan since amalgamation.
