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Play Ground Rules
Red dirt surrounds most things in Carnarvon, including a playground in the Carey Street Park. Located in an area of low lying scrub adjacent to mangroves and tidal land, there is little to protect the brightly coloured children’s playground from the relentless assault of the hot desert sun or the abuse by disaffected youth. Carey Street Park is a currently a problem that residents, visionary consultants and the Shire are attempting to grapple with.
Modelled on a successfully established park in another part of South Carnarvon, the concept to have a park at Carey Street was initiated by members of the community. A meeting attended by a strong group of the primarily indigenous residents, the Shire President, CEO, Senior Manager and Health Communities Project Officer, demonstrated that there was genuine support for the concept and provided the impetus to commence its construction.
While the project appeared to be community driven, and therein had the potential to engender community ownership and pride, the original concept was flawed as it was modelled on another park in a different location servicing an entirely different catchment group. With seventy five percent of the residents in the Carey Street area being Indigenous, and a high percentage of these children identified by the Department of Health as developmentally vulnerable, any liaison with the community needed to be sufficiently sensitive to draw out and articulate their requirements. Although some elements of the park design could be translated into Carey Street, adhering to that model prevented the Carey Street initiative being individualised and attuned to the specific behaviours and needs of the surrounding community.
In 2006 a small team of Parks and Gardens staff with support from the Healthy Communities Project Officer, took responsibility for the Shire’s project delivery. The set tasks and goal to input play equipment and other minor furniture for all to enjoy was a learning experience for all. The realisation soon emerged that a more inclusive process and greater community engagement was required to capture local ideas.
As the playground, complete with shade sails and soft-fall took shape, it became a target for vandalism, due in part to the boredom experienced by the young people in the area and the lack of personal ownership they felt for the initiative. With children climbing and jumping on shade sails, bins being emptied and supermarket trolleys being rolled down slides, the playground rapidly turned into a liability rather than the community asset which was originally envisioned. As a result the project was put on hold until Community Service staff could be employed to meet and engage with the community.
In 2007/2008 newly employed Community Service staff resumed consultations with the community about the park and made a number of changes to the initial plan. With greater sensitivity to the community, and in particular indigenous needs; emphasis was placed on creating public spaces, community plantings and even a small garden for growing "bush tucker". The design included the plants used by Aboriginal women for weaving as well as others used for medicinal purposes and those from which inks and dyes could be made. An important feature of the community garden was the inclusion of fruit and nut bearing trees to not only provide shade, but also to produce fresh fruit and nuts for the children to eat.
With greater input from residents, the more community focussed second stage of the park design received support from various government agencies. The second stage had the added benefit of offering government agencies a pleasant open space they could potentially use to host community programs and meetings. Having supported the installation of shade sails and soft fall in the initial park design, Lotterywest also committed to supporting the second stage of the park’s development. With a view to encouraging community cohesion Lotterywest provided a grant of $160,290 towards the refurbishment of a basketball court, seating and landscaping.
Three years on, appropriate plans and resources are finally in place to resume and respond appropriately to the request originally initiated by the community. Unfortunately the disillusionment of a false start and the subsequent loss of momentum have meant that community interest in actively working on and maintaining support for the park has waned. Having learned from the earlier playground experience, the Shire is cautious about proceeding without community involvement. Staff at the Shire continue to consult with the community and all of the park’s stakeholders acknowledging that community ownership and involvement in the park’s development is vital to its sustainability.