Residents of Fingal in Tasmania’s Break O’Day municipality are up in arms over plans to redevelop a former local RV park into a youth-focused recreation space.
The plans will fill the space left by the Talbot Street RV park, which the council was forced to relocate due to concerns about its proximity to a children’s playground.
The decision was made after the state government introduced Child and Youth Safe Organisations legislation last year, which mandates the relocation of RV parking from near playgrounds.
“Essentially, having public and free RV parking available right next to a children’s playground is considered a potential risk to child safety as we, the managers of the park, are unable to ensure that children and young people will be safe,” a council notice reads.
According to a council notice, the “only way” to resolve the issue was to move RV parking 220 metres away to the Fingal Recreation Ground over the railway line.
In place of the former RV park, the council plans to build a pump track, basketball half-court and new plantings.
The existing playground, dump point and electric vehicle charging station will stay, while the exercise equipment will be relocated.
One resident told councillors at Monday’s meeting that their “peace and quiet is going to be destroyed” by the proposal.
“Fingal is in a tranquil valley, it’s a beautiful place and we came back here to retire from the mainland back here to Tasmania,” they said.
Another accused the council of discrimination, saying the project would neglect the needs of older residents.
“Plans to develop [a] youth park with equipment specifically designed for young people … discriminates against other age groups in the community and contravenes discrimination laws to protect all the people from unfair treatment,” he said.
“The question to council is what plans [do] the council have to accommodate the needs of most of the residents who are not youth?”
Fingal, with a median age of 55, has a significantly older population than the Tasmanian average.
Nearly 19% of residents are over 70, compared to the state average of 14.6%.
Break O’Day Mayor Mick Tucker acknowledged the community’s mixed opinions but explained that the council must comply with state legislation.
“So we need to work together, we need to try to get outcomes, do what’s good for everybody and not everybody will always be happy with the end result,” he said.
“But at the end of the day, we do need to make decisions based on good, honest, reliable information and do the best we can do.”
