Advocacy:
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Saving Moore Park Inc. Letter to Minister for the Environment - 17 February 2016
17 February 2016
The Hon. Mark Speakman SC, MP
Minister for the Environment
52 Martin Place
Sydney NSW 2000
Dear Minister
Saving Moore Park
I’m writing to you in your capacity as Minister for the Environment, and specifically as Minister responsible for the Centennial Park & Moore Park Trust.
Attached is a copy of a letter I’ve sent yesterday to the Premier regarding the current debate that’s playing out in the media over the proposed rebuilding of Allianz Stadium and its impact on Moore Park.
I’m writing on behalf of Saving Moore Park Inc., an association established late in 2015 by a number of people living close to Moore Park with the prime objective of ensuring that it is preserved for the benefit of the wider community. We are a genuinely independent community group, unaffiliated with any political or activist group or individuals.
We have established a website http://www.savingmoorepark.com and a Facebook page www.facebook.com/SavingMoorePark and although we’ve only been promoting these for three weeks, more than 1,400 people have already expressed their support.
While the Premier is making all the right noises, we are concerned that the Minister for Sport still seems to be focused on a new stadium to replace Allianz. In the Daily Telegraph on Monday, he continued to advocate a 55,000 seat stadium, despite the demonstrable lack of need. This can only mean he is still intent on taking over a large section of Moore Park.
The need for green space is critical in an area where the population density is expected to rise sharply over the next decade, and we seek your support for the preservation of Moore Park to meet this need.
If the Government wishes to upgrade Allianz Stadium, that’s fine - so long as a proper business case is undertaken which addresses issues such as traffic flows, the adequacy of parking arrangements and public transport, and the impact on Moore Park and on the local community.
As I suggested in my letter to the Premier, any Government investment in stadia should extend to the infrastructure that supports it. This includes parking.
For too long, Moore Park has been used as a parking lot on event days. In consequence what is potentially a delightful village green surrounded by trees, is rough and uneven. So long as the area is used for parking, the CP&MP Trust is naturally unwilling to allocate the funds required to remediate the area.
Our association believes any redevelopment of Allianz Stadium must include the allocation of funds by the Government to provide for visitor parking facilities on land controlled by the SCG Trust, so that event parking can cease on Moore Park. Only when this happens can a proper remediation program be undertaken and this section of the Park be returned to the community.
I’m in communication with the Chairman of CP&MP Trust, Tony Ryan and the CEO Kim Ellis, and so we’re well acquainted with and support the Trust’s views on what the Minister for Sport is proposing.
Saving Moore Park Inc. brings a different perspective to others in the community, and we have the support of a rapidly increasing number of people. I and another member of our Association would therefore like to meet with you so we can discuss our concerns in greater detail and provide you with input that might be useful when the issue of the future of Allianz Stadium is further discussed in Cabinet or elsewhere.
Yours sincerely
Michael Waterhouse
Michael Waterhouse
Convenor
Saving Moore Park Inc.