Caulfield Park is a very large open park space in south-east Melbourne. It provides recreational opportunities for a wide range of users. These include casual users as well as tennis,bowls, soccer, cricket,lacrosse, recreational walking on a surrounding walking track and a leash-free area for dogs. The park contains pavilions, a conservatory, childrens play areas. and a heritage-listed arboretum for those who simply like to meander through its unstructured, non-enclosed vistas.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Alert to Residents

MAJOR CHANGES FOR CAULFIELD PARK
MORE MATURE TREES TO GO AND A NEW 1.2 METRE HIGH FENCED PATH TO MAKE WAY FOR ENLARGEMENT OF SPORTS OVALS

Park users will be concerned to know of further major plans for Caulfield Park which were passed at last week’s Council Meeting (March 17) for the purpose of enlarging the three sports fields along Balaclava Rd. We believe these changes will significantly impact the ambience of the park and alienate yet more open space.

The detailed changes are set out in Item 8.16 of the meeting minutes which can be accessed from the Council website: http://www.gleneira.vic.gov.au/Files/Mar17-minutes.pdf (see page 99).

Briefly, the changes are:
• Sports field enlargement - the three sports fields on Balaclava Rd are to be enlarged to allow for three 50 m radius cricket fields.
• This requires at least 15 mature trees to be removed. It includes the trees along the brick path that extends northerly from Bambra Rd to the small red brick pavilion. A number of them are very large and striking and, in our opinion, provide valuable shelter for birds and the screening of the new pavilion from the south east corner of the park, as well as significantly enhancing the view of the park from Bambra Rd. Their removal will create no tree breaks between the three new fields and create an expansive open space devoid of shade and seating.
• A new wide concrete fenced path to cut across the park. The existing north south brick path from Bambra Rd will be realigned to go between the new sports fields. The new path is to be as wide as a road (2.5 metres) in beige concrete with a high fence either side. The new fence will be 127 metres long and 1.2 metres high. This will be an eyesore and prevent people from crossing the fields, effectively reducing access to open space. This is the first plan for fencing that we are aware of and are concerned that more fencing might be on the agenda further down the track. We believe we must let Council know that further alienation of open space is unacceptable.

We hope to engage with Council and Councillors to achieve a more equitable outcome for the ambience of the park and for the thousands who use it each week for passive recreation and for the sporting clubs.

We are interested in hearing from park users who are concerned about these changes to assist us in working out an appropriate strategy with Council. If you are opposed to these changes then please contact us by leaving a comment on our website blogspot or writing to us.

If we can demonstrate there is sufficient community opposition we may be able to do something.

We are particularly interested in the views of the cricket or other sports field users who either support or oppose the plans. The changes are being made, as we understand, primarily for the benefit of cricket clubs to enable for more senior level playing fields (which require a 50 metre radius). We are interested in knowing how frequently all fields would simultaneously be used for senior cricket and whether or not the needs of the sports clubs could be accommodated by reconfiguring the fields, eg making one of the fields smaller, to avoid removing more trees.

Please pass this notice to any park users you know who may be interested in this issue.

David Wilde
President, Friends of Caulfield Park

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Glen Eira Council votes for fencing in park.

The following agenda item reflects Council's intention to not only reinvent the southern ovals with new drought resistant grass and the planting of new trees(which will relut in the removal of 15 trees - several mature - but also the extensive introduction of concreted paths and a relayed cross park path that curves away to pass between two fields. The Councillors believe that cricket balls will present danger to those using the path. Therefore the path will pass between two 1.2 metre wire mesh fences for over 100 metres. So the fencing will be there all year so that for fifteen days a year people will be 'protected'. As well all the trees in the centre of this area (15 in all will be removed.

As is usual in these situations, there was no public consultation.
Before the vote, Friends of Caulfield Park contacted several of the Councilors to try and prevent the fencing. Cr Tang said it was neccesary to protect the walkers during matches. Cr. Hyams said this had been done at Princes Prk and that it was a good thing.


An amendment to remove the fences from the plan and to use more sympathetic crushed rock for the paths was defeated 6 to 3 with Crs. Lipschutz, Whiteside, Tang, Hyams, Esakoff and Staikos voting against Crs. Pilling, Penhalluriack and Magee. Park users should expect to have the whole south-eastern part of Caulfield Park cut off for up to a year while the new grass is established.
ORDINARY COUNCIL MEETING – AGENDA 17 MARCH 2009 66
Item 8.16
WARM SEASON GRASSES – ACCELERATED CONVERSION PROGRAM – CAULFIELD PARK Enquiries: Paul Burke Director Community Relations
1. Purpose
At the Council Meeting on 15 October 2008 at Agenda item 10(a) Requests for Report, Council resolved as follows:
REQUEST FOR REPORTS
Crs Lipshutz/Robilliard
That a report be prepared on the current state of the surface of each park in Glen Eira, the remedial options that are available at each site to improve the surface whether by the planting of drought resistant grasses, the laying of artificial turf or any other method and the estimated costs of the work in each park. The report should include some sort of timeline for the works to be commenced and completed.
The MOTION was put and CARRIED unanimously.
2. Community Plan 2008 - 2013
Theme 3 Strategic Objective:
To enhance the recreation, leisure and sporting facilities in Glen Eira to improve community wellbeing and strengthen the community.
3. Background
Active and passive recreation in Glen Eira is limited by the quantity and quality of playing surfaces.

3.1 Quantity
The quantity of sports fields is limited by the amount of open space in the municipality. Glen Eira has the lowest or, on some measures, second lowest, amount of public open space of any of the Councils in metropolitan Melbourne. (This probably arose historically as a result of the lack of foreshore and river banks.)
Council has had to cap the number of winter sports teams due to sports grounds
being at capacity.
Council has given high priority to identifying land which might be able to be used for recreation.

• Last year, Council obtained approval in principle for the former Glen Huntly Reservoir to be used as public open space and committed to public consultation on the nature of that use.
• Council also entered into an agreement with the Melbourne Racing Club that when training is removed from the Caulfield Racecourse, an area of Crown Land currently used for stables would be added to Glen Huntly Reserve.

3.2 Quality
Over the last ten years Council has undertaken rolling programs across the 45 sports grounds in the municipality to reduce the risk of injury, maximise the use of these
facilities and respond to reducing rainfall. This has included the installation of an automatic municipal wide irrigation system for all sports grounds, installation of training lights at numerous grounds to meet new Australian Standards and the resurfacing of sports grounds to drought tolerant surfaces.
The lack of rainfall and recent extreme temperatures have had a significant impact on Glen Eira’s sports grounds even though Council has been very proactive in its approach to developing and maintaining the grounds.
The grounds in the poorest condition are those without drought tolerant grass surfaces and those unable to be watered due to water restrictions. The introduction of these State Government water restrictions originally only allowed one in four grounds to be watered. This summer season saw these restrictions changed by the water companies providing Council with a limited water allocation (equivalent to the “one in four grounds”) to use as determined by South East Water in conjunction with Council.

3.3 Condition of Grounds
Glen Eira has undertaken a rolling program to convert sports ground playing surfaces to warm season grass species in order to reduce water consumption and to provide more suitable surfaces during drought conditions. Council has converted approximately three grounds per year under this program. This program has included both resurface works and total ground reconstructions.
The current condition of Glen Eira sports grounds can be summarised as follows:
• Grounds that have full warm season cover are holding together reasonably well. Some grounds will look brown but there is plenty of root structure and plant that will regenerate once the weather cools a little.
• Grounds with only partial warm season grass cover that have been watered under the current restrictions have not faired so well as the cool season grasses need more water than can currently be allocated to them. These grounds have suffered severely during the last week of extreme temperatures.
• Grounds that have not received any water due to restrictions have suffered the worst. Some have very little grass cover at present.
Attachment A sets out
• a list of the grounds
• a horizontal bar graph showing the proportion of warm season grass
• those grounds which are under training lights
• those grounds which are getting limited mains watering under the current restrictions
• the assessment undertaken in January 2009 of the condition of the ground.
Conditions have deteriorated since those assessments were taken.

3.4 Synthetic Surfaces
The technologies behind synthetic sports surfaces are developing to the point where they offer alternatives to grass. The newer synthetic surfaces are longer pile materials that are generally infilled with sand and or rubber granules that are made from recycled shredded rubber tyres. Considerations relating to synthetic surfaces are set out in Attachment B.
Synthetic surfaces could assist to meet the heavy demand for training and the playing of games. There are some constraints on the use of synthetic surfaces in a fully established municipality such as Glen Eira including the need for synthetic surfaces to be fenced and some other environmental issues.

4. Action to improve the condition of grounds
The most effective action to improve the condition of grounds, for both active and passive recreation, would be to accelerate the conversions to warm season grasses.
The constraints on conversion are:
1. water to establish the turf
2. reducing the number of grounds on which clubs can play.
Melbourne’s water storage levels are getting very low (see attachment C) and there must be a risk of the availability of mains water for sportsgrounds being reduced or abolished late this year.
This submission offers the option of converting:
• three grounds between the cricket season and football season in April 2009
• and another program of conversions between the football season and the next cricket season in September 2009.

4.1 Caulfield Park
Works are scheduled for the ovals on the south (Balaclava Road) side of Caulfield Park. The opportunity could be taken to lay warm season grasses at the same time.
As part of the master plan and following the construction of the pavilion, there are a number of consequential works. The ovals need to be reconfigured to achieve safety distances of 50 metres. That cannot be done till the “grey hex” pavilion is removed. That can’t be done until the end of this cricket season. The cricket wickets need to be moved to the east (see attachment D). It also requires the reconfiguration of some paths and would entail the removal of 15 trees and the planting of 120 new trees.
The conversions of warm season grasses could be added to this project and carried out during autumn, starting next month. There would be some economies of scale from doing the warm season grasses at the same time as the other works.
The clubs could be relocated for the 2009 season to Duncan Mackinnon Reserve.
As Council has almost used up its allocation of mains water for sports grounds for the 2008/09 year, we would need to bring in “Class A” recycled water. South East Water has advised that it can supply us. The estimated cost would be $120,000 to $150,000, depending on conditions. Water tanks would need to be installed. Drip irrigation systems would be installed under the new turf. Drip irrigation uses 30% less water than spray irrigation.
The preferred time for laying the grass is in the growing season in spring. If laid in autumn, the grass would start to establish but would be dormant over winter. It would establish fully in early spring and be fully playable for the cricket season.
During winter it would be easily damaged and the area of new turf would have to be fenced from April to September. The fences would be the same as have been used in similar projects recently in Murrumbeena Reserve and Glen Huntly Park without omplaint. For the project to go ahead, a judgement would have to be made that the short term inconvenience of having this area fenced was outweighed by the long term benefit of better and more sustainable surfaces.
Caulfield Park is the City’s largest Park. It hosts walkers, joggers, dog walkers, community festivals as well as sport. Concern was expressed by a number of parties last year as to the condition of the surfaces in the Park (Attachment E). Conversion to sustainable surfaces would benefit all concerned.

4.2 Resources
To do the works at short notice, we would manage the project ourselves and use a large number of small contractors rather than specify all the work in a single contract and tender it. The estimated costs include
• the original relocation works and tree plantings $225,000
• preparing the ground, supply and installation of the turf $460,000
• irrigation $210,000
• tanks $35,000
• plus the cost of water.
The all up cost would be of the order of $1m. Of this $435,000 is available within the 2008-09 Budget. The remaining cost of approximately $550,000 is the price if Council wishes to double the conversion program in response to deteriorating conditions.
The most finite resources in this case are the playing surfaces and water rather than money.

5. Recommendation
If Council wishes to accelerate the conversion of grounds to warm season grasses an appropriate resolution would be:
That Council
a. note the condition of grounds in Glen Eira and that there is a direct correlation between condition and the proportion of warm season grasses;
b. in response to deteriorating conditions, accelerate the conversion of grounds to warm season grasses;
c. initiate this acceleration in Caulfield Park because other works are planned for that Park and it would be economic to include conversion to warm season grasses at the same time;
d. authorise the works in Caulfield Park as described in section 4.1 of this report and the resources identified in section 4.2 of this report;
and e. communicate this action to residents, clubs and other stakeholders.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Letter to Helen Whiteside (Mayor) Glen Eira

Friends of Caulfield Park
PO Box 2511
Caulfield Junction 3161
13th February 2009
The Mayor, Councilor H Whiteside
Glen Eira City Hall
Glen Eira Road
Glen Eira


Dear Helen,

RE: Trees in Caulfield Park

I refer to my email, earlier this month regarding the need to care for trees in stress in Caulfield Park and to my letters to S Tang of 13th June last year and subsequent follow up to S Unwin regarding the parlous state of a particular magnolia tree (see attached).

I am sorry to discover that this tree in the park has now been chopped down (see photos below).

Frankly, this is a sorry state of affairs.

I know from your campaign material and our previous discussions that you are concerned for the welfare of the park. Please consider what steps can be taken to minimize the impact of climate change on these priceless assets. It seems to me that to just wait until they are irretrievably damaged and then to cut them down is not a very useful strategy. If this is not better managed, then ultimately, we will all be left with nothing to enjoy.

Following on our meeting with Steven last year, we look forward to having an opportunity to meet with you to discuss matters affecting the park.

In the mean time we would be interested to know what strategies the Council has put in place in the short term to ensure the ongoing water restrictions do not continue to lead to the wasting of other precious trees like the magnolia.

Yours sincerely,

Michael Cramphorn
Secretary. Cc Cr. S Tang, S Unwin

Public Question 2 to Glen Eira Council

From: Michael Cramphorn
Subject: Glen Eira trees and parks

“In light of the recent extreme weather, what specific steps is Council taking to assess the impact on Glen Eira trees and parks, and to establish an appropriate strategy to protect those assets?”

The Mayor asked the Director Community Relations (DCR) to read Council’s response. He said:

“On 23 February 2009 Council wrote to you in response to similar questions that you had put.

Council’s response says: ‘Thank you for your email of 5 February 2009 and further letter of 13 February 2009.

Firstly can I assure you that Council is doing its utmost to ensure that our trees survive this terrible ongoing drought. Just in the last few weeks the terrible weather conditions that brought the recent tragic firestorms to Victoria has had a noticeable effect on trees throughout Melbourne. I can tell you that all Councillors and Council staff share the same interest as you do in preserving our living environment.

In relation to the specifics of your recent communications the matters were referred to Council’s Manager Park Services, who has responded:

“Glen Eira has access to bore water and uses this water as the main water supply to ‘trees at risk’. In addition we have also been proactive in obtaining water from other sources. As reported in the February Glen Eira News, Council has obtained three million litres of water from a building site for use on its trees. Wetting agent is added to the bore water to assist the water to penetrate deep into the tree’s root system where it is needed most.

Park Services have been regularly watering the trees in the western end of Caulfield Park since October last year. With relatively short travel distances, Council uses trailer mounted water tanks to cart water to the trees. An average of 2500 litres of water is applied weekly to each large tree.

In addition to the regular watering, many trees have been mulched and a small number of drought affected trees have received specialised hydro-aeration works to improve the trees’ ability to absorb moisture.

Works are also planned for later this financial year to install drip irrigation designed to water trees in the heritage area (western end) of Caulfield Park. These works are intended to help protect the trees from the effects of drought. We are continuing to monitor the health of the trees within Caulfield Park.

With regard to the removal of the magnolia tree, extensive attempts were made to save this tree before a decision was made to remove it.”

Should you have any further queries regarding your concerns, please call the Service Centre on 9524 3333.

Public Question 1 to Glen Eira Council

From: Michael Cramphorn
Subject: Caulfield Park Pavilion

“Does Council still believe that the Caulfield Park pavilion will be completed midyear?

How will the new facility be used?
How will Council be allocating access rights to interested users?
Will a usage policy be developed to ensure fair and equitable access to interested parties and to take account of the interests of all categories of park users and local residents?”

The Mayor asked the Director Community Relations (DCR) to read Council’s response.

He said:

“Council expects the pavillion to be completed on time.
The facilities offered in the Caulfield Park pavillion will have the same use and the same availability to the community as similar pavillions in Glen Eira.
The tenant clubs will continue to receive seasonal allocations and the community room will be available for booking and use by community groups.
Bookings will be administered by Council’s Recreation and Youth Services department.
There will be a schedule of hire charges for the community room that will take account of both ordinary bookings and community bookings.
Community groups will be able to apply for a Community Grant to cover the cost of hire for community purposes.”