By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
A DOVETON mother of two has led the charge to have the playgrounds in her suburb refurbished, after discovering that none of the children in the area want to play there.
Council agreed last week to “investigate opportunities for improved play and open space amenities” in Doveton, including at Autumn Place park, after a petition with over 120 signatures was presented to River Gum councillor Damien Rosario.
Doveton resident and childcare worker Hema Mariadass organised the petition after researching the suburb as part of her diploma in community services, which led her to speak to a range of people in the community.
She said even her own children, aged 7 and 3, preferred to use playgrounds in Dandenong over Doveton.
“The main issue is that everything’s a bit old and run down,” Ms Mariadass said.
“We need new equipment for all age groups to use and another point is the safety. In Doveton, they have old swings and slides, we need new play equipment.
“The suburb has 16 parks, but most of the residents use those in Dandenong instead.”
Cr Rosario said community consultations were already underway for the refurbishment of the playground equipment at the Autumn Place park in Doveton.
“Doveton is a renewed area with many works flagged including the redesign of Autumn Place and improved community safety, renewal of trees along Power Road, floodlights at Power Reserve and most importantly, young migrant families making a home for themselves in the area,” Cr Rosario said.
“The petition for improved playground equipment and amenities feeds into the needs of these young families and links into the big picture that Doveton still has much growth and maturity to achieve.”
He said the playground report will be tabled to council by May.
“The report that will come back to council will look at what resources Doveton currently has and how best to use those resources to maximise usage of our Doveton parks through investigating where we would get best value for our investments,” Cr Rosario said.
