COOKS COVE: BARTON PARK

Cooks Cove is currently home to Barton Park, Landing Lights Wetlands, Riverine Park, Riverine Park Wetlands, Spring Street Wetland, numerous playing fields and a golf driving range. It also has bicycle paths which connect Arncliffe and Banksia with Lady Robinson’s Beach. Countless locals enjoy walking their dogs, playing with their children, cycling or taking walks through the parks and wetlands. According to local signage, the wetlands are currently ‘protected under State and Federal legislation’, due to their importance as habitat for migratory birds from as far away as Siberia.

Cook Cove Inlet Pty Ltd (part of John Boyd’s group of development firms) has applied to build a golf course on this land which includes Crown land that was put aside for public recreation. The DA can be accessed here.

We object to this DA on the following grounds:

  • If the land is used as a golf course, it will cease to be accessible to the public. Publicly accessible green space is increasingly important for public health, especially as the population density in surrounding areas has increased significantly and may continue to do so.
  • Playing fields currently used for sport would be lost, further reducing local opportunities for healthy activities.
  • Golf memberships are declining according to a recent Golf Australia report, and there are 15 golf courses within a roughly 15-minute drive of this proposed project. Another golf course is not needed.
  • Loss of Spring St wetland and buffer zones to Landing Lights wetlands. These wetlands and their buffer zones are an internationally significant habitat for migratory birds. Wetlands are also important ‘filters’ which reduce the flow of harmful substances into the Cooks River and subsequently the ocean. Additionally, they mediate flood events, and the DA does not adequately address this.
  • The golf course comes too close to the wetlands (and it states there will be golf balls landing in the wetland) – its proposal for swale buffers is entirely inadequate. The use of pesticides and fertilisers is an ongoing threat despite the construction of bio swales as it would take only one incident to wipe out a population as well as cumulative impacts weakening bird health and the food chain. Furthermore, construction should not occur while the wetland is being visited by migratory species.
  • If a section (1.407ha) of the heritage-listed Banksia Chinese Market Gardens is lost, then this would somewhat reduce the amount of local food produced, thereby reducing food security and the food-miles savings of local food production. The local production of food should be encouraged, not reduced.

MAKE A SUBMISSION…

Currently Bayside council is calling for submissions from the public to establish their position on the development proposal to move the Golf course to Barton Park and surrounding land. There is also another submission period to the State government with regards to the larger “Cooks Cove” development. We’ve done our best to provide you with an overview of the concerns we have about this DA, drawing on the expertise of the following groups: The Total Environment Centre, Save Barton Park and other public health and urban design professionals.

TIME LEFT TO MAKE A SUBMISSION

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Use the text below as inspiration for your submission & send it to Bayside Council

Mail: Bayside Council, PO Box 21, Rockdale NSW 2016
Email:  council@bayside.nsw.gov.au, attention: Marta M Gonzalez-Valdes

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SUBMISSION ON DA-2017/179, Cooks Cove, Southern Precinct

(Your Name and address)

(Date)

I strongly urge that the Bayside Council not approve DA-2017/179 for a golf course on public land on and adjacent to Barton Park, Banksia, NSW.

I object to this DA on the following grounds:

  • If the land is used as a golf course, it will cease to be accessible to the public. Publicly accessible green space is increasingly important for public health, especially as the population density in surrounding areas has increased significantly and may continue to do so.
  • Playing fields currently used for sport would be lost, further reducing local opportunities for healthy activities.
  • Golf memberships are declining according to a recent Golf Australia report, and there are 15 golf courses within a roughly 15-minute drive of this proposed project. Another golf course is not needed.
  • Loss of Spring St wetland and buffer zones to Landing Lights wetlands. These wetlands and their buffer zones are an internationally significant habitat for migratory birds. Wetlands are also important ‘filters’ which reduce the flow of harmful substances into the Cooks River and subsequently the ocean. Additionally, they mediate flood events, and the DA does not adequately address this.
  • The golf course comes too close to the wetlands (and it states there will be golf balls landing in the wetland) – its proposal for swale buffers is entirely inadequate. The use of pesticides and fertilisers is an ongoing threat despite the construction of bio swales as it would take only one incident to wipe out a population as well as cumulative impacts weakening bird health and the food chain. Furthermore, construction should not occur while the wetland is being visited by migratory species.
  • If a section (1.407ha) of the heritage-listed Banksia Chinese Market Gardens is lost, then this would somewhat reduce the amount of local food produced, thereby reducing food security and the food-miles savings of local food production. The local production of food should be encouraged, not reduced.

The above summarises my main concerns with DA 2017/179, and I lodge this submission in the hope of saving this unique ecologically and culturally significant area for future generations.

Regards,

(Signature)

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