Your local park – love it, hate it, or wish it were better?

Have you ever wondered how your favorite local park began? And how it came to be as it is today?

Do you think it started as a town square? A village common? Part of the Governor’s domain? Created in response to the ‘parks movement’ of the 1880s ? Or as a means to celebrate the 1888 or 1998 Centenaries ? Perhaps the land was donated by a wealthy local landowner? Or was it a way of dressing up reclaimed land for sporting use?

Most parks in New South Wales started out in one of these ways during the 19th century, as I explain in my book Park Mania - A Guide to Selected Town Parks of New South Wales.

But perhaps you would like to know more about why it is like it is now? Run-down or recently reburbished? Poorly designed? Full of old fashioned and little used things like bandstands, Italianate fountains, pillars, statues, ferneries, begonia houses? Have your Council’s attempts to meet increasing demands for active recreation facilities been at the expense of relaxed socialising, strolling, reflection, canoodling, communing with Nature?

To understand why, I did several years of research, going back to the 19th century, and came up with a complex explanation. Having proclaimed more than 150 new parks between 1882 and 1888, the State Government simultaneously passed responsibility for developing and managing them to the then recently formed local councils, as trustees. So, apart from granting the land and some initial ‘seed money’, the State then expected local ratepayers to fund them themselves thereafter. That was tough.

It might seem odd that, after having demanded – and received – a grant of land for a local park, most local citizens then sat back and begrudged expenditure of their rates on it. I explain why this attitude persists today, to the detriment of many local parks.

Nevertheless, most people want parks, and I have analyzed why. Also what they mean to them; and why people get angry when their parks are threatened by development

There are many challenges facing park designers and managers today. How could it be done better? Should there be a central Park authority at State level to promote funding and excellence?

For my book I visited, photographed and researched over 50 parks in NSW, most nominated – at my invitation - by their local councils as the best in their area. Each park’s history is told, its facilities listed, and its best features illustrated in both historical and contemporary photographs

If you would like to find out more, contact me on 0423 770 558 or by email on wmw1@pacific.net.au. Park Mania will be available shortly as an eBook, or with each chapter downloadable as pdf files.