I was disappointed to read John Rayner’s approach (Your View, June 29) to the former Oatley Bowling Club site and inability to listen to what the community is asking for the site.
Mr Rayner failed to outline why the only possible use for the site is aged care.
What is preventing the council from zoning aged care in other areas of the region?
Mr Rayner outlined need for aged care but nothing about the specific benefits that only this site can provide.
If it is such an urgent need shouldn’t we have seen aged care zonings all over the area since 2010?
Can Mr Rayner not recognise that the former Hurstville Council struggled to put wider community interests before development?
It may appear that Oatley residents are suffering from NIMBY but the opposite is true. We actually want other residents, of all ages, to come and visit our backyard.
We want to keep the site as a community backyard. A place for the residents in highly dense surrounding suburbs, to easily access via public transport, visit and experience nature.
We want the site to be a place that the community, of all ages, can meet, learn and share experiences in the natural environment.
I strongly urge Mr Rayner and other members of Georges River Council to visit Campderdown Commons (former Camperdown Bowling Club) and see what a community backyard looks like.
Our area has an ever increasing population and developments but the investment in natural community spaces has not matched this.
The benefit of these natural community spaces crosses all ages and is mentally and physically beneficial for all.
I would more than happily host Mr Rayner and his colleagues to a picnic at the former site so maybe he can see its potential for a community backyard.
Melissa Derwent, Oatley
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I question the statement by Georges River Council administrator John Rayner that the Oatley Bowling Club site is ‘‘adjacent’’ to Myles Dunphy Reserve (Your View, June 29).
That is simply not the case.
In 2010 Hurstville Council’s lawyers confirmed that ‘‘the reserve comprises an area of bushland, a scout hall and the site of the former Oatley Bowling Club’’. And, although aged care should indeed be a ‘‘high priority’’, it is not the responsibility of local councils to provide the land.
Aged care facilities are invariably constructed on private land and councils should, of course, assist in the approvals process.
Finally, as a former long-term Sutherland Shire resident, I can’t recall any parkland being sold off for aged facilities while Mr Rayner was general manager there.
Peter Mahoney, Oatley
