Green space is important. And, as the picture shows, also in short supply within the Morley city centre. The Water Corporation own the green spaces you can see in the aerial picture of Morley and it has been fenced off from the public (the ultimate owners) for far too long. Fortunately that is soon to change.There is no doubt that one of the ugliest parts of Morley is the cyclone fencing along Russell Road where the Water Corp compensating basin is; directly opposite the Morley bus station. It has always been so obvious to me that it should be opened up, beautified and enjoyed by the people who come to Morley. This is why in 29 January 2013 I created and moved the following motion:

At the time there was not enough support and it didn’t occur. The idea was not forgotten though and after dropping the idea in various workshops, including a recommendation we should make an approach to use other fenced off drainage sections as tree planting opportunities, a variation was presented to a new council on 24 March 2015 and passed 7 votes to 4. 

Fast forward to today and we hear that the Minister for Water, Hon Mia Davies, has announced that a collaboration between the Water Corporation and the Department of Water has led to a “Drainage for Liveability Program”. Obviously (as we were the ones who came up with the idea) the first project will be the Russell Street compensating basin! This is terrific news and will bring some much needed beautification and public open space to Morley.

Credit needs to be given to the Water Corp and Department of Water for allowing the City to access their land and make better use of it. Above all though, the staff at the City of Bayswater are to be congratulated for hearing the council’s vision for the area and accomplishing this most important, and most difficult, first step of getting approval to convert the unused land into an appealing community asset. Thank you.

Power to the people.

(Please be aware that these views are my own and have not been endorsed by the City of Bayswater)