Perth Voice Interactive

THE WA Blind Cricket Club is worried it will be unsafe to continue playing in Maylands if local dog walkers get their way.

For more than 20 years, the blind cricketers have been playing on Shearn Memorial Park, an active reserve beside the busy Central Avenue.

Local dog walkers want the park fenced off completely for their pooches’ safety, but BCA president Andrea Richardson says that would ruin matches.

“If the park is completely fenced off, it will encourage people to let their dogs off the leash all the time and it will make playing blind cricket unsafe,” she says.

“Dogs are meant to stay on the leash when there is sport at the reserve, but that rarely happens, even without a proper fence in place.

“The association is in favour of a fence along the Central Avenue side, but not completely enclosing the park.”

Local opinion is split, with community consultation resulting in 22 against a fence, 22 for one on the Central Avenue side and 25 for a perimeter fence.

One person complained to the council about “aggressive behaviour” from people wanting a woman and her daughter to complete the form, council staff noted in the report.

A wire-mesh fence around the park would cost around $35,000 while a Central Avenue fence would be under half that.

The off-leash park is also home to Bedford junior cricket club, Football West and personal trainer fitness sessions.

The item comes before council later this month.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK