Council fudges on deal to make ‘under-performing’ playground more attractive, then plans to sell it off

VINCENT council is planning to sell off a Leederville playground it undertook to landscape and open up more to the public a year ago.

Back in 2020 the council picked up a 539sqm lot at 26 Brentham Street in a land swap with Aranmore Catholic primary school. The block had an old music room isolated from the rest of the school, while behind it sat a pocket of Brentham Street Reserve with a little-used playground only accessible via a narrow alleyway.

When advertising the swap, the council said it would demolish the music room and landscape the lot into a “local park”, making the playground more visible and enticing for the public.

But while the building’s been demolished, the landscaping has gone by the wayside and the lot is now a weedy, overgrown, lumpy and signless patch of grass.

And the playground’s now become less visible than ever, as the school has fenced off the area it picked up in the land swap, meaning access from the other side of Brentham Street Reserve is now impossible. 

Unsurprisingly that hasn’t equated to great pulling power for the playground, so the council has now amalgamated the two blocks into a very developer-friendly 1784sqm parcel that it’s considering selling off as “under-performing”.

“The land in question has limited access to the public and is in an area where there is significant open space,” the council’s consultation page states, while other areas have little greenery.

“Sale of this land would allow for acquisition of land for public open space where gaps have been identified or improvement of existing parks and open spaces.”

Aranmore and nearby Rosewood Aged Care have both been flagged as potential buyers if the sale goes ahead, but it’ll all have to go back to council first. 

Feedback’s open til October 8 via imagine.vincent.wa.gov.au or 9273 6000. 

by DAVID BELL