A PLANNED community park in Chelsea will open later than expected.
In August 2020, Kingston Council splashed out more than $5 million on a 3500 square meter block in Chelsea. The parcel of land is on 19 Tarella Road in Chelsea.
Kingston councillors were told in February and June this year that the park would be open by September, but that date has since come and gone and the park is not ready.
COVID-19 delays saw the opening date pushed back to December but there have been further delays. Kingston councillors have now been told by council officers that the park will not be ready until mid to late 2022.
Kingston councillor Georgina Oxley raised a notice of motion to address the issue at a public council meeting this week, 13 December. The motion asked council to “stick to its original promise to the community to open the park at Tarella Road to the community as soon as possible” with an aim to “open the park to the community no later than April/May 2022”.
Most of the motion was agreed to by a majority of councillors, with the exception of the April/May opening date. An opening date has not been set.
The approved motion reads that council will “engage the necessary consultants to manage and oversee the establishment of the park at 19 Tarella Road as soon as practically possible” with “the necessary planning application submitted no later than the 10th of January”.
Funds from Kingston Council’s open space reserve were used to purchase the land last year (“Chelsea land snapped up by council” The News 9/9/2020).
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mention News – 15 December 2021