NEWS
Above: Trudgian Park ... an eyesore
Local Councillor David Hinchliffe has started a campaign to Clean Up the Valley and The Independent in applauding his initiative is doing its bit to help.
When the long-term Central Ward representative approached the Indie seeking to take some paid ad space for his campaign, the only community newspaper left serving the Valley and surrounding suburbs immediately said: “Take one ad space, we’ll donate the second!”
It means that in the months ahead, we will publish photographs of some of the worst of what Cr Hinchliffe calls the Valley’s “grot spots” with open letters from Cr Hinchliffe urging the owners to be civic minded and clean up their own little patch for everyone’s sake.
In the first “grot spots” Cr Hinchliffe names the City Council’s own Trudgian Park at the corner of St Pauls Terrace and Brunswick Street, and a nearby commercial premises that are both badly in need of some tender loving care.
The Independent will further support this campaign by devoting additional space each issue to revisit earlier “grot spot” nominees, record the progress made on them and to congratulate the owners for showing their pride in our locality – or to add them to a shame file if nothing has been done!
Cr Hinchliffe in nominating Trudgian Park, named after Rev. Trudgian, the former minister who was responsible for City Mission in the Valley from the 1950s to early 80s, as his first Grot Spot , says in his open letter to Lord Mayor Campbell Newman: “I have been asking for more than 12 months since the terrible suicide of a young girl in this park, for the council to remove all low vegetation in the park which provides spaces for people to drink, urinate, defecate, fight and sleep it off.
“Almost every Saturday morning, I have to call the council call centre or the police to have it cleaned up.
“These spaces are no good to the people who misuse them and they certainly do no good for the image of the Valley.
“At the same time as we should be providing more services for people who are caught in this vicious cycle of alcoholism and self-abuse, we should also be cleaning up areas which simply encourage more of that type of destructive behaviour.
“The Valley has precious few parks. It’s terrible to trash the few we have. As the council puts more people in the area they should provide clean, green spaces where the public can sit and enjoy the winter sunshine or eat their lunch. When I visited last Saturday, Trudgian park smelt of vomit, faeces and grog.
“Private property owners are almost as bad, with many leaving their properties overgrown and unrepaired. This creates precisely the sort of environment with this sort of behaviour festers.”
In his letter to the nearby commercial premises that house the Korean restaurant Jong Ga, Cr Hinchliffe writes: “I am writing to ask that you please clean up the front of your building. This request is part of a campaign I have initiated to encourage property owners in the Valley to “do the right thing” and clean up their premises. (pictured below)
“One of the problems raised at frequent safety audits in the Valley is the state of the landscaping in front of many private properties including your property. “These areas provide an overgrown area where people can hide out, drink, urinate, defecate and sleep. “I cant see how the presentation at the front of your building would attract anyone to dine at the Korean restaurant upstairs.
“I would be grateful if you would remove all the overgrown vegetation from your site and have someone come around just twice a year to make sure it is trimmed. That is not much to ask.
“The more that everyone takes some pride in the maintenance of the Valley, the better the Valley will be. This applies to City Council as well as to private property owners.
