Making A Grand Entrance - My Plan For Blue Lake Sports Park Upgrade

Howdy dear availees...this TMGI 'Re-boot Via The Doggos' thingy I'm trying to do is a bit of a shambolic behemoth now, I've got posts 4wks old half-finished sittin' in 'Drafts', every time I try to finish this post it blows-out to 2 more posts, etc...and really not back in The Bloggin' Groove at all...feel like I'm crankin' out a few good paragraphs relatively easily, but the bulk of it's just an absolute grind...I am apparently well outta' practice at doin' this 'ere blog...so dear availees, please bear with me 'cos these next few posts are gunna' jump about a bit...I'm sure we'll get there, but I really wouldn't mind if we were there already...(pick and peck, pick and peck-Ed)...oh yeah, my typing got real bad real fast as well, so that ain't helpin'...anyway, here we go...

We here at TMGI spent much of last post holding-forth about Mt Gambier City Council's alleged 'Public Consultation', so no need to go over all that again...(I'd like to make one point please-Ed)...fire away...(well, it's all been about Hastings Cunningham Reserve Dog Parks and the BLSP(Parkland), but there's ne'ery a mention of the messes constantly left along the Rail Lands/Trail or up around the Blue Lake, etc-Ed)...yes, it's referred to in general, but unfortunately it's the case that many dog owners either don't pick-up after their dogs, or often pick-up but then just throw the bag onto the ground...(and around the Blue Lake it seems, often over the fence, into what is technically/legally(?) a 'Secure/Restricted Access Water Resource'-Ed)...yeah, or tie the bag to the fence, etc, it even happens at HCRDP even with the bins right there by the gate...(it's the most fundamentally frustrating thing for many dog owners that not only will they/we bear the brunt as MGCC retaliates against a handful of selfish owners, eg, at BLSPP, but that that handful are highly likely to just continue doing the sweet whatevs they shreckin' want anyways-Ed)...indeed it is...

TMGI can only apologise that we've set sail on this particular BLSPP expedition without doing our mise-en-place, that is, have everything in it's place before you commence...(like first properly researching stuff, eg, when we finally got 'round to actually checking-out MGCC's 'Option 1' for their BLSP Plan, it literally mimics what we've been saying (are about to say) in these posts?-Ed)...yeah, exactly that...I do note though that it too includes a toilet facility at the Dohle Rd carpark which I've included as part of my 'Gateway Entrance Statement Plan'...(yeah, so it does...hang on hang on, back it up a sec, what's that about "bring facilities up to meet compliance and sporting standards"?-Ed)...yeah, well spotted, 'cos that sounds like MGCC quietly admitting that the current facilities do not "meet compliance"...(well regardless of their intent, that's exactly what that says, to 'bring up' to something defines commencing beneath it-Ed)...mate, who knows? intent? sloppy language? whatevs, but that is precisely what it says...

Please note 2 things: 1) that regardless of what MGCC say and/or are legislatively required to do, this Dog/Cat Plan thing (below) is a knee-jerk reaction to public criticism of MGCC's conduct, especially as it relates to HCR Dog Parks and the South East Animal Welfare League...and 2) everything MGCC has proposed is "interim", "possible", and/or "future", but by their own definition "One of the first acts Council proposes to deliver...is...sporting precincts off limits to dogs"...(yeah, well there's a very big difference/distance between "proposed" and "realised", etc, but here MGCC is merely groping at the No-Cost Low-Hanging Fruit of bans and restrictions, etc, to give the appearance of actual action, whilst avoiding actually committing to spending any cash to provide much-needed/improved public facilities-Ed)...precisely, and that's before we even start to try and un-pack MGCC's vastly ludicrous 'Option 2' for BLSPP (see below)...so here instead is my basic plan for BLSPP...

Making A Grand Entrance:...for the main entry into Mt Gambier from Melbourne/Victoria, and not least of all 'cos 'Town Gateway Entrance Statements' is yet another 'issue' that MGCC has raised/dropped/raised/kicked-about a bit/dropped/resurrected/pointed at/dropped/etc...forget what we said in the last post about doin' it on the cheap as it were, it makes absolutely perfect sense to invest reasonably in the corner of Blue Lake Sports Park (Parkland), and particularly at the Jubilee Hwy/Dohle Rd intersection...(well, it is that exact corner that everybody first encounters when coming into Mt Gambier, it is 'The Eastern Gateway'-Ed)...yep, it is the perfect site to invest sensibly in Mt Gambier's best future, and apparently that's what we all want, MGCC included...so I've grabbed 3 different plans/maps of the BLSPP and slapped 'em down here...

 

 

Quick Plan Layout:...32 hectares...Boundaries - left (North-Eastish) is Jubilee Hwy: top (East-Southish) is Dohle Rd: tree line on right along Old Rail Line: bottom (West to Mt Gambier) industrial/trucking yards...Access - off Jubilee Hwy (80kph) centre left: off Dohle Rd (50kph) top right...road (40kph) runs right through, this is critical...Playing Areas - bottom left football/cricket oval with small grandstand/clubroom facilities and a coupla' netball courts and 4 tennis courts (green/red) all surrounded by grassy knoll sloped viewing/camping areas (this is the fenced oval/quarter used for the recent horsing around at BLSPP): right of oval, velodrome + clubroom: right of that, 2 large baseball diamonds and 1 small one in top right corner of that paddock: just visible above that, across road, another small diamond and top corner, large baseball field + clubrooms + adjacent large car park: there's another small diamond barely visible there to the left of the clubroom (white patches)...total 6 diamonds, all cyclone-wire fenced, sheltered dugouts, larger have small stands and commentators(?) booths...light green rectangle/red border is 'water' hockey pitch + clubroom + carpark: semi-circle just above that is 2 fenced softball fields with very small stands/lights: above that, 2 soccer pitches: top left side is 2 cricket pitches, 1 is partly-used astro-turf, bright green rectangle is a turf pitch...   

Top left is Jubilee Hwy/Dohle Rd corner where I would place 'Gateway Entrance Wall', dog parks, 6-8 stall toilets, etc, expanded-on below...

https://www.mountgambier.sa.gov.au/news/blue-lake-sports-park-master-plan-endorsed

Okay, that was fun...having a few issues with formatting these images, but here we are again ...(and there they are-Ed)...yep, and the first is old mate Dog/Cat Plan from previous posts, fairly self-explanatory...the second we've explained, is a fairly old photo but it shows the layout perfectly, just couldn't get it to turn 90degrees...(and the third?-Ed)...the third my friend, that comes from MGCC's Blue Lake Sports Park Master Plan 2023, as per the link provided just above there...meet 'Option 2', being the second of 2 options...(errr, wow?-Ed)...do you mean 'wow, look at the vision, what a great design, etc'?...(no, the other one-Ed)...you haven't even heard the choices yet...(well, it's so not whatevs that first one is, which leaves 'the other', please-Ed)...as in 'what a cynical, farcical joke entirely beyond any hope of actually ever existing'?...(yeah, that one-Ed)...yeah sorry, I'm using that one right now, but I'll give it a good wipe when I'm done and stick it straight back in the rack...(cheers-Ed)...

Mt Gambier City Council's 'Option 2'  is self-evidently a farcical fantasy plan entirely unattached to any financial realities...(let alone MGCC's current 'farcical financial fiasco reality'-Ed)...indeed, but I would ask availees to have a strolling peruse of 'Option 2' and then compare to the second photo...(please remember to turn the photo/image 90 degrees, *or just compare to 'Option 1', now that we have it*-Ed)...it's immediately evident the major reconfiguration and infrastructure required and large areas lost to parking lots...(which, with the expanded sports areas, paths,etc, means there'll be almost nowhere safe/legal you're allowed to walk a dog, let alone run pupper off-leash-Ed)...indeed...(in fact, the Dog and Cat Plan puts 'Dog Parks' where 'Option' 2' puts a soccer pitch, where currently resides an in-use baseball field-Ed)...yeah and 'Option 2' has no Dog Parks at all...

 

And it's just not that difficult, seriously, for example, if MGCC is gunna' put dog parks in that back corner as per Dog/Cat Plan, where there is currently a large, fully enclosed 'in-use' baseball field...(which means somebody's gunna' get kicked-off a' there-Ed)...exactly, wonder if them basey-ballers know, if any body asked/told them, but that's MGCC's current Dog/Cat Plan, so why wouldn't ya' just use that field as exactly perfect as it is as a dog park, right where MGCC has stated they are going to build one...(well 'Option 2' actually closes/removes 2 baseball fields, so why not have one big and one small puppers parks that utilise all of the current fencing, dug-out shelters, etc-Ed)...brilliant, like I said, it's all there...

 

An Immediate And Free Dog Park Solution:...an apology to the current tenants/leasees, but as MGCC has adpted 'Option 2', which effectively removes baseball from the 2 South-Western fields anyway, why not do that immediately, and use one field for big puppers and one for small?   

And again, that is the real shame here 'cos, just exactly as they are now, the baseball/softball fields are perfect for those people who need/want to keep their dogs separate/secure/safe...(and that can be about ensuring the well-being of others and/or their puppers-Ed)...yeah, and are an immediate and very cheap resolution to so many of these issues/problems...(but in or outta' the fields, clearly there are enough doggo owners not picking-up, and it's no wonder that sporting groups don't want dogs on their playing/sports areas-Ed)...sure, and as I said, that's the real shame, we have to consider alternative water-crossings 'cos I'd reckon that bridge is well and truly cindered...

 

'Option 2' also blocks/ceases flow-through of traffic forcing a large amount of traffic into Dohle Rd 'cos many facilities simply can't be accessed-off Jubilee Hwy...(so one assumes MGCC is already petitioning the appropriate authorities to have the soon-to-be-very busy 80kphJubilee Hwy/50kph Dohle Rd intersection made much safer by moving all speed limit zones effectively one section further out of town, ie, BLSPP frontage becomes 60kph and the 80kph simply moves to where the 100kph section begins just-up from BLSPP, etc-Ed)...mate, that's my 'GESP' thing I want, reduce that Eastern lead-up to Dohle Rd to 60kph, making it 1) far more likely that tourists will pull-over and use the wonderful dog park and toilet facilities (as part of the GESP), and 2) make it safe for them and locals to do so...nothing else needs to change, just move the speed limits' one space along...

 

In 'Option 2' there's several large structures to be built, eg, the new footy/soccer clubrooms, a much larger cycling clubrooms, and new courts, a new baseball field where the 'Dog/Cat Plan' has an 'Interim Dog Park', etc...(why is all the parking so far from the actual clubrooms/pavilion?-Ed)...I don't know, not gunna' waste more time dissecting a 'Plan' that is entirely fiction...nobody, and certainly not an insolvent MGCC is gunna' stump-up the many $$$millions this requires...please do note the current long, 50-space bitumen carpark on Dohle Rd at the Jubilee Hwy corner (top right) and the proposed adjacent largeish toilet block/change-rooms structure...(you really want a toilet block there don't you-Ed)...I want it so bad I can taste it...(you can taste a toilet?-Ed)...no, well, that came out wrong...(mate, if you can taste it it's definitely coming out wrong-Ed)...orrr ick! dear availees do not need to hear/read that sort of filth...(rubbish! it's what they come 'ere for, the filth and the smut, the dick jokes, the whole shtick, they love it-Ed)...filthy sickos...(thankyou, I thoroughly vetted them, myself-Ed)...lets' just move on please...

Again, Do Fence Me In:...'cos the vast majority of fencing around the actual baseball/softball sporting fields is in fairly good condition, really only needing some minor repairs...(so perhaps just some routine TLC basic maintenance stuff?-Ed)...exactly, My 'Option 1' is as always to utilise what's there already, and so it is with BLSPP...it's fantastic as it is, I absolutely love it, Seepin' Sack A' Satanic Gases 'ere loves it...(WOOF!-SSASG)...'e reckons all it needs is a few squirrels and it'd be perfect...(woofwoofwoof-SSASG)... and I/we literally wouldn't change a thing...(Woof Woof-SSASG)...I'd splash some cash on required maintenance that would include replacing and/or where appropriate repairing all boundary fencing, eg, on softball/baseball fields very little fencing would need actual replacing, but the shelters/stands/dugouts really need a bitta' that TLC...whereas, the entire trashed Jubilee Hwy section can be replaced with a proper 6ft fence...(at the very least, why not remove the barbed-wire from along the Dohle Rd carpark-Ed)...well I'd replace all that carpark section of fencing along with the Jubilee Hwy bit...(good call-Ed)...

I re-iterate my previous position that the front corner of Blue Lake Sports Park (Parkland) is the perfect position for Mt Gambier's second enclosed Dog Parks (big dogs/small dogs), done as part of a thorough revamp of that entire Jubilee Hwy/Dohle Rd frontage...first, trim all the trees along that boundary by 1/4, top-'n'-sides, and they won't need doing for another 5+ years...next, new cyclone wire fencing right along Jubilee Hwy, and down Dohle Rd to at least the end of the carpark...(yeah, that weird barbed-wire pseudo-security fence thing along the carpark, that can all be replaced-Ed)...absolutely, standard 1m-high cyclone wire fence, and where the dog park section is, standard 6ft fence...as part of the new fencing, a feature stone wall thingy right on the corner of Jubilee Hwy/Dohle Rd corner, with 'Welcome to Mt Gambier' or whatevs...(and it doesn't need to be 3-stories high, but the 'Gateway Welcome Statement' MGCC is/was pursuing-Ed)...spot on...and the public toilet structure as envisioned above, but with change-rooms added if/when affordable...

Now it may appear at this point that this post just randomly sto...

Tomorrow: I Finish That Thought...Or Do I?

Yeah, c'os that was getting way long I've basically chopped it into 2, and I'll tidy-up that half and post asap... 

I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters...