Loopline Park’s daytime closure leaves residents, visitors frustrated, but City says public safety paramount

Boulder’s Loopline Park being closed during daylight hours until mid-January has left people frustrated they cannot have access to the popular grassed area and playground. The City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder-managed park is home to a suite of Christmas decorations for the festive season, but will be closed to the public during daylight hours until January 13. A sign posted on the locked fence says the park will be open for a few hours from 6pm each night for people to see the lit-up decorations as part of the Christmas Light Trail. City chief executive Andrew Brien said the closure was because the Loopline Park installation required supervision for “public safety” — as opposed to other Christmas installations in town where there is “sufficient opportunity for supervision, monitoring, or greater public viewing of the space”. However, resident ratepayers and frequent visitors are not impressed. Verity Rushton — who travels to the city often and typically stays in Boulder — said her usual morning routine involves walking her border collie Simba through Boulder, buying a coffee on Burt Street and settling under some shade in Loopline Park. Since arriving on Sunday for a multi-week stay, she has not been able to visit her top Boulder spot, and said while it was disappointing for her, it was more disappointing for her dog. She told the Kalgoorlie Miner she and Boulder resident Mick McKay got in touch with the City about the situation, and were told the park was closed in an attempt to protect the decorations from vandalism. “I said to Mick, ‘that’s racist!’,” she said. “To say that, how do they know? It’s surmising that the (people) will come in and wreck the tree or graffiti the stars and all the pretty lights. “(At Centennial Park) they’re completely open.” Unsure of why it was closed earlier in the week, Ms Rushton walked down to the park to check if it was open, and saw three caravans driving up Burt Street which she believed would have been potential customers of local businesses if the park was open. “It’s an ideal spot and I’ve done a lot of camping and travelling around Australia in a motorhome and we used to stop at these sorts of places for morning tea or lunch,” she said. “Sometimes we’d buy a coffee — sometimes we had our own — but poor old Burt Street could be losing custom because no one will come down.” The park is a busy haunt, and is one of the only parks in Boulder that includes playground equipment for children, access to toilets and is fenced in. Boulder resident Anne Petz said it was “concerning” for the people of Boulder to go without their best park for two months. She is questioning why the City felt the need to put the decorations in the public park if it meant it would be mostly closed to the public. “We’ve had the Christmas tree there for so long. Why did they have to have such exorbitant lights there if they’re scared about them getting vandalised?” she said. “To have the park open like that just for people to visit at night-time, I don’t think it’s satisfactory. “I actually sent an email to all councillors on the (City) website last week saying ‘why was it closed?’, because it’s the only park in Boulder people can go with their kids. “It’s the only park in Boulder that’s got anything decent for the kids and I’ve had a few people say to me they’re missing out on using the park for the best time of summer.” The park was completely closed to the public for almost three weeks from October 30, and reopened with the night-time-only hours on November 21. The park will only open from 6pm to 9pm from Sunday to Thursday, while it will be open an extra hour later on Friday and Saturday nights until Christmas Eve. From December 25 until January 13, the park will again be closed to the public at all times. Mr Brien told the Kalgoorlie Miner the “interactive” installation was selected for Loopline Park to enhance lighting at the Christmas Tree Street Party at the weekend, encourage patronage to Boulder and provide additional festivities. “When assessing the staffing cost of having the park open to the public during the day, the City determined these costs were better utilised in the evening, when the lighting installations are fully lit and provide the best experience for patrons,” he said. “The City endeavours to maintain all public facilities open as much as possible, however from time to time short closures are required. “As is in this case (the closure is) considered appropriate given the need to allocate staffing resources to ensure community safety and security of the installations. “The need for supervision of these installations is to ensure public safety more so than just minimising potential for vandalism.” When asked why decorations in other areas of the City are open to the public 24/7, while Loopline Park is closed, Mr Brien said: “All Christmas Decorations and Lights Trail locations were carefully selected by the City, ensuring adequate security, CCTV surveillance, are in a location with sufficient opportunity for supervision, or located in a facility which is closed at night. “Boulder retailers were supportive of the installations to occur at Loopline Park for the second year. “Feedback regarding the City’s Christmas decorations and interactive Christmas Lights Trail experience has been resoundingly positive, and the City is pleased to bring this experience to our community for the second year in a row.” Mr Brien said people in Boulder could visit Boulder Rotary Park, Diggers Daws Oval, Norkal Park, the Dwyer Street Dam or Gribble Creek instead.