Division 4 Cr Shelley Curtis receives email from Max to stop removal of neighbourhood basketball hoop

In the court of public opinion, you would think supporting kids playing sports in a cul-de-sac street would be a slam dunk … but somehow it’s become public enemy No. 1.

When it comes to neighbourhood complaints, what’s the top scorer?

Is it firebombing in Burleigh Heads? Light rail construction in Nobby’s Beach? Eshays and tinnie rats disrupting the peace?

Nope, it’s kids playing sports in neighbourhood streets.

And from Coomera to Bundall to Palm Beach to Paradise Point, basketball has become public enemy number one.

Yep, it seems the greatest obstacle preventing the next generation from becoming Olympic Boomers is … boomers.

It’s not just in our city either, the peril of bouncing balls has been an affliction in towns across this country and even around the world.

Go ahead and search the term ‘basketball complaint’ and you will find page after page from every corner of the globe decrying the issue of the evil orange sphere.

Shooting a hoop on a basketball court

Look, I understand that one person’s yuck is another person’s yum … but surely we can find some suburban compromise when it comes to kids playing outside.

After all, isn’t that what the boomers used to do?

In previous iterations of this basketball battle, council officers have threatened to fine parents if they did not remove the offending hoop from their streets.

But it’s wonderful to see that, in the latest case of this street sports saga, council, the kids and hopefully the neighbourhood are trying to work together.

Division 4 Cr Shelley Curtis recently received the following email from a young resident in primary school, which she shared with his permission.

“My name is Max, and I am from Runaway Bay, Queensland,” he wrote.

“Your team of councillors is trying to get rid of a basketball hoop that is in our street. Our whole street loves playing with the hoop that was left here by a neighbour that had to
move out.

“We have a lot of kids that love playing netball and basketball and they use it as their practice hoop. No one owns the hoop, but everyone loves to use the hoop and it moves along the street.

“My friends ask me when they come over can we play basketball, and I love playing it with them. It gets us off our PS5s and phones. We love having fun times getting vitamin D in the sun because it is a fun way to do it.

“When it is windy, or the weather forecast says it is going to be windy we lay it down, so it doesn’t fall on any cars.

“We don’t have a big yard … but it is such a great thing for a whole street of kids. Please Mrs Shelley don’t get rid of it. We all love it. Can I put some reflective tape or paint on it and keep it there please?”

First of all, bless.

City of Gold Coast Councillor Shelley Curtis. Picture Glenn Hampson

But wait, it gets sweeter.

Cr Curtis replied to Max, explaining that while he had excellent reasons why the basketball hoop benefited the community, she was bound by law that prohibited structures on roadways or on the council verge.

She said while council did not normally seek out and actively enforce these rules, they had to respond if there was a complaint.

“Like you, encouraging young children to be outdoors and active is something I feel very strongly about. I also believe it benefits everyone when our community’s youth are supported to grow into the best versions of themselves.

“For these reasons, I would like to offer my encouragement and assistance to produce a letter for your nearby neighbours, to share how you feel about what has happened.

“Within that letter you could seek feedback about how you and your friends could recreate differently, to reduce the impact on neighbours and decrease the likelihood of any future complaints.

“This will bring the matter to the attention of neighbours and hopefully prompt some critically important conversations about what we (the community) want to see our local youth doing with their spare time.”

Cr Curtis then offered Max the use of the office printer and automatic folding machine to prepare these letters, and even said she could help him write it if he wished.

“I certainly can’t guarantee either of these pathways will result in the return of your basketball hoop to your street, because it is technically in breach of a law, but I do think it would be great to get some much-needed air time for the types of obstacles modern children face when it comes to being accepted within their communities,” she wrote.

“You are entirely within your right to feel strongly about this, and when things don’t feel right, always speak up.”

Now this is the city I love: passionate residents and compassionate leaders. No firebombing necessary.

Score one for the Gold Coast community.

Division 4 Cr Shelley Curtis receives email from Max to stop removal of neighbourhood basketball hoop. Picture: iStock