Kids’ on-street basketball hoop in Stanhope St Black Rock falls victim to Bayside Council
A second crew of street basketballers have fallen foul of Bayside Council fun police, who have ordered them to dismantle their streetside ring just days after banning another one in Beaumaris.
Inner South
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Disappointed kids have chained themselves to their basketball hoop in a mock protest at their council’s on-street ban.
Bayside City Council has warned families on Stanhope street in Black Rock they face a $500 fine if their hoop, which has been there for five years, isn’t taken down.
It’s the second such warning to young basketballers in a matter of weeks.
Mum Shannon Davis described Bayside’s threat as “absolute madness”.
Ms Davis said about 12 children on the street love to play together at the hoop.
“Everyone...gravitates towards it,” she said.
A portable basketball ring had been standing on Ms Davis’ nature strip for five years before parents decided a permanent one would be safer.
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Concerned that the portable one was unstable, late last year Ms Davis said she and her husband phoned the council to seek permission to make the structure permanent.
She said she was worried the ring may fall in the wind or tip over if a child was to dunk a ball.
Ms Davis said the council described her request as “unprecedented” but didn’t come back with a definite answer.
So the Davis family went ahead and concreted the ring into the nature strip.
“We’ve only had positive responses to it from neighbours,” Ms Davis said.
Bayside Council has told the Leader they don’t encourage permanent play structures.
“We don’t prohibit children playing on roadways providing any equipment can be quickly and easily removed once play has ended or to allow traffic movement,” Dr Hamish Reid, Bayside Council’s director City Planning and Amenity said.
“We encourage the community to use common sense and also be mindful of neighbours and other street users.”
Last week a basketball ring in Beaumaris caused controversy when a neighbour complained about the Wallace Street hoop.
Bayside Council ordered the removal of the portable ring and threatened a $500 fine. Angry mum Sofia Dedes called the council’s action “heavy-handed”.
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