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By The Friends of Robin Rd GreenContact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
UPDATE JAN 2013The City of Armadale has a Masterplan for Crosspark out for public comment until the 8th Feb. If you want the city to consider a future gathering place or Amphitheatre for small concerts, markets and ceremonies to replace the Robin Road Green - please complete the CrossPark survey here. UPDATE NOV 2012The Good News... The bushland to the West of the Robin Road Oval will now be protected from development by imposing a private public space zone. The Bad news... The Oval is not protected and will likely be lost to the community for development.
What's it all about?In 2012 the Roleystone Primary School at Robin road closed down in a merger with the Raeburn Road Roleystone Community College. The old school site will now be redeveloped. On the site is what we call the "The Robin Rd Green". Its located on the west side of the site and includes old Jarrah trees and a grassed area. Why do we need it?Being in the Roleystone Town Centre, the Robin Road Green has been used in the past for small community events. We need this oval to continue to nurture these small community events. It's the small events that make our town what it is. Small events can be organised by anyone in our community. The Robin Rd Green is unique. Surrounded by old Jarrah trees, it has a natural amphitheatre feel to it. Gatherings from as little as 200 people can feel at home here. The Robin Rd Green is currently used for Markets, Music Events and Fundraising events - and with the change of ownership, could be used for local Weddings and Funerals. Sporting Ovals such as Cross Park and Springdale are too large for small community events. These high maintenance ovals need attendances close to 1000 to fill. Small community events at these sites seem empty. Springdale is also far outside of the Roleystone Town Centre. What will it cost to keep it?Maintenance of the Green is negligible when compared to other town running costs and sporting ovals. Unlike the nearby sporting ovals, this green does not need regular fertiliser and water. But to put things into perspective, the City of Armadale "rule of thumb" for a high maintenance sporting oval is $17,000 per hectare per year. The grassed area of the Robin Rd Green is 0.27 of a hectare at its current size. The grassed area could be reduced in size to 1,200m2, further reducing maintenance costs. For a reduced size, the grassed area would only cost $3,000 per year. There are 2300 homes in Roleystone alone, so $1.50 per home per year would cover the cost of keeping the oval - which is a negligable cost when compared with the average Roleystone council rate of $1,193. Water Consumption?The Green is currently connected to scheme water which will shortly consist of approximately 30% desalination plants, 30% ground water and 30% catchment dams. [REF: Water Corp - Water forever plan] |
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The water required for the grassed area is small. If the grassed area is reduced to half its size (1,300m2) the water consumption would be 624 kilolitres, or $1073 per year*1. The grass may look dry over the peak summer period for a two day watering week.
To put this into perspective, the average Roleystone house water consumption 2010/2011 was 335 kilolitres*2. The water required for the grassed area will be less than two average Roleystone households.
[*1 REF: 1300m2 x 10mm per day x 2 days per week x 4 weeks per month x 6 months per year x $1.72 per kilolitre / 1000]
[*2 REF: As shown on the Water Corporation Water Use Account to Roleystone users, issued 12th April 2011 and 13th October 2010. 108kl + 227kl]
The Values of the Green Bushland
In November 2011 we carried out a survey of the trees surrounding the Green. There are at least 90 trees surrounding the Green that are in excess of 100 years old. Several of these trees are over 200 years old, and at least one is over 300 years old.
(REF: 
Tree Attributes and Ages - Whitford )
A summary of the tree age around the Green is shown below...
In September 2011 we carried out a native flora species survey. 72 unique Roleystone species were found, 8 of which were considered rare. (REF: Roley Primary bush species list.pdf)
The Old Trunks
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