THE future of Sturdee Park at Loganlea is bright, thanks to the hard work of a local councillor who has listened to what his constituents want.
This week the park will be the centre of many happy school holiday outings as it reopens to the public as Logan’s first smart park.
One of the first assignments Division 5 councillor Jon Raven had as a new councillor in April 2016 was to meet with sergeant Charmaine Leafe from Loganlea Police Beat.
“The first thing she said to me was ‘you have to fix the problem with security in the park’,” Cr Raven said.
He was able to get $911,000 from council backed up with $767,000 of state money to turn the park’s fortunes around with the installation of smart lighting, high-tech digital games and state-of-the-art surveillance.
A removable skate bowl has also been installed.
Cr Raven made a deal with the local kids that if the skate bowl got wrecked, he would move it.
Money was spent on landscaping and cutting back scrub to open up the Station Rd end of the park so the 300m path can be seen from the road.
“We’ve installed movement reactive lighting, so the faster people move on the path, the brighter the lights get.
“If there are a lot of people running, like in a police chase, the lights will go to full security like flood lights. But I am really happy with the interactive digital game equipment which has touch pads and lighting for kids’ games.
Source: Judith Kerr, Albert & Logan News
Photograph: Renae Droop