On Thursday, while celebrations were proceeding for saving Point Nepean as a national park for Victorians, more than 1000 trees, including 100-year-old eucalypts and conifers on the 20-hectare Royal Park Hospital site, were being axed.

This was in preparation by the developer for construction of the high-rise, high-density, wall-to-wall, 1000-unit development that will masquerade as the Commonwealth Games Village for two weeks in March 2006.

The list of destroyed or threatened parks, gardens and public open space lengthens each day - from Royal Park, Kew Cottages land and Burnley Gardens in urban Melbourne to the Nunawading Wildlife park in the outer suburbs to Devil Bend park on the Mornington Peninsula and the Greater Shepparton Botanic Gardens in country Victoria.

And there are many many more.

It is hoped that the new coalition of Protectors of Public Lands will gather strength in the coming year and, like its counterpart in NSW, get the message over to all levels of government, and all political parties, that we must "keep public lands in public hands".

We would be wise to heed the injunction of Patrick White, in 1972, at the rally to save Sydney's Centennial Park: "Protect your parks from the pressure of political concrete."
Julianne Bell, convenor
Royal Park Protection Group, Parkville

This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/20/1071868694544.html