This was published 7 years ago
Brouhaha brewing in Farrer after 'fun police' veto basketball hoop outside cafe
A suburban cafe has become the centre of a planning stoush as the ACT government is accused of hypocrisy over its urban renewal policies.
Three weeks ago, city officials slapped a green sticker on the plastic basket ball hoop, demanding that it be removed from outside Farrer cafe Fox and Bow.
Alex Piris who is the owner of Fox and Bow Cafe, at Farrer, is unhappy about the ACT government asking him to remove the cafe's basketball hoop.Credit: Jamila Toderas
Owner Alex Piris said he inherited the hoop from a local who was moving out of the area about a year ago and placed it outside the cafe in a quiet access lane.
The hoop helped inject life into the small set of shops in the southern Canberra suburb.
"It was used every day by all ages. Kids and grandparents and young lads would come down," Mr Piris said.
However reports of a near miss between a child and a car forced city officials to act.
Mr Piris said without so much as a conversation, rangers demanded the cafe remove the hoop, a move which the Farrer community have said was "heavy handed".
"The benefit brought to our local shops and local community far outweighed any negative aspects," Mr Piris said.
"When you look at Kingston Foreshore and Braddon, I'm sure what goes on in Braddon doesn't fit the criteria for normal practice but they're supportive of it because it's bringing in people and that's what I thought this local government was about.
"We're out here in the suburbs and we want to have a fair crack at it ourselves. We're trying to have a bit of fun out here.
"I think it's something that's been blown out of proportion and hopefully common sense prevails."
Shadow minister for local business and tourism Andrew Wall said the cafe had been "punished" for trying to do something different.
"The Chief Minister is constantly talking about Canberra being the coolest little capital, yet it seems the fun police and the bureaucracy haven't yet got the memo and aren't necessarily delivering on what the government is trying to achieve," Mr Wall said.
"Creative things like this need to happen organically, it can't be all run and created and sanctioned by government initially, it's dependant on the bureaucracy to work constructively with the community and try and facilitate a solution."
However a Transport and City Services spokesman said officials were forced to act after a report of a near-miss between a car and a child.
"TCCS attempted to locate the owner of the basketball hoop to come to an arrangement that is both safe and fun for the local community," he said.
"We appreciate that the community values this space as a play area, but safety is also a priority, particularly around roads."
Transport and City Services minister Meegan Fitzharris said she had asked the directorate to work with local cafe owners to come to an arrangement that allows there to be a basketball hoop nearby "that is safe for the whole community".
The directorate said the basketball hoop had now been moved to private land nearby.