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Parks and Recreation Collection – Narratives

Category: Narratives

Textual narratives explaining key concepts and specific subjects. Cascading from general to specific, eventually they will include variously concept summaries, subject summaries and geographic summaries.

2020 and Beyond – Leadership in healthy and connected global communities and regions

Updated on date by author

The papers of the 12th Liveable Cities Conference, held in the Adelaide Convention Centre, 12,13 August 2019. Pp.18-32. Published by the Association for Sustainability in Business Inc.

Masterman-Smith, Helen. 2019. The empowering potential of community organising in Australia: A regional city case study. https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/publications/the-empowering-potential-of-community-organising-in-australia-a-r/
Abstract Building liveable cities that are just and sustainable depends heavily on the transformative potential of empowered communities. Community organising is one empowerment strategy that is resurging in many countries. Broadly speaking, it refers to the coordinated efforts of residents to collectively empower themselves to advance their socio-cultural, political, economic and environmental needs and interests. The articulation of a body of community organising theory and practice emerged from the US civil rights movement in the 1960s, especially through the work of Saul Alinksy. However, community organising has attracted limited and belated interest in Australia, most notably through the Sydney Alliance project in recent years. This case study contributes to the embryonic Australian scholarship in this field. It examines the possibilities and challenges of community organising experienced by a grassroots community building organisation based in disadvantaged neighbourhoods of the regional city of Albury-Wodonga. Interview and autoethnographic data from participants is analysed to convey the lived experience and wider implications of the under-development of community organising in Australia. The paper finds that while government and NGO support for community organising in the US and the UK, for example, have been pivotal features of prominent democratisation and community renewal initiatives, there is no similarly systematic approach to community organising across Australia as yet. This case study suggests that the neglect of community organising in Australia is sapping the appetite and capacity of many residents who wish to help build socially and ecologically just cities, independently or collaboratively with government and non-government agencies. On the other hand, the Albury-Wodonga experience indicates the significant impact that modest public investment in community organising can produce. It is contended that public investment in relevant education, skills, resources and partnerships warrants closer consideration as a possible pathway to more community-driven liveable cities.

Review Status: Pending
Posted in Narratives |

Making Cities Liveable – Healthy Cities Conferences

Updated on date by author

From about 2008, a series of conferences was held under the “Making Cities Liveable” banner. The first few were also headlined “Healthy Cities”. The .com website that applied then has been taken over by a commercial entity. In about 2018, the website transferred to liveable cities.org.au, which at the date of this post appears to be broken. the Safe Cities website is also broken.

By email dated 24 August 2025, the Lennard Institute in the USA has advised PaRC that “The Australian series was not affiliated with our US-based series, which was formed in 1985 in Berkeley, California by Henry and Suzanne Lennard. We are still operating under the name “International Making Cities Livable” (hosted by the Lennard Institute for Livable Cities, an Indiana educational non-profit”.

 

PaRC has been able to resurrect proceedings of some of the series.

MCL Conference 2009, No. 2. Program.

MCL Conference 2010, No. 3, held in Brisbane.

MCL Conference 2011, No. 4, held at Noosa.

MCL Conference 2012, No. 5, peer-reviewed papers;  Non-peer-reviewed papers. Held at Geelong.

MCL Conference 2013, No. 6, peer-reviewed papers; password ‘healthycities’; Non-peer-reviewed papers: password ‘healthycities’. Held in Melbourne.

MCL Conference 2014, No. 7. Held at Kingscliff.

MCL Conference 2015, No. 8, peer-reviewed papers;  Non-peer-reviewed papers. Held in Melbourne.

MCL Conference 2016, No. 9, peer-reviewed papers;  Non-peer-reviewed papers.

MCL Conference and Safe Cities Conference 2017, No. 10 Held at Brisbane.

MCL Conference and Safe Cities Conference 2018, No. 11 Held at Melbourne.

Liveable Cities Conference 2019, No. 12. Cover sheet. 2020 and Beyond – Leadership in healthy and connected global communities and regions. Held at Adelaide Convention Centre.

Liveable Cities Conference 2020, No. 13. Online.

Liveable Cities Conference 2021.

 

Review Status: Pending
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Bruce Mackenzie AM AILA FRLA

Updated on date by author

The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) has kindly passed on its announcement of the passing of Bruce Mackenzie.

Regarded fondly as a pioneer of Landscape Architecture in Australia, Bruce Mackenzie was responsible for some of Australia’s most iconic and influential landscape projects, including the Sydney Harbour parks Illoura Reserve, Balmain and Yurulbin Reserve, Birchgrove, Sir Joseph Banks Reserve, Botany Bay and Ku-ring-gai and Glebe Bicentennial Parks.

With a career spanning over five decades, Bruce Mackenzie was commissioned to design numerous recognised Australian landmarks, winning multiple awards.

Throughout his career, Bruce was a tireless advocate for landscape architecture, a ‘calling’ that he loved and to which he dedicated his life. His passion for nature and love of the Australian landscape led to a genuinely Australian design vernacular, centred on place and context with detail consisting of natural materials and the innovative use of native plant communities. His passion, enthusiasm and generosity made him a wonderful mentor to many of today’s leading landscape architects and a familiar face at AILA led events. His welcome and consistent presence, up until he fell ill in 2023, reflected the importance of Bruce to AILA and how vital the connection was to him.

As the pioneer of landscape architecture in Australia, Bruce was loved and respected by the built environment community.

Other records of his life and work have appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald 20 January 2024, Landscape Australia and the website of the Australian Institute of Architects. See also his landmark 2011 book Design with Landscape. “Design with landscape is not only about the life’s work of a passionate Australian landscape architect, but also a textbook of how to design and build solutions to living within the landscape of the world.” (Trove).

Review Status: Pending
Posted in Narratives |

Redcliffe City – Parks Strategy Plan

Updated on date by author

This report, dated February 1991, commenced its life in 1990 as a study of the need for playground equipment within Redcliffe City, Brisbane northside, over the following five years. The scope of the study was extended to examine recreational facilities and programs in all parks throughout Redcliffe City (subsequently folded into Moreton Bay Regional Council).

Review Status: Pending
Posted in Narratives, Open space and recreation areas |

Adelaide, Brisbane and Hobart Statements

Updated on date by author

The Brisbane Conference Statement, arising from the 2024 Parks and Leisure Australia Annual Conference, builds on the foundation from the 2023 International Congress’s Adelaide Statement. The Statement continues to pursue the six Pledges in the Adelaide Statement:

  •  Promote Sustainability
  •  Advocate for Equity
  •  Foster Collaboration
  •  Embrace Innovation
  •  Champion Health and Wellbeing
  •  Community Engagement.

The Hobart Statement was endorsed by the November 2025 Annual Conference, with the same six themes re-endorsed. Further information  is available on the website of our partner Parks and Leisure Australia.

 

Review Status: Pending
Posted in Narratives, Planning, policy and legislation | Leave a reply

Victorian Protected Areas Council

Updated on date by author

Victoria’s national parks and other “protected areas” on public land form a world-class network of areas encompassing representative examples of many of the State’s diverse ecosystems and much of the biodiversity they contain. They safeguard many of the State’s flora and fauna species, preserve sites and features of indigenous and historical heritage, provide vital environmental services like carbon storage and water catchments, and offer nature-based recreation that supports local and regional visitor economies. They are valued as a living cultural landscape by Traditional Owners, with many now jointly managed.

“Protected area” is a clearly defined geographical space recognised, dedicated and managed through legal means to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values (adapted from International Union for Conservation of Nature, 2008). In Victoria protected areas on public land include: national, state and wilderness parks; marine national parks and sanctuaries; conservation parks; nature conservation, nature and bushland reserves; some natural features reserves; and reference and remote & natural areas.

Despite their significance, Victoria’s public land protected areas face ongoing management and resourcing challenges. Marking the 50th anniversary of the National Parks Act (1975), a group of retired protected area managers identified the need for a professional body to offer independent advice and advocate for improved resourcing and management of Victoria’s public land protected areas. They also identified the need for a professional body to connect and represent current and former protected area management staff and facilitate opportunities for former staff to stay connected and make ongoing contributions to public land protected area management.

On 28 October 2025, the group incorporated as the Victorian Protected Areas Council Inc. and approved its Constitution and Terms of Reference. Click here for the Terms of Reference.

The purpose of the new body is “To advocate for:

  • The critical role of protected areas in conserving and protecting natural, cultural and visitor values and ecosystem services;
  • Improved effectiveness of public land protected area management in Victoria; and
  • Strategic additions to Victoria’s public land protected area network to ensure comprehensive, connected and adequate representation of the State’s natural areas, diverse ecosystems and biodiversity.

“To be a professional association for Victorian public land protected area managers to:

  • Support the professional development of current public land protected area professionals; and
  • Provide a forum for former public land protected area professionals to stay connected and continue contributing to protected area management in Victoria.”

For more information, refer to the Council’s website https://victorianprotectedareascouncil.org/.

 

Review Status: Pending
Posted in Narratives, Open space and recreation areas, Planning, policy and legislation |

Flinders Chase – Cape Borda – History of Kangaroo Island

Updated on date by author


Geoffrey Chapman, born on Kangaroo Island and a Ranger in the South Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service from 1969 until his retirement in 2001, has penned the attached 96-page history and bibliography of the early settlement of Kangaroo Island.

The fires on Kangaroo Island in 2000 destroyed the records at Flinders Chase – fortunately Geoffrey held copies. “There were rangers’ memos, various reports  including details of previous fire and a smattering of history bits including the ligurian bees and Kelly Hill caves.

“My interest was due to my grandfather William aka ‘Will’ Chapman having the lease of Rocky River in 1916 to 1919 and the work ‘Will’ and his best mate  ‘Bill’ Boxer did at lighthouses. I grew up listening to the stories of the two men  chatting about the old days on Sunday afternoons on the homestead verandah. Reference the Cape Borda light house – there is also a ‘William Chapman’ – he was my grandfather’s ‘grandfather’ – the first Chapman to arrive on Kangaroo Island in the very early 1840s.

“When I first started writing the article, there was very little information in official park files – I obtained all of it via newspapers via Trove, my family records, personal chats with the second ranger George Lonzar and his wife Joyce, interviews from several early rangers and cave guides, early wallaby hunters (who were all still alive at the time). it was a mammoth undertaking and took at least 25 years of research.

“I had help from Napier Mitchell on the bee history and some KI bee keepers who were interested in maintaining the early history of the industry. Napier is an ex Dean of a Queensland University and his father was one of the managers at the bee farm at Flinders Chase in the 1950s. He grew up at Flinders Chase”.

 

Geoffrey has supplied some other manuscripts:

Early post offices on Kangaroo Island.

A history of eucalyptus distilling.

Early history of sealing on Kangaroo Island and offshore Islands. Geoffrey writes: “I have found other researchers and authors have mis-interpreted and simply copied other people’s mistakes. It’s taken me about 15 years to sort it out and I am still correcting and adding details. I was able to fix the history of one sealer named Gamble after meeting a descendent in Albany last year. [2024].

‘I thought the sealing on Kangaroo Island would have been interesting to someone as it gives an estimate of how many seals, kangaroos and wallaby skins that were taken which gives a rough idea of the seal and ‘roo populations prior to 1810. The sealers also wiped out the Kangaroo Island small emus by the late 1820s.

“My grandfather and records show that when the first settlers arrived, kangaroos were virtually non-existent on Kangaroo Island and very sparse on the mainland. My grandfather who had the lease of Flinders Chase stated that even then, it was a rare occasion to see a ‘roo. I saw my first kangaroo in 1955. By the 1960s they were occasionally seen at our farm at Birchmore Lagoon (middle of KI) which was surrounded by thousands of acres of dense scrub. Now they are everywhere on KI and are a common road hazard!”

 

Copyright notice

As the author makes clear in his introduction, some of the photographs and maps to illustrate this remarkably well researched compilation have been downloaded from the Internet. We acknowledge that the photos of the bee farm were from Napier Mitchell whose father was in charge in the late 1950s; and other photos were from the late Neville Cordes and the Kangaroo Island Pioneer Association of which the author was a member. Any infringement of copyright is inadvertent. The author has generously placed the manuscript under open access conditions. Any person who believes that their copyright has been infringed should contact PaRC.

Review Status: Pending
Posted in Cultural heritage and awareness, Narratives | Leave a reply

Offshore Islands, South Australia

Updated on date by author

Geoffrey Chapman, a Ranger in the South Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service from 1969 until his retirement in 2001, has penned a number of compilations of the history of the islands of South Australia’s coast.

Photos, maps and extracts of text from other sources such as newspapers have been downloaded from the Internet. Any infringement of copyright is inadvertent. The author has generously allowed PaRC to publish the manuscripts under open access conditions. Any person who believes that their copyright has been infringed should contact PaRC. Also, the compilations have not yet been proofread to conform to PaRC’s house style.

 

St. Francis Island, is part of South Australia’s Nuyts Archipelago, was first named by Europeans in 1627 by François Thijssen, who charted it aboard the ‘t Gulden Zeepaert. It’s one of the earliest South Australian locations documented by Europeans.

St Peter’s Island is the second largest island in South Australia at about 13 km long. It was one of the first parts of South Australia to be discovered and named by Europeans, along with St Francis Island, mapped by Thijssen in 1627.

Althorpe Island, 96 ha, was named by Matthew Flinders in 1802. Its light was converted to automatic operation and demanned in 1991 and the island transferred from Commonwealth jurisdiction to South Australia.

Joseph Banks Islands Group consists of 21 islands about 20 km off the eastern coast of the Eyre Peninsula.

The Neptune Islands Group consist of two groups of islands located close to the entrance to Spencer Gulf. Captain Matthew Flinders in the Investigator named the islands after Neptune, god of the sea, on 21 February 1802.

Although a section of Wedge Island is privately owned, the western & southern area is a National Parks reserve. The goats, cats and other vermin have been removed over about 50 years and re-introduced wombats, wallabies and bettongs have successfully survived. There are about 6 holiday shacks – rarely visited – and at 2025 one person lives there part-time.

At 3925 ha, Thistle Island is the third largest off the South Australian coast.
Flinders Island of 3542 ha dominates the Investigator Group.

Review Status: Pending
Posted in Cultural heritage and awareness, Narratives | Leave a reply

GRAZING THE VICTORIAN SNOW COUNTRY: A Traditional Land Use in a Changing Public Policy Environment

Updated on date by author

Cabena_Chapter_1

 

Geographer Peter Cabena, originally resident of Victoria, completed a Masters dissertation in 1980 on the grazing of cattle in the Victorian high country, having conducted a deep dive into state government archives, and a significant round of interviews with mountain district cattlemen and others. The original thesis can be viewed at https://www.highcountryhistory.org.au/historical-item/grazing-the-high-country-victoria-an-historical-and-political-geography-of-high-country-grazing-in-victoria-1835-to-1935/.

Peter returned to the subject in 2014 to review, refine & expand the scope and content of his research, finally calling time out on his efforts on 4 February 2025, when he passed it to the Secretary of PaRC for uploading.

PaRC is delighted to have the privilege of publishing this monumental work with its snapshot of the views of people affected by a highly controversial and widely discussed issue of land-use and park management. Being a research dissertation not formally published in the scholarly literature this work has, until now, remained relatively unknown to the broader community.

If any part of this publication breaches copyright or privacy, please be assured by the author and PaRC that this is inadvertent; and don’t hesitate to let the Secretary know so that the breach can be rectified.

First published 17 Sep. 2025. Minor editorial corrections and pagination 7 November 2025. Proofreading for consistency of style has not been completed.

 

INVITATION TO COMMENT

Peter Cabena offers to readers the opportunity to comment on any perceived factual errors or issues regarding interpretations.Please submit to PaRC via secretary AT SYMBOL parcaustralia.com.au.

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

PRELIMINARIES

INTRODUCTION

ABBREVIATIONS & DEFINITIONS

LIST OF FILES WITH SIZES

 

CHAPTER 1: PASTORAL EXPLORATION & EXPANSION
a) Background
b) Settlement of the Alpine Periphery
c) Exploring the Snow Country
d) Pioneer Mountain Grazing
e) Gold Discoveries and the Rise of Smaller Scale Pastoralists

 

CHAPTER 2: HOW THE ADMINISTRATION OF LAND TENURE INFLUENCED SNOW COUNTRY GRAZING

a) The Necessity for and Consequences of a Land Tenure System
b) The Impact of Land Selection
c) The 1878 Crown Lands Commission
d) The 1884 Land Act
e) Long Term Increase in Pastoral Occupation after 1884

 

CHAPTER 3: LATER LAND SETTLEMENT DREAMS AND SCHEMES
a) Land Selection in the Snow Country
b) Land Settlement Schemes
c) Tourism

 

CHAPTER 4: HOW GRAZIERS USED THE SNOW COUNTRY

a) Cattle Country

b) The Number of Snow Country Graziers

c) Trends in Stocking Levels

d) Drought Relief Grazing

e) Common Practices and Structures

f) Social Capital

 

CHAPTER 5: A TRADITIONAL PASTORAL ECOLOGY (AN APPLIED PASTORAL ECOLOGY, AND LANDSCAPE CHANGE)

 

CHAPTER 6: PUBLIC INTERESTS, PUBLIC VALUES AND PUBLIC PURPOSE LAND RESERVATIONS

 

CHAPTER 7: (WINDING DOWN): CHANGING SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL CIRCUMSTANCES

 

CHAPTER 8: EPILOGUE

 

APPENDICES

A. LOCAL HISTORIES
Western Fringe

Buffalo Platea
Upper Goulburn River Watershed

Baw Baw Plateau

Central Core

The Greater Bogong High Plains

The Snowy Range & Dargo High Plains

Far East

The Snowy – lndi Divide

Nunniong Plateau

 

B. EXPOSING FERDINAND MUELLER’S MISLEADING CLAIM

C. EXTRACTS FROM ANNUAL REPORTS OF THE SOIL CONSERVATION BOARD / AUTHORITY CONCERNING ITS OVERSIGHT OF GRAZING ON THE BOGONG HIGH PLAINS, 1945 – 1988

D. LIST OF SNOW COUNTRY GRAZING RUNS AND THEIR OCCUPANTS. (Note: this is an Excel file. If it does not transmit successfully, please let PaRC know).

E. SHEEP GRAZING IN THE SNOW COUNTRY AS RECORDED IN THE ORAL HISTORY

F. NOTES OF INTERVIEWS WITH SNOW COUNTRY GRAZIERS, 1975-1978 (128 pages).

G. HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE SNOWY RANGE.

Review Status: Pending
Posted in Cultural heritage and awareness, Narratives, Natural resources and environment |

Regional Open Space in SEQ – Supplementary documents

Updated on date by author

Those public servants who were within the relevant departments at the time (Lands/Natural Resources, Local Government and Planning, Premier and Cabinet, Environment especially), including the author of this post, are aware of the enormous effort invested in establishing a regional open space system worth the name and the large trove of documents produced in the process.

Some of the documents reproduced here are in the public domain and always have been; some have never previously been published but have fallen into PaRC’s hands by the agency of various public-spirited individuals. They are in no particular order. See also our sister site the Document Library which has a large trove.

 

2008 SEQ LIVING LANDSCAPES FORUM – REGIONAL LANDSCAPE AND OPEN SPACE COMMITTEE: BOONAH CULTURAL CENTRE 10-12 SEPTEMBER 2008 – also see P Mackay’s report

Queensland Greenspace Strategy 2011-2020

Regional Open Space System Business Plan 6 August 1994

Brisbane Institute’s Green Space Audit for SEQ August 2004

Regional Landscape and Open Space Advisory Committee Workshop 29 November 2004 – Input to latest iteration of the Regional Plan

 

Proceedings of the Regional Landscape Strategy Advisory Committee (ROLSAC)

Final Implementation Report November 2003
RLOSAC Advisory Committee Meeting # 3 Agenda 7 February 2005

 

 

Review Status: Pending
Posted in Narratives, Open space and recreation areas |