Vic park

I had my usual Monday morning walk around Victoria Park yesterday. For those of you not in Brisbane, it’s this huge old golf course right near the CBD that the council took back a few years ago. A once-in-a-century opportunity, really, to reclaim a massive swathe of parkland in the middle of a city.

It’s a beautiful place to walk, especially at this time of year as we slide out of the worst of summer into autumn. Because it was sculpted for golfers, it’s got these pleasant rolling hills – perfect for getting the heart rate up without really noticing you’re doing it. The council’s done a good job turning it into a pleasant open space for all. Lots of joggers, obviously. But dogwalkers, too. There are even little signs scattered about teaching you how to do a walking meditation. I’ve tried them, and it’s cool.

Unfortunately, this is the site for the new Olympic stadium. It seems the government, realised a bit late that they didn’t actually have anywhere to put the Olympics. So, they’re grabbing up this beautiful green space.

I’m not normally anti-development. I figure if you live in a city, you put up with city things. Big, noisy, unnatural spaces – that’s the deal you get for all the amenities you can’t have in a small town.

But I really feel the coming loss of this place. When you give up a space like this, a space Brisbane was lucky enough to preserve purely by an accident of history, you never get it back. The stadium will be fine, I’m sure. The city will get a venue for big events it currently lacks.

But I just don’t know that it’s a decent trade. I think future generations, standing in the stadium car park and looking at photos of what was here before, will probably curse us for a bunch of idiots.

Anyway, there’s nothing to be done. It’s going to happen. So for now, I’m just enjoying my walks while I can. We’ll keep bringing the dogs over on the weekend to run free. I mean, what damage could they possibly do at this point? I’d almost be amused to have a park ranger try to tell me off.