Let kids, be kids: Council removes popular play area over noise complaint

It’s seems the days of innocent childhood fun with the neighbours are over.

Parents in Brisbane have shared their anger after the council ripped up a concrete slab their kids were using as a handball court, after receiving noise complaints from neighbours.

The slab was laid out just months ago in a park in north Brisbane’s Kelvin Grove Urban Village, but Brisbane City Council has now confirmed the slab was only meant to be there for a permanent table tennis table – and never for handball.

Following a few noise complaints, they have ripped it back up and moved it to a different area – despite some residents claiming they had no prior warning, and now fear their kids will run to dangerous areas with nowhere left to play.

Col Dorber told ABC Radio Brisbane the kids loved playing on the slab, which measured around four metres by five metres, and added: “They can’t believe it, they’re just stunned that their backyard’s been ripped up and no one else asked them.”

He claimed he’d never heard one complaint, and the kids appeared to have fun whenever they were using it. He added: “It’s a place for them to get exercise. We hear all these complaints about obesity and children not playing. Here’s a beautiful backyard and the council without consulting the residents has ripped this up.”

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Meanwhile, fellow resident Marie added on the radio show: “The noise I’ve always heard is just the sound of young children playing, and that is a lovely calming noise.”

It comes as a sharp contrast to outdoor playing habits just a few decades ago, when young kids would typically have fun on anything they could find that would match their game – without complaints.

Responding to the angry criticism, a council spokesman told Starts at 60 the slab was put there as the foundation for permanent table tennis tables, as part of the legacy celebrations for the Commonwealth Games.

They added: “One of these tables was intended to be installed at a small park in the Kelvin Grove Urban Village, however, Council received noise complaints from residents after the concrete foundation was installed. Residents indicated they do not support the concrete slab or the table tennis facility and Council has instead relocated it to a larger park, 300m away.

“The concrete slab was never intended to be a handball court and has been removed.”

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Meanwhile BCC Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said he hopes the kids will still take advantage of the slab in its new location, saying while it’s clear they’re upset about it being moved, residents didn’t want it there.

“We’re moving it through to a place which is fairly close by but where also we believe there will be far less resistance in terms of residential complaints,” he told ABC Radio.

“Council gets caught between a rock and a hard place on these things sometimes. Obviously the kids want the facility, parents concerned about noise from the facility … these are the things that councils deal with. To keep everyone as happy as we can in this situation we’re going to move it close by to a larger area and hopefully the kids and the parents can enjoy it in peace.”

Do you remember playing in your neighbourhood as a kid? Should people just let kids be kids and put up with the occasional noise?