Image of Peanut Farm sourced from CoPP website

by a St Kilda Elder

We all know water is a resource which, at least in the southern states, must be conserved at all cost. The proposed CoPP donation to the Elsternwick Park (Bayside) project, is partly justified by water CoPP is supposed to be able to transport from Bayside to CoPP, including to The Peanut Farm.  Oh, did I mention? It will be a huge future expense, whether brought to our area by pipes or trucks. Or maybe ratepayers could have a low-cost community activity with a fun bucket brigade stretching from Elsternwick down Glenhuntly Road. 

Recently I had occasion to wander around the Peanut Farm, the oval, and the nearby gardens. I was particularly interested in the footy pavilion. Lots of roof there.  Lots. And so close to the oval which literally sucks water. Now being a mother, I do not begrudge the oval. I spent many a freezing night watching my kids play sport there. Although I was a little surprised when a few years ago, the whole oval was completely re-turfed, rather than replanted with seeds for the appropriate drought friendly grasses. So to my mind, and I confess I had a country girlhood, a large roof means large water tanks to collect large amounts of rainwater. 

There is one small tank at the east end of the Pavilion, about the size I've managed to squeeze into my tiny yard. Maybe enough to flush the public toilets but certainly insufficient to service the oval. Water tanks now come in a range of shapes, sizes, colours. You can even buy tanks which are about 20 centimetres wide - which could replace all the old paling fences between houses. CoPP should consider water collecting tanks on every Council property. How many litres are harvested off the Town Hall?  Every roof is sacred space for rainwater collection.

And to finish up this watery tale - I have photographs showing sprinklers generously  spraying water around Renfrey Gardens when it was actually raining! I was appalled then. And I remain...