Independent MLA Thomas Emerson is supporting a long-running community effort to keep a basketball hoop on the nature strip of a quiet O’Connor cul-de-sac, despite ACT Government orders to remove it.

Stephen Goodwin — former PE teacher, former ACT Government adviser on health and physical education, and president of the O’Connor residents group — installed the hoop in 2018, with the support of neighbours. He has since received compliance notices and fines requiring its removal.

“Harking back to my childhood days, we played in the street every day,” Mr Goodwin said. “I don’t see kids playing in the streets anymore. I would like to be able to bring that back, and this is something that can be done at no cost to the Government.

“There’s a real shortage of facilities for kids who are older than 10 but younger than 20 in these older suburbs, where the Government hasn’t been building that kind of infrastructure. This is an opportunity for the Government to look at how safe streets like this can be utilised to increase physical activity.”

A government spokesperson said a waste contractor servicing garbage bins made a complaint. Government officers determined the hoops posed an unacceptable safety risk to large vehicles, including garbage trucks, as one hoop overhung the road. The government issued direction notices to remove the hoops from public land.

The government said one hoop was briefly re-erected this month to draw Mr Emerson’s attention to the issue, but has since been taken down.

Mr Emerson wrote to Tara Cheyne MLA, Minister for City and Government Services, calling for the ACT Government to allow the hoop to stay, by turning Finn Street into a safe, low-speed active street. 

The proposal would provide a formal exemption to reinstall the hoop; designate the area as a shared 10-20km/h zone with priority for pedestrians; and allow markings for a basketball key and handball courts funded by the North Canberra Community Council. A research institution, such as the University of Canberra, would evaluate the pilot’s wellbeing impacts. 

“Giving residents greater ownership over their shared public spaces is a powerful way to drive community connection and belonging,” Mr Emerson said.

“So many of us don’t know our neighbours. We need more initiatives like this to help us reconnect with our neighbours and foster healthy communities.”

He said the pilot, if successful, could be replicated across the Territory.

“We’re facing a serious shortage of community sporting facilities in our city, and we need to get creative…” Mr Emerson said. “The ACT Government should be applauding and facilitating these kinds of low-cost, community-led solutions.

“I was fortunate to grow up playing outside, including shooting hoops on the street outside my childhood home. Active play is [important] for children’s social, emotional, physical and mental health. It’d be fantastic to see more kids playing on Canberra’s streets.”

The North Canberra Community Council and Basketball ACT have provided letters of support. Basketball ACT CEO Nicole Bowles said access to a basketball hoop supported informal, low-pressure physical activity.

“There are so many individual and community benefits by having access to a basketball hoop for unstructured play,” Ms Bowles said. “Unlike organised sport, it allows children to be active at their own pace, helping to build lifelong habits of physical activity. We commend Mr Goodwin for his initiative in promoting local engagement and support the reestablishment of the basketball hoop in Finn Street, O’Connor.”