Seven years ago, former physical education teacher Stephen Goodwin installed a basketball hoop on a nature strip at the end of Finn Street, a small cul-de-sac in O’Connor. 

He installed it with the support and assistance of his neighbours, but has now received compliance notices from the ACT government ordering him to take it down and fining him for having installed it… in 2018.

“Harking back to my childhood days, we played in the street every day,” said Mr Goodwin, a former adviser to the ACT government on health and physical education policy, and current president of the O’Connor residents’ group.

”I don’t see kids playing in the streets any more. 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.”

Independent MLA for Kurrajong Thomas Emerson MLA has sided with Mr Goodwin in his battle with the ACT government to retain the basketball hoop.

Mr Emerson said he had written to the City and Government Services Minister Tara Cheyne to have the  basketball hoop retained by turning Finn Street into a pilot designated active street.

“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.

“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. We know how important active play is for children’s social, emotional, physical and mental health.

”It’d be fantastic to see more kids playing on Canberra’s streets.”

The proposal also has the backing of the North Canberra Community Council and Basketball ACT, both of whom have provided letters of support.

An “active street” would involve:

• Providing a formal exemption to allow the reinstallation of the basketball hoop.
• Installing clear signage designating the area as a shared 10-20km/h zone with priority given to pedestrians.
• Permitting markings for a basketball key and handball courts on the road, funded by a grant from the North Canberra Community Council.
• Collaborating with a research institution, such as the University of Canberra, to evaluate the effectiveness of the initiative in relation to wellbeing indicators from the ACT Wellbeing Framework, and to inform similar potential future initiatives in other locations across the ACT.