9 July 2010

Dickson or Downer?

| Mrshmellowman
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I have a quick query for the denizens of the North side.

I regularly pass by Dickson oval on my way to work or to the shops – I use the oval for a kick around with the kids or as a signpost for directions to my house i.e. “if you see the Dickson oval on your left, you have gone too far”

However, I noticed a new sign at the entrance of the car park at what I thought was Dickson ovals. The sign says ‘Downer No 1 Oval’

WTF?

I am pretty sure that Antill St is the dividing line between Downer and Dickson – the North side of Antill St is Downer and the South side of the street is Dickson.

How can this venerated sports ground have been miss identified by generations of children and parents on a Saturday morning? Or, has the government stuck up the wrong sign? If so, how is that possible?

I repeat – WTF?

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Stop dicking around, you really are a downer!

It’s not entirely impossible that it’s called “Downer Oval” even though it’s in Dickson – after all, Ainslie Primary School is in Braddon.

I knew Canberra had enmity between north and south side of the lake, but I didn’t know similar sentiments where prevalent on a smaller scale…

Perhaps the oval just has the same namesake as the adjacent suburb.

http://www.tams.act.gov.au/__data/assets/image/0004/133942/Dickson_1_Complex.gif

It is Dickson… but who really cares what the sign says, most Canberra drivers don’t read signs anyway. And so what if it is Dickson or Downer… here, have a tissue and some concrete.

So what suburb is the Downer Club in again?

I agree it’s odd and I’ve always referred to them as “Dickson Ovals”, however the ovals are somewhat trickier to get-to from Dickson residential rather than Downer due to the storm water drain. Sure, Antill Street’s no pedestrian plaza either, but it is at least mostly flat.

I’ll be sure to get my pitchfork and torch ready for the lynching whenever it happens.

I’m sure there’s a government contractor to blame for getting the signs wrong, they are the normal culprits of these sorts of errors.

troll-sniffer12:43 pm 09 Jul 10

ACT Locate website definitely shows the ovals are in Dicko. This, if true, is an insult to the generations of kids who have grown up and kicked a ball or slogged a six on the Dicko ovals.

It’s possible some blow-in pube from interstate with little local knowledge and misplaced responsibility has assumed that because the Downer Club lies to the west of the ovals, the ovals are in Downer.

I expect to see a large and loud demonstration this Saturday by a group of residents forming a picket line denying access to all those who deny that the playing fields are the Dicko ovals, always have been and always will be.

And if the guvmnt doesn’t fix the problem, kick ’em out at the next election I say.

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