Residents are demanding their council halt the sale of a parcel of land they say has served as their neighbourhood's only park for 75 years.
The dispute over the plot of land at 13-17 Clift Street, Maitland, mirrors an almost identical fight the same street won nearly 30 years ago and is one that has split councillors over how the decision was made.
Resident Elise Merlin said the sale came as a complete surprise to residents.
"The first that we learned about the sale of the park was when they put up a for sale sign," she said.
She said it was at odds with council's own green space policy.
"If this goes, the closest space for this part of the community is a fair walk away and not safe for our kids."
She said adults on the street grew up playing and enjoying holiday time together in the park and now do the same with their own children.
"They come down here, kick the ball around and play all together, so if it goes, we will lose part of what brings this community together."
John Smail said there was not one resident on the street who supported the sale and the community had taken care of the park for about three decades.
"The block has been mown and cared for by the same family for at least 30 years, with the ride-on mower used to maintain it bought with our own money," he said.
Mr Smail said the mower was used by Tom Wilkes, who has maintained the block for at least 16 years, having taken over from a previous generation of the same family.
He said the council previously supplied a mower, a whipper snipper and fuel for residents to maintain the site, but residents say it has not otherwise spent money on the block's upkeep in decades.
Residents reject any suggestion that maintenance costs justify the sale.
A community Facebook page, Save Clift Street Park, has been set up by residents opposing the sale.
This isn't the first time the block has been under threat.
The Newcastle Herald reporting from October 1997 shows residents of Clift and Dwyer streets petitioned the council against auctioning the same two-hectare parcel, then referred to as being at Campbells Hill, after the council listed it for sale alongside six other parcels of land.
A resident spokesman at the time, Brad Wilks, Tom's father, told councillors there were two dozen children in the area and that the nearest playing fields, behind Maitland Hospital or at Coronation Oval in Telarah, were unsafe and isolated for children to reach.
Residents offered to maintain the land themselves as a Landcare project with Maitland Public School.
Council ultimately withdrew the parcel from auction.
Maitland City Council was contacted for comment but did not respond to questions by deadline.
In a written response to a resident, Maitland mayor Phillip Penfold said the site had been classified as operational land for nearly 30 years and "was not intended to operate as a park".
The response said the council was assessing underutilised operational land as part of long-term financial management, including identifying alternative revenue sources so it was less reliant on rates income.
Ms Merlin said she found Cr Penfold's response "inadequate, condescending, and deeply hurtful to the residents".
Ward 1 councillor Amelia Atkinson voted against the sale and has been critical of how the decision was reached.
In a social media post, Cr Atkinson said residents "should not have to discover" the land was being sold "because a For Sale sign suddenly appears", and argued the site had effectively operated as community land regardless of its official classification.
"On paper, this is an operational parcel of council-owned land. But on the ground, it has been functioning as a community green space for generations," she said.
Cr Atkinson said council and its Property Advisory Panel needed to explain why the community was not engaged before the sale progressed to the July meeting, "particularly when the consequence of selling this land is permanent".
She called for any further discussion about the land's future to happen with residents "not to the community after the decision has effectively been made".
Cr Bill Hackney, a member of the Property Advisory Panel, defended the process in his own social media post, saying council acknowledged residents had maintained and used the land as an informal play space, but that "the vacant block has always been operational land in a residential street". He said selling it would allow the council to "reinvest in services or facilities that benefit everyone in Maitland".
Cr Hackney said the site was originally two separate lots until October 1997, when the council resolved to amalgamate both into the single parcel now known as 13-17 Clift Street, and that no park was created when that amalgamation took effect, leaving the land classified as operational ever since.
He said the sale reflected the council's commitment under its long-term financial plan to reduce reliance on rates income, and to the equitable provision of public open space and community infrastructure under its Community Infrastructure Strategy.
Residents are seeking the chance to address the next council meeting and want the sale paused, genuine community consultation held, and the land reclassified as community land to protect it permanently.
