Kathy Marks: Park life is not as calm as it appears

There's no room for a garden in my inner-city neighbourhood, and you can't swing a cat, let alone a labrador, in my pint-sized courtyard.

No matter: half a mile away is Centennial Park, 189 hectares of glorious green space, brimming with lakes, ponds and woodland.

Every morning, barring ill-health or natural disaster, I walk my dog, Lola, in an unkempt area shaded by fig, pine and paperbark trees. While she gambols in the bushes, I admire the daily parade of bird life: cackling kookaburras, rose-pink galahs, sulphur-crested cockatoos screeching as they noisily crack open pine cones.

I am not the only local who treasures this urban sanctuary. Nicole Kidman, who owns a pad not far away, is sometimes spotted here.

Last week in the woods, Lola ran on ahead. I caught up with her a few minutes later. A purple-faced man had grabbed her, and was holding her tightly. Next to him was a sobbing child. On the ground was a burst football, covered in dog saliva.

The boy was left to cry as his father swore at me, drowning my efforts to apologise. He released Lola only when I offered him $10 for a new ball.

While few encounters are quite so aggressive, conflicts between park users are, unfortunately, becoming increasingly common.

The main culprits are cyclists who hare around the circular sweep of Grand Drive as if in training for the Tour de France, and motorists who scornfully flout the 30kph (19mph) speed limit. I have seen a pack of cyclists virtually mow down a hapless rollerblader. Recently I was tailgated and flashed as I drove at 35kph.

The only solution, I suspect, is to ban cars. Perhaps cyclists, too. And anyone else who is inconsiderate of others. Are you listening, Lola?

Australia's home game

To the envy of Australian friends, I live just around the corner from the Sydney Football Stadium and Sydney Cricket Ground. To their disgust, I rarely go to watch a match. There's no need.

Last Friday, I knew from the roar of the crowd in my living room that Australia had thrashed Fiji in the rugby league World Cup semi-final. I could even have joined in the chants of "Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi!"

How Green is this?

On the other side of town, a very modest park is about to become even smaller. Although Sydney is awash with Olympic-sized pools, the local council wants to build one here, along with a gym and crèche. Enmore Park will be dwarfed by this development. And who controls the council? The Greens.