A briefing meeting on Latrobe Close was held for local residents at the office of local member Bronwyn Pike at 6.00pm on Tuesday, December 1, 2009 with between fifty and sixty people from the surrounding area attending. As well as Minister Pike and representatives from her office, there was a representative from Minister Wynn’s office, project team members from the Department of Human Services and representatives from town planning consultants, Davis Langdon.
Despite the number of experts in attendance, many of the questions asked by the locals failed to receive convincing answers. It was all about trusting the experts, who inevitably gave answers that did not conform with the opinions of the attendees as to how the development should proceed, especially with the lack of consultation on the part of the proponents and the appalling lack of a proper due process to deal with the planning of these projects involving State defined ‘social housing’ and ‘nation-building’ money.
Examples of the ‘spin’ answers include:
- The justification of seven stories, being objectively determined by the proper design team process – nothing to do with the Ministerial brief!
- The project could go to seven stories because there was no design or development overlay to restrict the height – only a heritage overlay.
- The trees to be removed were decided on the recommendation of an arborist.
- The justification of the small number of car parks, particularly in the social housing section on the basis of predetermined ratios (.43 per unit in the social housing and .77 per unit in the Stage 2), which took no account of the local conditions or the needs of existing residents and business.
- Failure to answer the question about whether Stage 2 would actually be done, as it was not to be funded with Federal money.
There were a number of speakers who raised questions about the design and management of the social housing. A lack of confidence in Melbourne Affordable Housing to consult with and, to manage the relocation of exiting residents was voiced and questions were raised about the high number of one bedroom units.
Our local member, who is also the Minister of Education, answered concerns about how Errol Street Primary School would manage an influx of new local students.
Questions raised about the existing open space on Chetwynd Street and in the development were not adequately answered. The open access claimed by the experts as recreation space was clearly mainly for access, even though it was denied that it was a gated community.
The question about an agreement with the State Government that had been made long ago to use the Chetwynd Street open space for a child care centre appeared to be news to many of the planners.
Many other questions were asked, such as whether the medians would be breached and whether links could be made to the Church.
There was great concern about the measurement of heights, as the plans measured height above sea level and not above ground level, which gives a much more realistic picture of how high the buildings are relatively. This created difficulties as the site dropped by 4m from east to west.
Our local member will take the issues raised at the meeting to the Minister of Housing, Richard Wynne, for further discussion. It was not clear how this would be reported back to residents and local business, although a comprehensive list of attendees and their addresses were collected.