We still need to see the Minister about outstanding issues and Kevin did meet with him as part of a delegation yesterday (15 November).

The review will consider the appropriate number of the councillors for the municipality and whether the City should be divided into wards.

For more information click here: http://www.vec.vic.gov.au/reviews/Melbournerr.html

Please read the attached document which gives you some background about this review, including:

• What will the Melbourne City Council Review cover.
• What is the electoral representation review process for Melbourne City Council.
• How to make a submission to the Melbourne City Council.

Representation Review?

We would like to canvass member’s views about this review.  If you have any input on any issues that are of concern to you, or comments or questions, please email us.  It is important that membership views are included in any submission that we make.  We will inform you of any
process that we may adopt to formulate a submission.  This will no doubt involve our monthly meeting on he 15th November.  Please note that submissions need to be made to the VEC by the 24th November 2011.

We encourage members to consider the issues that we have had with the Council over a number of years, particularly over planning, with issues such as Woolworths, Latrobe Close, Zagame, Structure Plans, Royal Children’s Hospital and the loss of parkland, its priority for heritage with issues such as  the demolition of the grandstand at the North Melbourne Recreation Reserve, to mention a few.  We also need to consider social issues such as the reduction in funding to The Centre in Errol Street, North Melbourne and the North and West Melbourne News.  Questions like whether our views and interests been adequately represented on Council need to be asked. How does the Council need to be reformed to improve the quality of decision making in this City and to make the Council more accountable to its electors and not the top end of town?

The following link gives a brief report on these meetings and outlines the eight major questions the group wished to ask the Woolworth’s representatives at the meeting:  Woolworth’s update20oct11

The Group has produced a poster which highlights what is and is not acceptable as development in our local area.  The Association is supportive of the principles underlying this approach to planning: FINAL_RAID Poster

The plans include two residential towers of 16 and 10 storeys, a supermarket of over 4000 m2 and an attached bottle shop.  Also include are 9 specialty shops and a restaurant and 645 car parking spaces, about evenly divided between the residents and the supermarket.

The Association is very concerned about the precedent that this proposal establishes for this area of North Melbourne.  Being over 25000 m2, it is to be decided by the the Minister of Planning.  The Council will make a representation to the Minister on its views of the project.

We have put in an objection to the Minister and have written to the City of Melbourne Councilors.

We are concerned that the Council does not repeat its process on their input to the Windsor Hotel decision where their submission was developed behind closed doors and where there was no transparency.

We have obtained electronic copies of the plans for all to see:

• Book of Plans, April 2011 (24MB) – here
• Urban Context Report, July 2011 (94MB) – here
• Traffic Impact Assessment, July 2011 (3.9MB) – here
• Waste Management Plan, April 2011 (2.9MB) – here
• Environmental Wind Assessment, June 2011 (2.1MB) – here

There have been a number of briefings already held but the Association believes that the implications of these Structure Plans for our suburb and community are so profound that we we need to work strongly on raising public awareness of their contents.  They do not conform with our views about how the future of our local area should be managed and  so we need to be clear on what is being recommended and what avenues are available to us to make inputs into their adoption process.

You can view the documents on the plans at the City of Melbourne website.  Please use the following links.

http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/getinvolved/StructurePlans/ArdenMacaulay/Pages/ArdenMacaulayStructurePlan.aspx

http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/getinvolved/StructurePlans/CityNorth/Pages/CityNorthStructurePlan.aspx

We encourage all members to attend and please invite any other committed North and West Melbourne people who are interested in our future.

Marchers pacing up and down in front of the car showroom clearly made the point that we would not be going away. Car horns sounded their support.  A resounding “No” was sounded by attendees to the following statements: Did we like the development including ten storey boomerang and 259 units?  Should the authorities allow the proposal to go ahead?   Has the City of Melbourne done enough to support the West Melbourne Structure Plan?  Does this proposal respect the requirements of DDO29, keeping the height limit to four storeys?

Emphasis was made of the need to be prepared to attend the Central City Standing Advisory Committee, possibly on the 21 of December at 5.00pm.

Have a look at their website  www.nohighrise.com

The minutes for the July Meeting will not be circulated until the September Meeting.  The September meeting will also host Kate Greer from Climate Communities, Sustainability Victoria, as a speaker, to follow up on initiatives in the inner area of Melbourne and  on the issues raised in the vertical gardens proposal, which was discussed at the July meeting.

We are inviting all candidates for election to the House of Representatives Seat of Melbourne to participate. Nominations have only just closed.

Please put this date in your diary.

Regards
Kevin Chamberlin
Deputy Chairperson