Caulfield Racecourse chairman told to resign
Racecourse board votes to maintain secrecy
Oct 12 @ 05:00am by Andrea Kellett
A DECISION that could end more than a century of perceived secrecy surrounding management of Crown land at Caulfield Racecourse has been voted down.
The Caulfield Racecourse Reserve board of trustees has met for the first time under new chairman and Glen Eira councillor Jim Magee.
He put forward a motion to change the board’s governance arrangements, but the majority of trustees voted against it.
Those arrangements would have thrown board meetings open to the public for the first time in 150 years and required minutes to be made publicly available.
The trustees called for Cr Magee’s resignation as chairman, but he declined.
He will instead be replaced at 6am on October 27, council election day.
He is standing for re-election in Tucker Ward.
After the meeting Cr Magee said it was “inappropriate” to comment while he waited for the Premier to reply to concerns he had raised about the board.
Fellow trustee, Cr Cheryl Forge, said Cr Magee had come under “enormous pressure” at the meeting to resign.
Council candidate Mary Delahunty called for a review into the operations and structure of the board.
Other items on the board’s agenda included the grandstand lease with the MRC and a “land swap” between the MRC and the Minister for Innovation.
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Big task on racecourse
THE development of the Caulfield racecourse area will be one of the biggest challenges to face new and re-elected councillors.
There is much a strong council can achieve to protect the amenity for all Glen Eira residents, to ensure infrastructure is minimally impacted and to provide an accessible open space for our enjoyment.
Governance must be resolved for the project to be successful. The current trust structure which delegates the day-to-day management of crown land is not the appropriate vehicle. A properly authorised committee of management will provide a stronger voice for the residents and clearer accountability. Glen Eira Council has an important role in the future of the racecourse. Strong, consultative representation will deliver the right outcomes for the City of Glen Eira.
Mary Delahunty, Candidate for Camden Ward
Glen Eira Debates 
October 9, 2012 at 11:05 AM
Magee is a complete fool who has no understanding of his responsibility when the Government appointed him to the Reserve.He has embarrassed himself and Council. He has no idea about Politics or Leadership. What a fool.
October 9, 2012 at 11:15 AM
I think Jim may be disappointed to read your comments. He seems like a person beleives is headed into higher levels of Government.
October 9, 2012 at 11:26 AM
at least the leader seems to have changed there view on the Racecourse after guaging the public backlash. Not sure how the premier could justify it remaining secret
October 9, 2012 at 1:32 PM
The Premier has little to do with this. The Trust operates from some ancient Deed. Brumby/Bracks had 11 years to sort this out and nothing happened except they got C60 underway. In fact they did it in such a way that it could not be stopped.
October 9, 2012 at 12:07 PM
Having councillors as trustees is nothing more than window dressing. It serves no purpose and has resulted in no benefit to residents. What it has caused is the ludicrous situation in council where these trustees are involved in a swinging door – forever declaring conflicts of interest and not voting on important issues. That’s denying residents their representatives and it’s become a joke. Naturally this suits the gang and Newton and the vested interests that have dominated council voting on all the associated issues. Magee, Forge and even Tang when he bothered to show up to trustee meetings have been useless. They should have served their communities far better by sitting in the council chamber and voting against the continual sell outs perpetrated by Newton and the gang.
October 9, 2012 at 12:37 PM
In fact they are servicing their communities. A very small number of people want to have a picnic in the middle of the racetrack. It is the “politics of envy” in action. I bet if there was a protest meeting you would be pushing to get more than 100 people turn up. The MRC has been skinning the community for 100 years and they know that most people are content to let this keep happening. “C’est la vie”.
October 9, 2012 at 1:57 PM
Actually, if council consulted genuinely & engaged with the community early & through more efftive means & multifacted avenues, I bet you we’d have a huge turnout & interest!
The fact is, GE Council cunningly puts little obscure adverts in the local paper & they can tick off ‘yes, consulted with the community box’
The problem is with council processes, not lack of community interest…..
Wake up!
October 9, 2012 at 2:37 PM
I concur completely. It’s no coincidence that other councils can achieve submissions to various issues that total in their hundreds and Glen Eira is lucky to get 60 or 70 submissions on an issue. There’s no lack of interest from the community. But first they have to know about it, then be informed truthfully. Under this regime all that is ever published is spin and self congratulations that actually hide what’s really at the heart of most amendments or policy changes.
Today’s public notice in the Caulfield Leader is the perfect illustration of this. There’s an ad for a Special Council meeting on the annual report. Somehow this manages to be advertised weeks and weeks before it is due to go to council and will probably feature large on the website. Other announcements that have been made such as the c87 and ceo reappointments didn’t even make it into the Leader. The ceo one only appeared in the Age where I guarantee only a handful of people would see it. There wasn’t even any announcement that invited public comment on the planning zone reforms. This took a council resolution to force Newton to put this up on the website.
There’s no harm in advertising the annual report because it will only speak in glowing terms of how wonderful this council is. It’s publicity writ large. How accurate and truly informative is questionable. It’s these sort of non-issues that get the publicity. Not those things that can have a dramatic effect on residents. The really sensitive areas like planning are always hidden away. But we’ve now got an “engagement strategy” don’t we? It should be torn up and burnt.
October 9, 2012 at 3:45 PM
Thought you might all be interested to know that the Vic Auditor General is undertaking an audit of how councils set rates. Report is due to be tabled in Parliament in early 2013
For more info, go to:
http://www.audit.vic.gov.au/audits_in_progress/audit_details.aspx
October 9, 2012 at 3:53 PM
Comment from the online Leader –
Matthew writes:
Posted on 9 Oct 12 at 01:18pm
The Caulfield racecourse development scandal continues.The mistery surrounding the crown land being swapped continues. The questions about dealings between the MRC, council officials and some councillors over the development remain. The smell remains around the Caulfield racecourse, and it isn’t just the horse manure.
October 9, 2012 at 6:25 PM
Anon 1 – We second your comments regarding Magee. He is re standing for Council elections. Based on his work background and the terms in the office it is clearly seen that he not only lacks leadership and has no clue in Politics.
He has been well known to residents for not returning calls and has let down the Mackinnon Basket ball club by not backing them although he told them to put a petition and invited the members for one of the Council meeting.
October 9, 2012 at 9:01 PM
Mary Delahunty is pretty much right on this. There are two things that need to happen if we are going to see any change regarding the Caulfield racecourse. One is for the council to stand up strongly for residents interests.
But this alone won’t make much difference unless the board of trustees is reformed and the dominance of the racing industry removed.