Below is the latest Friends of Caulfield Park email –
Council “thumbs it nose” at the Community
Like storm troopers, the secret executioners gathered in the early hours of this morning and, instructed by the administration and its officers, swooped on the 39 trees and cut them down.
The mayor said all the Councillors were behind this move.
He said there was nothing wrong with this action.
We disagree.
We know not all the Councillors were behind him and were kept in the dark about this destruction.
We believe that the Mayor and the administration realised that the FoCP petition of over 500 names (gathered in less than a week) would be presented to Parliament tomorrow and that their plan to cut down the trees would be in jeopardy. They thought once cut down they were gone and they could proceed with their ill-conceived plan in peace. With the Festive Season upon us we would all forget their contemptuous action and let them get on with it. This is bureaucracy at its arrogant worst in overriding community wishes.
We have shown how their justifications for cutting down the trees are fabrications. So what is the real reason for their determination to proceed, no matter what the community thinks? If anyone knows the background to their hidden agenda, please drop a note to PO Box 2511 Caulfield Junction 3161. It appears that they are somehow beholden to sports clubs above all other interests. Something is rotten in the City of Glen Eira
David Wilde is handing in the Petition on the Parliament steps tomorrow at 9 am and would like others to join him. If you are able to do so, then ring him on 0417 032 437 tonight up to 9 pm. We realise this is short notice, but please do your best.
What next? The Council thinks it can thumb its nose at us. They need to learn that the community is not impressed with their anti-social, anti-community behaviour. There are two issues here. The one is the loss of the trees, and the other is the Council’s total disregard for the expressed concern of the community about this matter.
Let the Council know what you think of them. Here are their contact details. Email, message and phone them and tell them their behaviour is no longer acceptable. Tell them we want those trees replaced with mature trees where those that were cut down previously stood, and that they cannot spurn the community in this way.
David Wilde
President
We’ve deleted the list of contact details for councillors and Newton!
PS: NOT ONLY DO THEY COME IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT, BUT THEY MAKE SURE THAT ANY ‘EVIDENCE’ IS REMOVED QUICK SMART – so unlike what happens to other trees that are removed and the trunks can lie around for days, if not weeks, untouched. This section of Caulfield Park is now a total wasteland! Residents should remember that the original ‘timetable’ announced that the trees would be removed IN JANUARY!
PPS: And from today’s online Leader (http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/central/glen-eira-council-culls-21-trees-at-caulfield-park/story-fngnvlpt-1226779662643)
Glen Eira Council culls 21 trees at Caulfield Park
- Andrea Kellett
- December 10, 2013 4:17PM
Cranes were used to help remove the mature trees at Caulfield Park. Picture: RICHARD CORNISH Source: Supplied
GLEN Eira Council stands accused of organising a dawn raid tree chop in Caulfield Park without telling residents who were campaigning to save the trees.
Contractors removed and mulched 21 mature trees at the north-eastern end of the park this morning and Friends of Caulfield Park president David Wilde found out while walking his dog in the park at 8.30am.
“This is a deceptive and manipulative move by the administration,” Mr Wilde said.
“When I rang the mayor he said they had done everything by the book … If the book involves deception and manipulation then the book needs to be rewritten.”
Glen Eira Mayor Neil Pilling – a member of the Greens Party – said councillors were told preliminary works were about to start ahead of oval redevelopment but were not told an exact date.
Council signs erected in the park a month ago said redevelopment works for ovals three and four would start in January.
The council is now saying that does not include today’s “preliminary” works.
Trees being chopped up for removal from Caulfield Park. Picture: Derrick den Hollander Source: News Limited
Cr Pilling said the council had listened to the community and reworked its plans to reduce the number of trees that needed to be removed for oval refurbishment.
He refuted allegations of deception and denied councillors had been told not to tell residents.
“No, certainly not,” he said.
“We didn’t know exactly what day it was going to happen. We were advised a week ago that preliminary works would start in the second week of December and that included the trees.”
Caulfield MP David Southwick is also understood to be livid.
He had planned to table a petition to save the trees, containing about 600 signatures, in Parliament tomorrow.
His office confirmed this morning that he was not told about today’s tree chop.
“We had no idea it was going to happen today,” spokesman Adam McKee said.
Caulfield resident Richard Cornish, who photographed the tree chop at 8.20am, described today’s events as a “disturbing, devious dawn raid”.
Residents had vocally opposed plans to chop the trees down, organising protests and lobbying the council and government.
Glen Eira Debates 
December 10, 2013 at 5:56 PM
Storm troopers is the perfect description for the bastards that are in control of this council.
December 10, 2013 at 6:50 PM
The covenant between residents and councillors has been on very shaky ground for a long time. This latest action has sundered it completely. Nothing that any of these councillors ever say can be trusted and certainly nothing that ever emanates from any officer. I am frankly appalled at the arrogance of Newton and his stormtroopers who believe that they can do whatever they like whenever they like and totally disregard community wishes. As long as councillors sit silent and give free rein to dictators who are unelected and unaccountable then Glen Eira will continue to be the most anti-democratic council in Australia. I wish Mr Wilde the very best in presenting his petition.
December 10, 2013 at 7:21 PM
The petition oughta read Sack Newton and the gang now.
December 10, 2013 at 7:23 PM
Shades of Queensland, where Joh used the Dean brothers to demolish heritage buildings surreptitiously to defeat community efforts to have their heritage preserved. Tactics like these didn’t help his reputation before the Fitzgerald Inquiry. Melbourne City Council puts a price tag of between $10,000 and $100,000 on each of its trees.
December 10, 2013 at 7:31 PM
Get the sporting clubs to pay for the trees I say. They get the benefit and everyone else loses.
December 10, 2013 at 9:28 PM
Deary, deary me. This time Newton and Burke have really overstepped the mark. Their reliance on the apathy, ignorance or indifference of the general community will take a major hit on this. No one likes to be repeatedly treated like a fool and eventually the peasants will understand fully that they are being treated like fools. The true fools are councillors. Newton will sit back and snigger and all the flack will fall onto the poor substandard individuals that want people to believe that they “represent” the masses.
December 10, 2013 at 11:00 PM
The night that Pilling got elected to be mayor I went along to witness what happened. Councillors raved on about his integrity, honesty and the man of principle. In the short time as mayor Pilling has shown everyone what kind of integrity he has and how little it’s worth. Not a cracker. He has continued to let everyone down from the moment he voted for the C60. He doesn’t deserve to be mayor or a member of the greens.
December 11, 2013 at 6:56 AM
This is really just a sign of more things to come since the idiots gave away the farm and appointed Newton for 5 long years. He has been given a licence to ride roughshod over the residents and you can’t get that incessant smirk off his face.
December 11, 2013 at 8:33 AM
Council has adopted the approach it has always taken when confronted with community opposition to what it wants. Their approach is to go through the motions of “listening” (while continuing full speed ahead with their original intention) until such time as they get tired of the pretense. Then Council executes a decisive brute force blow that stonkers all opposition and launches a spin campaign that beggars belief.
The group opposing the tree removal made two huge mistakes
1) they adopted a “reasonable” approach and sought a “compromise”. By doing so they failed to recognize this Council is not interested in the community’s opinion and firmly believes it can do whatever it wants
2) that they had time – ie. that Council would keep to it’s planned schedule and commence work in mid January. Not only does Council believe it can do whatever, it also believes it can do it whenever.
December 11, 2013 at 11:24 AM
This is not the first time that officers have ridden roughshod over residents wishes and basically lied in the process. All Newton has achieved this time is to galvanise more and more people into realising what a very sick council Glen Eira is and how duplicitous and cowardly the majority of councillors are. I’ve looked at the various facebook and blog pages of Delahunty, Sounness, Magee, Pilling and not a peep from any of them. Either they’ve all been bullied into silence or the silence signals that they condone the actions. Whichever, it is merely another indication of what Wilde said is the rot at the centre of this council.
December 11, 2013 at 12:11 PM
I have to agree with you about riding roughshod over people. I’m trying to remember anything that people have wanted that has worked out that way. I keep coming up with nothing. There was massive opposition to the c60 and the racecourse and the mrc got what it wanted. Car parking got bigger and bigger and major trees lost even though residents along Gardener’s road didn’t want it. There isn’t anything that I remember where council listened and then acted on what residents said they wanted. Maybe councillors should stop pretending that they are our elected representatives and just stick to say yes sir to whatever Newton says.
December 11, 2013 at 1:01 PM
Reading the Leader Article raises a lot of questions about what Councillors see as their role and how they perform.
Being told that “something would happen sometime soon” about a highly contentious issue and not asking for any details (eg. what will happen when) and advising residents of the answers is not commendable performance.
As for the claim of “preliminary works” it is really scraping the bottom of the spin barrel. Rather than dispelling the allegations of deception it re-enforces them – which says a lot about the how governance is practiced in Glen Eira.
This sorry incident is tale of woe – Councillors should critically review how they have handled the incident but they probably won’t.
December 11, 2013 at 2:17 PM
just remember we would not have this problem if not for Southwick and both sides of politics. We would have the playing fields we need at Caulfield Racecourse but the politicians are gifting this land to the MRC and trainers for free (It is really a carpark). So the council is stuck between a rock and hard place trying to balance the sporting interests versus recreation.
December 11, 2013 at 4:31 PM
What utter crap.
Council is in this position because instead of purchasing additional parkland it has built little used pavillions, carparks and installed concrete plinths. Money intended to be used for the acquisition of parkland (ie. the open space contribution levy) and which Council agreed (1998 Open Space Strategy – 50% for acquisition, 50% maintenance) would be for acquisition of parkland has been spent elsewhere. Since 1998 Council has only purchased two house lots in Packer Park for parkland and even when handed a significant parcel of land for nothing (2010 – Booran Road Reservoir) has no intention of doing anything with it for 6 years.
The MRC’s stranglehold on the centre of racecourse exacerbates, but does not cause, the issue.
December 11, 2013 at 5:40 PM
Ya gotta luv the bullshit. This from the stormtroopers website
Our Organisation
Our guiding values
Community focused, responsive and inclusive
We work to develop a tolerant and caring community, where everyone can feel they belong and participate in the decision-making that leads to achieving the best possible health, safety and lifestyle options within the City.
Accountable and relevant leadership
We consult, listen, and take note of community views to determine its priorities and needs and then acts through open, transparent processes that are financially and environmentally responsible and sustainable. We constantly work to find innovative ways of providing services measured against recognised benchmarks to improve services and set improved standards that will meet tomorrow’s increasing demands.
Community wellbeing
Glen Eira City Council, with an increasingly diverse community, treats all people with respect and dignity, providing equal access for all to services and resources. We operate to identify gaps and lift standards, currently not being met by other community providers or levels of government, within the constraints of its limited resources.
December 11, 2013 at 10:19 PM
Yet another gaping disparity between Councils words and actions appears on the front of each Council Meeting Agenda – headed “Council’s Statement of Purposes” it reads
“Council works with and for the community
• To provide quality facilities, services, safeguards and supports
• Beyond the capacity of individuals, but achievable when working together
• According to overall community values, needs and priorities
• In a caring, accountable and professional manner
• That provides value for money
• For present and future generations”
Obviously, Councillors have never bothered to read it.
December 11, 2013 at 10:35 PM
Please note that this list has been replaced with the far less aspirational legalese of – “The primary object of a Council is to endeavour to achieve the best outcomes for the local community having regard to the long term and cumulative effects of decisions.” (Section 3c(1) Local Government Act.
Of course, the Local Government Act also just happens to state immediately following the above:
In seeking to achieve its primary objective, a Council must have regard to the following facilitating objectives—
(a) to promote the social, economic and environmental viability and sustainability of the municipal district;
(b) to ensure that resources are used efficiently and effectively and services are provided in accordance with the Best Value Principles to best meet the needs of the local community;
(c) to improve the overall quality of life of people in the local community;
(d) to promote appropriate business and employment opportunities;
(e) to ensure that services and facilities provided by the Council are accessible and equitable;
(f) to ensure the equitable imposition of rates and charges;
(g) to ensure transparency and accountability in Council decision making.
We leave it up to readers to divine why the powers to be decided to alter the long standing ‘foreward’ and why it was replaced with the current sentence.
December 11, 2013 at 10:02 PM
So many of us are absolutely disgusted at the final insult from Council with the way they went about yesterday’s exercise. The message from Council is – don’t waste your time being civic minded in Glen Eira by taking an interest in matters that impact our lives.
December 12, 2013 at 12:03 AM
Actually, the message Council has just sent residents should be seen as a call to action. This Council views resident inaction as confirmation that residents are happy with them and trust them. It never occurs to them that the inaction is due to disgust, frustrated and tired of being ignored.
The only way this will change is for residents to band together and become actively involved over a period of time. The change will come slowly and will involve a lot of frustration but it will come. Focus on the need for change not momentary outrage.
December 12, 2013 at 12:01 AM
This probably comes about because there was no other place for plinthes and several other tree in Bentleigh and Caulfield have been axed and the chainsaw gang needs a hol in Jan.