Below we present a series of facts and leave readers to draw their own conclusions.
- In 2005 the Auditor General reported that Glen Eira’s drainage system was well below par
- In February 2011 many parts of Glen Eira were under flood – particularly in Carnegie, McKinnon, Murrumbeena and Ormond areas
- The Caulfield Village development is the largest ever to take place in Glen Eira. The drainage plans indicate a coefficient of 1 meaning a 100% runoff (or 100% impermeable surfaces).
- Council’s drains surround the Caulfield Village site and not Melbourne Water. The latter has indicated that their drains (primarily one through Caulfield Park) will not cause ‘environmental damage’.
- The Caulfield Village land slopes down from the Smith St area towards Caulfield Park and Dandenong Road and there are two primary catchments involved. Sections of the land and its surrounds have been declared as a flood zone and are therefore subject to a Special Building Overlay.
- In the past 18 or so months there has been a frenzy of activity surrounding the Caulfield Village site. Many of these drainage projects have been through public tender and listed in the in camera items at council meetings. Others have not since the CEO has the delegated authority to grant contracts for drainage up to $750,000. The recent Stanley Parade works were stated to cost $490,000 – but this is only for Stage 1. Presumably there is also a Stage 2, and perhaps a Stage 3. The final cost is thus unknown.
- The Caulfield Village development proposes to largely install 300 mm diameter size drainage infrastructure that will then meet up with council’s drains
- The map below indicates all known drainage works that have recently taken place around the Caulfield Village development
The cost to ratepayers is itemised below:
|
ADDRESS |
COST |
DIAMETER OF DRAINS |
| Caraddock Ave/Keverall Road | $914,532.80 inclusive of GST | 1800 mm |
| Halstead St | $812,399.50 inclusive of GST | 600 mm |
| Stanley Parade | $490,000 (Stage One) | 1200 mm |
| Ward Avenue | Unknown (tender closed 20th September 2013) | 1200 mm |
| Hudson Street | $876,970.82 | 750 mm |
Below is a photo of the drains going into Keverell/Hawthorn Rd
9. Proposed Caulfield Village drainage
10. Results of increased impervious surface (from Wikipedia)
11. Yesterday (February 27th) saw the gazetting of Amendment C99 which declared a Parking Overlay for Student Accommodation. The parking overlays apply to most of the above streets and have the potential to be approved in ALL HOUSING DIVERSITY AREAS. There is no visitor onsite car parking provision and for some areas the onsite parking formula is 0.3 spaces for each ‘bed’. The Amendment was first requested by council in March 2013 under Section 20(4) of the Planning and Environment Act – meaning ministerial approval and no public consultation or right to object.
PS: The Section 173 Agreement between Council and the MRC originated in November 2010 according to the draft contained in the minutes of April 2011. The Agreement specifies that council does not have a Development Contributions Levy in its planning scheme. It must be noted that the Development Contributions Levy was gazetted and removed from the Planning Scheme on the 8th September 2011 – 5 months after the C60 decision was made and nearly 18 months following the draft Section 173 agreement. Therefore, did the MRC know more than residents?
PPS: we’ve uploaded a paper that was delivered at an international conference in December 2011 where Glen Eira was the ‘case study’. Particular attention should be placed on the table provided on page 6 of the paper. Needless to say none of this information has been made freely available to residents. Readers can upload the document HERE
Glen Eira Debates 
February 28, 2014 at 2:11 PM
A $5 million plus present to the mrc and developers should not be sneezed at by anyone. They deserve it for the improvements they bring to this green and gregarious city. It surely must be a coincidence that just in time council removes the levy after their little chats with the mrc.
February 28, 2014 at 3:39 PM
Where theres smoke there’s fire!
February 28, 2014 at 8:05 PM
Who audits the Melbourne Racing Club? A. Pricewaterhousecoopers. Same firm who is internal auditor at Glen Eira Council. Gibbs, McLean and Lipshutz as overly long members of the “independent” audit committee are ignorant of Good Corporate Governance and not being assisted by Andrew ‘jobs for mates’ Newton. Residents are being taken for a (horse) ride.
February 28, 2014 at 11:32 PM
Gary McLean was gifted another 3 year term by Newton last month and the ignorant Councillors just rubber stamped it.
February 28, 2014 at 4:59 PM
Thank you for locating the paper and putting it up. I’ve gleaned that for a 1 in 10 year flood that 20% of council’s drains in 2011 are not good enough to cope and for a 1 in 100 year flood it goes up to 25%. In the meantime development has gone up and up with council’s figures of over 1200 new dwellings a year and no development contributions levy. Add on another 2046 dwellings for the Caulfield Village and the figures look even worse.
Council claims to be spending roughly $3 million a year. If on average each upgrade is around $800,000 that means about 4 streets a year. Getting it right might then not be possible until about 2045 and I suspect that with global warming and adverse weather conditions on the increase plus all the overdevelopment that many more residents will find themselves far more frequently under water.
February 28, 2014 at 6:57 PM
If not under water, then floating in water. How ironic that money can be siphoned off for pet causes.
February 28, 2014 at 8:52 PM
The theory of the drainage arrangement that has been agreed between MRC and Council staff is that water initially enters subterranean tanks and is then pumped up and into Council’s drains at a limited rate, hence only 300mm pipes have been specified. The tanks themselves IIRC are intended to cope with a 1-in-10-year downfall. Any excess presumably will become an overland flow into lower-lying properties along Kambrook, Redan, Balaclava, Bowles, Park, and Normanby.
It’s not just the MRC who are beneficiaries of Council’s decision to remove DCPO, as Council also subsequently upgraded the drains along Kokaribb Rd Carnegie as a gift to the developers who had just secured their permits for 4- to 5-storey developments at 100% site coverage.
February 28, 2014 at 9:38 PM
Please note that the subterranean tanks envisaged in the Development Plan equals the gigantic volume of 90,000 litres (divided into 3 tanks throughout the precincts). This will serve toilets and watering of plants. Readers might remember that the Boyd Park storm water capture tank was first mooted to hold 1.5 million litres! 90,000 litres only means that there will be plenty of run off gushing into council’s drains. It also means that since these are to be built under the basement car parks that pumps will be going 24 hours per day no doubt and god forbid if there is a leak in any of these tanks.
February 28, 2014 at 9:55 PM
The “coincidences” keep piling up. The minister gives the green light for student housing right when the first development plan has come in and Monash is gearing up for its 1500 student bedsitters. This then opens the door even further for the next set of development plans for the Mixed Use and Smith Street precincts. Plenty of time and latitude to see what’s what in terms of the market and number of foreign students pouring into Monash. No gambles here – only sure bets thanks to the process.
Amazing timing I’d say. It would definitely be good to be a fly on the wall when Newton, Monash, the Mrc and the department had their private little chats to sort everything out.
I’ve got to hand it to Newton. Stage managed bit by bit so that everything falls into place exactly at the right time and the poor ratepaying public don’t even know they’re being taken for the ride of their life.
March 1, 2014 at 10:55 AM
All of this money spent on the racing club to help them make a bigger profit is only the start. Redan street is another gift to them and I would bet there will be plenty more once they get down to tin tacks and the work starts. Storm water is one thing but what about sewerage and the increased drains needed for this. Half of north Caulfield is going to be dug up. My sis tells me there is a huge sewerage pipe running down the middle of Eskdale.