One must really wonder why council has spent over $100,000 of ratepayer funds on a consultancy that delivers pre-determined outcomes and maintains the status quo in all important areas. The policy contains nothing of import that is new or that will change the course of what this administration and its lackey councillors have rubber stamped for eons and eons. But the most glaring omission relates to the manner in which open space levies are to be used.
We remind readers that on June 25th 2013 council adopted a policy which stated:
Council will only spend Public Open Space contributions it receives after 1 July 2013 to acquire and improve land to serve as additional public open space.1 (including the former Glen Huntly Reservoir)
Council will not spend Public Open Space contributions it receives after 1 July 2013 to improve land which is already public open space.
From June 2013, each Council Budget, Strategic Resource Plan and Annual Report will disclose the revenue and expenditure of public open space contributions.
Suddenly this policy is ignored and morphs into the following:
As described in the Strategy and in this report, the open space contribution program is based around the provision of additional land area for open space and also for capital works cots (sic) to establish new open space and upgrade facilities in existing open space where appropriate to meet the additional needs of the forecast population.
Use of the Reserve fund
Cash contributions toward land acquisition and open space development should be held in a Reserve fund until a suitable site is located and sufficient funds are available to assist Council with purchase or resulting capital works. Funds will also need to be held for upgrades to existing open space
As for ‘monitoring’ and ‘review’ of this long term strategy, residents should not be holding their breaths that their views will be solicited and carefully considered. It will again be more of the same as is made apparent by this one liner – Internal review the Strategy every 4 years for the duration of its operation.
Glen Eira Debates 
March 14, 2014 at 8:18 PM
Have council released the new open space strategy yet?
March 14, 2014 at 9:10 PM
Check the agenda for Tuesday night’s council meeting – it is available as a separate file. A paltry one page ‘officer report’ in the normal agenda papers with a recommendation to accept. Residents have to plough through another 300+ pages to really find out what’s been changed. Submissions are not included – mere summaries. Please also note the number of ‘no change’ to whatever residents suggest – again per usual.
March 14, 2014 at 9:13 PM
Disgraceful. I made a submission and heard nothing back at all. Will be interested to see if they take any of it on board.
March 14, 2014 at 8:54 PM
off the topic but the racecourse trust has a website – http://www.crrt.org.au
March 14, 2014 at 10:48 PM
I’m looking at the crap that cost a fortune and they don’t get anything right. Page 29 has got stuff about car parks in open space and the answer is to look at “Table 6-1”. Someone should tell them that Table 6-1 does not exist! Pathetic effort and forget the typing errors and lack of good proof reading. Same lousy incompetence for everything.
March 15, 2014 at 12:06 AM
I am reading this with utter disbelief! Nothing changes in Glen Eira but stays the same despite all the policies, strategies and guidelines that are handed down.
The 1998 Open Space Strategy recommended a 50/50 split between the acquisition of new open space and infrastructure work. This was ignored and I would hazard a guess that probably 99% of the levies collected went on the building of pavilions, concrete paths and so on. Now there’s this. No figures or percentages are given as to what amount should be siphoned off for “upgrades to existing” open space. My disbelief is that this new strategy ignores completely council’s proclaimed policy.
Open space contributions should never be used to build pavilions and the like. That should be budgeted for from the capital works budget and not the levy. In the past few years the only land that council has purchased has been the two houses in Packer Park for roughly 2 million. In the meantime, land sales have reaped ten times this amount. For me, this sums up completely this administration’s attitude to open space.
March 15, 2014 at 6:44 AM
What an expensive piece of absolute crap. Clearly Council thinks so too since obviously they have no intention of doing anything other than continue to ask for government handouts and build pavilions and car parks.
It’s just another exercise in wasting ratepayers funds to get a bunch of “feel good” statements that mean nothing and will be ignored just as the previous one was. The only thing that will have changed is that Glen Eira will have even less per capita open space.
Face it folks, you have the local government you deserve. If you don’t care why should they.
March 15, 2014 at 10:49 AM
On the second page of the strategy there is what I see as an entirely inappropriate sentence but which is totally revealing about the poor governance of this council. The sentence says “Adopted by council March 2014.” No resolution to accept the strategy has been passed and there is no other council meeting set down for March. The strategy will be passed. Of that I’ve no doubt, but it shows again how decisions don’t happen in council meeting and how everything is decided in the assemblies and behind those closed doors.
March 15, 2014 at 6:40 PM
They will weasel word that sentence into obscurity if they have to. With all the councillors singing in tune to Newtons script, and lining up to get their crubby hands on that 90.00 grand to be the next Mayor, this type of abuse is a piece of cake. Pilling a fine example of this crawling mentality, he has completely cashed in his chips to get the top job. Just watch him praise the OSS to the hilt next meeting. I can see it now “its not perfect, but its very good, and everyone should be congratulated on this fine Strategy. I bet not a mention of the residents being almost totally sidelined. Not to mention the coming rip-off diversions of the funds to capital expenditure, instead of the purchase of worthwhile open space.
March 16, 2014 at 5:48 PM
I’ve just noticed that community gardens have been downgraded in priority from very high to only high. The community has been hearing about the demand for community gardens for at least ten years and now that it becomes a high priority instead of a very high priority means that residents should expect to wait for at least another 5 to 7 years according to the definition on page 63 of the changes.
Some of the other things have now become high too so all this means is that nothing will be done for the next decade apart from wasting more money on consultations that pretend to be consulting.
March 16, 2014 at 9:27 PM
Ya know alarm bells should start ringing when classifications keep getting subdivided without any accompanying actions.
A case in point is community gardens, long advocated by residents. A cursory look at global documentation shows the benefits in terms of socialising and physical well being (activity and growing food) but this Council, unlike all others, has done nothing other than consistently raking it high.
Now the high ranking is subdivided – very high and high. Meanwhile Councils keeps packing ’em in, diminishing private and public open space and denying global evidence.
I gotta ask myself why and why Council won’t even give it a trial.
Perfect spot is the Booran/Glen Eira Roundabout plot. Already got all utlitiies, parking provided in the Centre of the Racecourse Reserve entrance tunnel forecourt, already identified significant trees provide shade and within coo-ee of the intensive Caulfield Village development.
March 17, 2014 at 10:27 AM
good one MRC! So people are going to park in the middle of the racecourse and walk through the shitty tunnel back to the park. Have you actually been there? Sell it if you can an move on. Take the 20 million loss on the land swap.
Like how they keep the gates locked to drive your vehicle in as well then buzz open the gate to let you in. Must turn a lot of people off driving in because they think the gate is closed.
March 18, 2014 at 2:30 AM
Yes it would seem all part of the MRC plans to keep the public park start with the blue signs on the nearby streets which only state that the area is a “Car Park” and if one tries to enter the individual is met with a myriad of signs on all entries which are very unwelcoming, and then the option of gaining entry by being courageous enough to walk through one of the two tunnels (only options) or if in a car one fronts up to a strong steel gate marked in a very unwelcoming manner with a”RED ARROW”. After quite a wait if you don’t give up the gate eventually opens and you drive through a dark dank tunnel. Welcome to the park anyway!