What is really going on at the Racecourse and what is Council and the Trustees doing about anything? There are countless questions that need asking and answering. Here’s some of them –
- Is this Crown land or freehold land?
- If Crown land then what are the Trustees doing?
- Valued at only $585+?
- Is this a ‘lease’ or a ‘sale’?
- What’s happened to getting rid of training?
And questions on another issue involve the Santa events at the centre. We have been informed that it appears as if those involved in running the show have set up caravans on site and are using these as accommodation for the duration of the event which goes for a month at least. Council’s Local Law states –
Section 310
Pitching a tent, erecting any temporary or permanent shelter or placing and occupying a caravan, campervan or shipping container on any, Council Land, public or private land for the purpose of camping or living. This law does not apply to the erection (with the land owner’s consent) of a temporary shelter to facilitate the preparation of meals associated with a religious practice or festival for a period not exceeding twenty-one days.
We therefore ask:
- Have the operators been granted a permit by Council?
- Has Council even been informed that this is happening?
- Does Council even care!
December 3, 2014 at 10:05 AM
council has made the following link on the main page of their website: http://www.gleneira.vic.gov.au/Council/Media_and_news/Media_Releases/The_Auditor-General_gains_support_from_both_parties
December 3, 2014 at 10:27 AM
Big deal. They don’t say anything since the AG’s report has only recommended that the department gets its act together and that will take years. What should have happened is that the whole rotten lot be sacked on the spot. The AG didn’t say this but gave them unlimited time.
Anyway the report is now months old and nothing looks like its happened to improve a single thing. More pie in the sky as far as the mrc is concerned. They don’t give a stuff.
December 3, 2014 at 9:33 PM
Yeh time to move on. Nothing’s going to change in any of our lifetimes. Residents have been protesting since the 1920s to no avail. This Council needs to spend some money and buy land for open space cos they ain’t making any more in Glen Eira.
December 3, 2014 at 10:08 AM
remember him?
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/turf-thoroughbreds/trainer-hore-lacy-fined-for-sexual-harassment/story-fnajufri-1226310702298?nk=d08f328b11010dfab8c8c2264791d07e
December 3, 2014 at 3:36 PM
assuming it is a lease how come it is so expensive when compared to Neerim Road or Western road stables or the grandstand/tabaret. Oh I forgot that is public land!
December 3, 2014 at 3:43 PM
Not sure if it is public land, but if it is, this is in direct contravention of the leasing agreement agreement with the MRC. The public land is leased to the MRC, no subcontracting is permitted.
But them again, neither the Trustees or the DPI give a shit about the rules or their enforcement when it comes to the Racecourse.
December 3, 2014 at 9:50 PM
I think this land is owned by the MRC. The land bounded by Kambrook Rd used to be houses. The racing club bought it over years and removed all the houses. The $500k+ would be referring to improvements. Not land.
December 3, 2014 at 10:33 PM
Where is Magee? Why is he quiet? Is he aiming for something else?i Time will tell.
December 4, 2014 at 8:38 AM
Magee will be silent on the racetrack. Now that he is wearing the robes he will see himself above all the rabble. His fight is over. He has peaked. No need to get ones hands dirty anymore.
December 4, 2014 at 1:08 PM
damn Martin Parkula is minister of racing. Why we need such a thing? Hasnt he already said that MRC should do what they want
December 4, 2014 at 1:44 PM
Wynne as planning minister is also a retrograde step. As local government minister he was the most conservative ever.
December 4, 2014 at 4:25 PM
Nic Staikos MP may have a conflict of interest. He is a Trustee at the race track. What are the bets that he will want to pretend to be looking after the proletariat while at the same time he will be sucking up to the wealthy horse people at the races. In racing terms they call this a each way bet. The trust needs to be abolished and a new board set up.
December 4, 2014 at 9:02 PM
Nick is no longer a Trustee.
December 5, 2014 at 9:46 AM
Pakula and Richard Wynne have been a disgrace. Pakula did not and still does not know issues and Wynne messed up the Councils. Birds of same feather……
December 6, 2014 at 9:09 AM
On 21 March 2013 Martin Pakula delivered an outrageous statement in the Legislative Council, concerning the Caulfield Racecourse Reserve and Council’s adopted position paper. He should have been compelled to resign or apologize for misleading Parliament, but the Spring St shonks kept him on.
Pakula made the claim GECC was “Liberal-controlled”. At the time, there were 4 Liberal-aligned councillors, along with 3 Labor-aligned and 2 Greens-aligned. The recommendations of the Select Committee of the Legislative Council on Public Land Developement was rejected with bipartisan support by Labor and Liberal. It has taken a further report by Auditor-General to get some begrudging acknowledgement by them that improvements need to be made to the governance regime.
Pakula lists some of the things the MRC have done in order to persuade Government to keep them in their position of monopoly control of the entire precinct. That in itself is an admission that the governance regime is hopeless. The Trustees should be funding the improvements, not MRC. The problem is that MRC have control of all the revenue streams. The public did express anger over the wire mesh fences the MRC wanted, and over the wide concrete paths intended for cars to park in the centre of the racecourse.
Then there’s the Agreement itself which mostly imposes obligations upon the MRC. There is still no path to the junior soccer pitch to match the plans, no beach, only 1 exercise pod. When officially opened, bouncy castles and other entertainments had to be imported to provide entertainment for children. Access to the centre is erratic. Gates are locked at times outside of the far-from-prominent signage. The signage itself disappears and reappears randomly. Entrances remain forbidding. Neither CRRT nor MRC websites list clearly when event days, race days, Major events are occurring and resulting in restricted access.
Pallisade or permeable fencing has not been installed. Consultation on design has not taken place. The MRC continues to cling tenaciously to the worn-out, dilapidated WWII fence. It expects the public to accept a loss of amenity as a consequence of MRC’s decision to raise the level of the track near Queens Av, close to the perimeter. That’s why it fights on “safety grounds” against fence improvements.
Pakula couldn’t even characterise accurately the elements of the Agreement concerning horse training. The Agreement [which bizarrely doesn’t include CRRT] simply says it won’t happen in the short-term. It lists some things that need to happen to enable a move. It prioritises the areas to be liberated. That’s it. Council’s resolution is a reminder that there is an expecation that training will be relocated in the medium to long-term. This should be being actively planned, but no evidence that it is.
The parties that have been acting in bad faith are the MRC, Labor/Lib/Nat triumvirate, and Martin Pakula himself.