Important decisions were made in 2014. Very, very few could be said to have been in line with community views or aspirations.
- Granting the MRC its wishes with the passing of the Caulfield Village Development plan for at least 2046 dwellings. At the subsequent VCAT appeal council once again caved in and basically watered down the few conditions it had imposed with the permit.
- Permit after permit has been granted for major developments largely as a result of the introduction of the new zones with no progress whatsoever on parking management plans, environmental sustainable design, or in fact, introducing any amendments that would address the flow on effects of development.
- Interest rate hikes still way above the CPI with another 6.5% increase – far more than neighbouring councils.
- Back flips on the Caulfield Park conservatory indicating how little council resolutions mean and how much money is wasted on bogus ‘consultations’.
- Still no local law that was promised a year and a half ago. All quiet on the western front in terms of: tree register; notice of motion; recording of council meetings.
- More destruction of open space and trees for car parks – Centenary Park
- Whilst Stonnington with the second least amount of open space is looking for an open space levy of 8%, Glen Eira with the least amount of open space only sought 5.7%. Council also did a back flip on its much publicised policy that all monies collected would be used for the ACQUISITION and improvement of new open space. Residents can now expect more of the same – ie. funds largely expended on capital works for existing open space and little or no purchase of additional open space.
- More delays in major capital works and budget blowouts – Duncan Mackinnon Pavilion – with no explanation of real costs provided to the community.
We are sure that readers can add to this list. As for the ‘positives’ and the future, we simply note that the gallery is now full of residents protesting development after development. It has taken a year for the impacts of the new zones to become clear and the result is that more and more residents are finding voice. We believe that this trend will continue, ensuring that councillors will eventually be held to account.
Best wishes to all for 2015!
December 28, 2014 at 12:50 PM
Throw in the hundreds of thousands of dollars wasted with installation of inappropriate watering systems on all our ovals. All of which has to be replaced. Not one officer so much as reprimanded let alone sacked.
WE URGENTLY NEED A ROOT AND BRANCH INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF THE COUNCIL ADMINISTRATION.
Won’t occur because of the protection racket being run by the elected hand maidens who would be shown-up for sitting on their hands while this incompetence continued.
December 28, 2014 at 7:26 PM
Reckon ya can add tens and tens of thousands paid out to lawyers to get Frank and it blowing up in their mugs.
December 28, 2014 at 6:35 PM
How many miles of concrete were laid in parks in 2014?
December 29, 2014 at 12:13 AM
Far too many, it maybe Mr. 10% at work with the Mr Concrete
December 29, 2014 at 8:45 AM
Since they put the footpath around Princes Park the park usage has increased by 1000%. Some would prefer that the sporting clubs have the parks to themselves as was happening pre-path days.
December 29, 2014 at 11:19 AM
Great news, people using our parks, did the path have to be concrete?
December 30, 2014 at 6:29 AM
You bet. Plenty of mothers pushing prams. Ever try pushing a pram or a wheel chair on a scoria path? The amount of green house gas saved by not installing concrete paths in Glen Eira parks would be so small it would by impossible to measure. I suppose we should do away with all concrete footpaths. Pathetic.
December 29, 2014 at 11:35 AM
Oh yeah, would care to substantiate your claim?
December 29, 2014 at 4:05 PM
Only a Councillor would utter a nincompoop stat like that – got it straight from the Admin and, without thinking, begin repeating it.
December 30, 2014 at 6:30 AM
What is wrong with concrete paths? They are up and down every street. Go outside and have a look.
December 30, 2014 at 4:52 PM
And that’s where they should stay, parks are parks & should not become havens for bulk concrete, there are good non concrete options, that most councils find no trouble with using for pathways. Glen Eira under Newton has become obsessed with a really stupid and dangerous open space/ recreational theme, our parks are looking like some corporate sponsored con-job, all the same colours, all the same edging all the same furniture, all the same little trees, all the same signage etc. etc. we are being sold a corporate edifice, and not recreation, this type of mind numbing dullness, should and will be seen as a crime against the residents, if you wanted to deliberately do harm to people, this visual mono-type is exactly the cruel folly you would implement, all up to date thinking and practise shows that diversity of open space experiences is what people NEED. If you want more mental illness, vandalism, boredom, just follow Glen Eira down the yellow concrete path of corporate recreational folly
December 30, 2014 at 8:31 PM
Whats wrong with concrete – do you mean aside from it being absorbently expensive due to it’s excessive consumption on non renewable resources?
December 31, 2014 at 10:40 AM
That’s a good start!
December 29, 2014 at 10:52 PM
All paths have to be
‘yellow brick roads” s as the exercisers hurt their poor feet and backs as they stride along. then the doctors and physiotherapists are kept busy “curing irreparable” skeletal damage which was less likely to occur on a golden gravel path.
December 29, 2014 at 11:04 PM
Even when the MRC submitted “gravel path plans” for the token compass point area, for use by the ‘hoipolli” in the racecourse to the council, the power (in City Hall) that be turned them into the “job lot standard (yellow brick road) for an area of more than half an hectare. Wonder why this happened at “City Hall” when MRC had promised the idea of a walking track. Funnily, enough at the same time a “special polytrack” was built at the cost of about $3million for the horses and of course it was soft on their delicate legs.
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December 30, 2014 at 12:40 AM
ALP may tell the big spenders to stop spending so much and thus remove the need for the 6AND A HALF PER CENT INCREASE
December 30, 2014 at 8:51 PM
Can someone give us the highlights of 2014 Councillor wise? How they fared with their promises in their election leaflets and what exactly they have done (sum up) to represent the people they are supposed to?
December 30, 2014 at 11:06 PM
Oh Boy! We have all the leaflet of promises and could arrange to allow you to view them if you wish.
Send EM to GE Debates and we’ll arrange something.
One of the best items was from the faded Green Mayor Pilling who was heard to say visitors to the Morton Avenue flats in Carnegie could park in the railway car park if they needed to. Not bad for a Greens Party member!
December 31, 2014 at 11:39 AM
Please don’t associate Pilling with genuine Greens policies. He sold out long ago. Sad to see a person move so quickly from progressive to reactionary.
December 31, 2014 at 1:13 PM
I think he was ignorant of any Greens policy from the very beginning, a rank conservative dressed in greens clothing, just making it all up as he went along, voting with his Lib mates most of the time, they have him a short chain
December 31, 2014 at 6:36 PM
No councillor represents me, regrettably, and as a result Council decisions bear little resemblance to the ones I would have made if I were in their position. Mary Delahunty once attacked me for daring to suggest they use a checklist when asked to make planning decisions, to assess the extent of compliance with Council policies and ensure all negative amenity impacts were properly considered. It’s not a question of whether I think they’re stupid, although the evidence is equivocal, but that they cannot demonstrate their decisions are truly made in accordance with THEIR scheme and which has been [secretively] imposed upon us.
Re concrete paths: Glenhuntly Park had 2.7m wide paths installed, which are simply incongruous since they sit in relatively narrow strips of land. Why are they so wide? And what is the cost differential with a more conventional 1.8m path? We’ll never know, and there is no point asking a public question as they rarely ever answer them, choosing instead to wander off on tangents that they consider to be more politically palatable.
The “temporary” barriers installed at our expense on Queens Av at the urging of Andrew Newton to force pedestrians onto a busy roadway remain. Developments continue to get planning permits without complying with amenity standards, and without even covering the costs of assessing their [poor] applications. Jeff Akehurst defended his decision not to require applicants to provide the information they’re supposed to provide, with the weird argument that he’d have “no applications to consider” because they’re all poor. Talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy.
One thing I particularly dislike is councillors making claims about State Government without any substantiating evidence. If Cr Hyams believes Government is so corrupt that negotiating hard on behalf of residents is likely to lead to worse outcomes, then he should publish the letters and threats made, clearly identifying who said what. In a democracy we should be demanding to be well-informed on any matter being made on our behalf if we are sufficiently interested.