How many more times will this council permit the Melbourne Racing Club to get away with blue murder? How many more times will permits not be worth the paper they are written on? Or to be even more cynical, what kind of collusion is occurring between the MRC and council?
The latest outrage concerns the use of the four storey ‘big screen’ that council so kindly permitted to be placed on Crown Land. The officer’s report recommending approval of the permit stated –
The purpose of the proposed screen is to display race-day activities including live video feeds, race replays and sponsor information…..As such it is considered reasonable to have a screen as a component of the horse racing use. (minutes of May 20th 2014).
It now looks as if the definition of ‘race-day activities’ is about to expand and take in the Ashes Cricket and rugby too. More importantly, the MRC intends to have the screen going to 1am this coming Wednesday (ie tomorrow).
Once again we can only lament the arrogance and disregard for the local community by the MRC and we suspect, ably abetted by Council. Below is the advertisement for this event – with no indication of course as to whether this is part of the ‘major event days’ or whether any traffic management plan has been submitted to council and granted approval!
Source: http://mrc.racing.com/calendar/2015-07-08/super-sports-night
Game on at Caulfield! Trying to decide what to watch next week, either NRL SOO III or The Ashes? Problem solved, come and watch both at our place.
Come and join us for a Super Sports Night in the Medallion Bar at Caulfield Racecourse.
As Australia starts their campaign to hold on to the Ashes against fierce rivals England in two weeks’ time, on the same night, Queensland and NSW will take to the field and battle out the State of Origin title. With the series now tied at 1-1, game III “the decider” is sure to be a thriller.
Caulfield’s new 38.4 metre wide Super Screen will provide dual coverage of both the Ashes and the State of Origin with 32 screens from start of play until 1:00am.
Gather your friends, family and colleagues and join us for a night of sporting action in Caulfield’s premium Medallion Bar to share in the excitement and passion as we cheer on our nation.
With free entry and prizes to be won, and great beer on tap, this is the perfect night to watch great sporting action with your mates.
Make sure you arrive by 6:30pm to be eligible for some great prizes.
Date: Wednesday 8th July 2015
Time: 6:00pm till 1:00am.
Patrons can then process to the Caulfield Glasshouse to watch the final innings of the Ashes or the Tour de France. The Caulfield Glasshouse closes at 4:00am.
Where: Medallion Bar, Caulfield Racecourse. Enter via Gate 23, Stations Street, Caulfield East. Limited parking provided Gate 2.
Happy Hour from 6 to 7pm – selected beverages $5.00 during this time. Hot items will be available for purchase from the standard Medallion Café menu, as well as specials for a more substantial meal.
For more info call 1300 GO RACE (46 7223) or Click here to view the menu (PDF)
PS: for all those who haven’t as yet had a read of the Australian Financial Review article on the Melbourne Racing Club, we reproduce it below
Nagging questions about Victorian racing icon
The Caulfield Racecourse Reserve was originally intended for use as a racecourse, a park and public recreation area when it was created 155 years ago on the then-outskirts of booming Marvellous Melbourne.
It embraced the ideals of Empire and Britishness in a state named after the reigning monarch, Queen Victoria, and a capital named after one of her favourite prime ministers, Viscount Melbourne.
Today it might be less famous than Flemington Racecourse in the city’s inner west. But Caulfield is on the “right side” of town. It’s a dress circle race track amid dress circle properties. And the landlord thinks the rent is far too cheap.
The tenant is Melbourne Racing Club, an establishment powerhouse that packs as much political punch as the Australian Football League.
The landlord is Caulfield Racecourse Reserve Trust, a governing body that includes a Federal Court judge and is chaired by Greg Sword, former ALP federal president and political powerbroker.
For more than 20 years MRC has paid an annual rent of $95,000, which is adjusted for inflation. Since 2012 it’s been squabbling with its landlord about its renewed offer of just $100 rent per annum. That amounts to just 30 cents a day.
MRC says that’s a fair sum, based on an independent valuation that takes into account millions it has spent on maintaining the racecourse plus hundreds of millions of economic activity generated by race meetings.
Local community leaders, whose constituents live in multimillion-dollar Victorian and Edwardian villas along whipper-snipped boulevards, claim they are being bullied.
One of them is Jim Magee, a former racecourse trustee and current mayor of Glen Eira, the local government for the area surrounding Caulfield Race Course.
He says the MRC’s offer is a “joke” and condemns how the MRC has used what is supposed to be public space.
Public campaigners claim race days and use of the track and its surrounds to train hundreds of horses have limited safe public access to a minimum.
Inadequate signage and entrances add to the difficulty of finding a way in.
“To get onto the reserve through the main entrance you have to navigate your way around 150 metres of horse poo and then an obstacle course of fences ostensibly intended to protect the public,” says Magee.
Hundreds of local schoolchildren are being forced to play for neighbouring community sports’ clubs because there are no local fields on which they can kick a ball, he says. The racecourse has monopolised a space equivalent to 15 Melbourne Cricket Ground playing fields.
His complaint is backed up by a report done last year by the Victorian auditor-general, John Doyle, who found that 11 hectares, 20 per cent of the land, is under lease to the MRC; another 37 hectares, 69 per cent, is used by the MRC without any clear legal entitlement or payment arrangement.
The remaining six hectares is open space for the community from 9.45 am to sunset except during 22 race meetings.
MRC vice-chairman Peter Le Grand is digging in for a fight. He says the annual offer of $100 in rent takes into account maintenance and security spending. The local council has failed to make any contribution to recent renovations and maintenance, he says.
But there’s even more mud being thrown around the turf. The Caulfield Racecourse Reserve Trust has discreetly raised its nagging concerns about senior MRC officials’ financial interest in the racing stables on the course, according to leaked letters to the state minister in charge of the course obtained by AFR Weekend.
The letters raise concerns that MRC chairman Mike Symons, who is also a trustee, has an ownership interest in Aquanita Racing, a company that leases stables from the MRC under sub-lease from the trustees.
The letter, signed by Greg Sword, chairman of the trust, discloses that annual lease payments for the stable are about $27,000. An independent valuation by Charter Keck Kramer said the rental could be $328,000.
“Any financial negotiations involving the company is done at arm’s length,” says Symons about payments.
MRC vice chairman Le Grand adds: “Mike, or any of the board members, would exclude themselves from any debate, or discussion, that might involve a conflict of interest.” He says that “nothing had come up” about Aquanita Racing at MRC meetings during the past 10 years.
Auditor-general Doyle recommends improved disclosure of the MRC’s benefits from the course, criticised the state government’s oversight, and recommended improved disclosure of finances, performance and management of “perceived conflicts of interest” in the course’s management.
There is now speculation that the trust will be replaced by a management board similar to the statutory bodies that run the Melbourne Cricket Ground Trust or the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Trust.
There is also talk about reviewing the way the land is managed.
“That’s news to me,” said mayor Magee. “It’s nice for the government to tell someone what’s going on. You would have thought they would contact the local council about the most appropriate use for the land. But we have not heard a thing – its silence has been deafening. We only want to share the land.”
July 7, 2015 at 9:23 PM
Nah, they knew this was on the cards. Officer report was just to fool people and councillors.
July 7, 2015 at 9:38 PM
Council’s performance on the racecourse has been abysmal. The government’s performance by both Lib and Labs has been even worse. A full inquiry is long overdue that should cover both council and the multitude of conflicts of interest. On voting for this Lipshutz didn’t declare a conflict but Hyams and Esakoff did. A circus if there ever was one by all concerned.
July 7, 2015 at 10:09 PM
Racing activities dont go on to 1am. This is the mrc doing what it wants as its always done. They think laws are for everyone else and not them and no one stops them from making squillions out of public land. This is more than disgusting. It’s criminal and council has let them get away with it like the politicians have. I’m still waiting for fences to be taken down. I’ll be 100 by the time that happens if ever.
July 7, 2015 at 10:59 PM
Anyone who believes a word the MRC is a fool – but what can you do when you go to a Planning Conference about the big screen and say that the MRC will be using the screen wherever and whenever it can make a buck and the presiding Chairman jumps down your throat.
At least the Councillors are easier to get rid of than the MRC – what are the pollies doing with the Auditor General’s Report?
July 8, 2015 at 8:27 PM
They buried it. No mention on DELWP website for example. Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Water, Lisa Neville has portfolio responsibility.
July 8, 2015 at 7:39 AM
The screen cost $4m, the former Napthine Govt paid $1m of that, it’s on unleased Crown Land (ie free) and clearly, despite claims to the contrary is to used for commercial activities.- so much for claims of being a responsible citizen, it appears their arrogance and sense of being invinicible comes from years of backroom deals at the Local and State Government Levels..
The MRC has assets of half a billion and stands to make at least another half a billion from the Caulfield Village Development – a huge chunk of that profit coming from their acquisition of the Triangle for a 22 storey building (another backroom deal voted for by former Councillor Nick Staikos, now newly elected MLA Bentliegh and just re-appointed as a Trustee)
Make no mistake about it the MRC is not a responsible citizen, it is out for all the dollars it can get and it claims it all goes back to the community, trouble is every time it makes that claim it forgets to add the adjective “racing” to the community and it’s to hell with the adjectives “local” and “broader”
Less than 1 year since the Auditor General’s report!!!!!!
July 8, 2015 at 8:45 PM
No, Staikos was replaced recently by Peter Khalil, as per the Government Gazette below
APPOINTMENT OF TRUSTEES TO THE
CAULFIELD RACECOURSE RESERVE TRUST
Order in Council
The Governor in Council, under the terms and conditions of Crown Grant Volume 7275 Folio
814, appoints the persons listed in Column 1 as trustees of the Caulfield Racecourse Reserve Trust
as a representative of the body listed in Column 2 in lieu of the person who has ceased to be a trustee
listed in Column 3.
Column 1 New Trustee
Column 2 Body Represented
Column 3 Former Trustee
1 Kerren Gay CLARK
2 Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Water
3 Mr Edgar (Ted) Tanner
1 Peter KHALIL
2 Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Water
3 Mr Nikolaos (Nick) Staikos
Dated 30 June 2015
Responsible Minister
LISA NEVILLE
Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Water
YVETTE CARISBROOKE
Clerk of the Executive Council
Who is Peter Khalil you may ask? Here is his short bio:
Peter Khalil has recently joined SBS as Director of Corporate Affairs, Strategy and Communications. He has been a consultant for Hawker Britton andheld the position of a non-resident Adjunct Associate Professor at the Centre for International Security Studies at Sydney University where he developed national security courses for senior levels of Government. He is also a Director on the Board of Life Education, a not for profit that provides drug and alcohol prevention programs to a million schoolchildren around Australia.
Previously Peter worked as Foreign Policy and National Security Adviser and as Senior International Adviser to the Federal Government, including for former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and the Minister for Defence.
Prior to these appointments Peter was based in New York providing political risk consultancy to government, multinational corporations and Wall Street Financial institutions. Peter has been a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC (2004/05) after earlier serving with the Australian Department of Defence in Iraq in 2003/04 where he was the Director of National Security Policy for the Coalition Provisional Authority and was awarded the Australian Overseas Humanitarian Services medal. He also worked for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Peter has testified before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee and has published widely including op-ed pieces in the New York Times, Guardian (UK) the Australian, the Age and Sydney Morning Herald, and has made regular appearances on ABC programs such as Lateline and the Drum, as well as CNN and the BBC.
Peter has Degrees in both Law and Arts from Melbourne University and a Masters of International Laws from the Australian National University.
Make of it what you will, but CRRT is not being abolished and replaced by a Committee of Management as is the want of Mayor Cr Magee.
July 9, 2015 at 5:35 PM
From what I can gather Karren Clark, a Lab supporter replaced a Ted Tanner. a LP member. That makes the CRRT composition slightly different, although how it will evolve only time will tell. Here is her Summary bio:
Communications expert with specialist knowledge and skills in the health and planning portfolios.
I have a diverse academic background that has contributed to my exceptional analytical skills. Combined with excellent written language ability, I offer a range of services including government relations, campaign design and delivery, policy advice and stakeholder relations.
With around 20 years exposure to diverse parts of the health sector, I offer a depth of knowledge that is very rate for a communications expert.
Although my exposure to the planning portfolio is more recent, the experience I have gained has equipped me with a sound knowledge of the processes and procedures associate with complex planning issues in Victoria.
Through volunteer and professional roles I have gained a great deal of experience as a company director. Thus far I have been involved in the establishment and wind up of a company, recruitment of a CEO, removal and replacement of a CEO, various accreditation processes and merger negotiations.
We shall see after the first CRRT meeting if recent changes to the Board mean anything useful to the residents and/or GECC.
July 8, 2015 at 10:35 AM
I wonder why the glasshouse planning permission was rejected. Think there might be a CRRT meeting coming up soon as the website is back
July 9, 2015 at 6:36 AM
Reported to have been rejected on the basis of carparking. As was the outdoor cinema which is now going to VCAT – seems Glen Eira’s wonderous planners and legal counsel are not very good at wording of conditions attached to a permit. Happens so often, I suspect its more deliverate than incompetent.
Same will happen to Glass House permit.
July 9, 2015 at 11:51 AM
Delahunty should get up an apologise to residents. After all she voted for the screen on the basis that it would enable the centre to become sports grounds.
Well Mary, the screen is here, it’s used for straight commercial activities and not one little bit of centre has changed.
Good job .;…. NOT!!!!!!
July 9, 2015 at 12:05 PM
Mary pointed out that with the screen in place, there was no longer an argument against the planting of trees to convert the centre of the racecourse into a public park as it has supposed to have been for the last 155 years. Still have to get rid of the superincumbents on CRRT before trees will be permitted. Bloody cheeky of MRC to award itself a reduction of lease payments because of the money it spends on itself to feed into its property empire.
July 9, 2015 at 11:59 AM
The latest Caulfield Glen Eira Leader has on the front page the news that Frogmore demolition has started, with follow-up on p3. It repeats the unsubstantiated claim that a 120-bed home is to be built in its place. This is despite no planning application and no Permit, and the fact the land is zoned NRZ. “Tricky” Wynne was on the news last night too, making yet another absurd decision, this time about stripping a beach of its optional clothing status.
Council acted improperly over issue of granting Heritage Overlay status to Frogmore. Clearly the matter should have gone to a Planning Panel once expert reports found it qualified for local heritage status. The choice of Cr Pilling as chair for the matter was an inspired choice on the part of the pro-demolition cabal.
On the subject of Frogmore’s heritage status, I am fortunate to have in my possession a copy of the 4-volume “Caulfield’s Heritage” by Dr Geulah Solomon, published by the City of Caulfield in 1989. Frogmore features on p58 of Volume 1 “Caulfield’s Building Heritage”.
Of course Glen Eira City Council, which replaced Caulfield Council, is itself named after a demolished building.