The above images come from Monash City council’s report on several proposed amendments to their residential zones. Glen Eira Council of course only engages in widespread ‘consultation’ when it needs to spread its propaganda and undertake some costly damage control (the 11 cents flyer) or when it wants to get its way with removing the Caulfield Park conservatory. These are the only times in recent memory that every resident received anything from council on proposals or envisaged changes to policy.
We highlight this as a reminder of what CAN BE DONE when there is a genuine commitment from a council to inform, engage, and listen to residents. None of this happens in Glen Eira. We have repeated ad nauseum that the zones were introduced by stealth, without any consultation, and with the outrageous justification that had council consulted, then the ‘results’ would have been worse. Appalling and unforgiveable. Lest we forget!
Glen Eira Debates 
October 29, 2015 at 8:19 AM
Glen Eira would be well served with Councillors who actually listened to the residents instead of just sprouting Administration rhetoric on Consultation. This rhetoric has two parts
. the first outlines how well and actively Glen Eira undertakes it because it recognises the value of community input
. the second is no matter how hard we try we can’t get the community involved.
Yet ask the residents and you’ll get
. how badly and infrequently Glen Eira consults when it does, deviation from predetermined (by the Administration) terms of reference is not tolerated. New or alternative ideas are either ruled out of scope or left gathering dust.
. whats the point of trying, years of experience has proven that all you get is frustration as the outcome is predetermined. They aren’t looking for input all they are doing is fulfilling a legal requirement.
Add Frogmore to your mention of the Conservatory and the current planning issues (as typified by the 11c flyer) and you have some stand out classic examples of how consultation works in Glen Eira and which prove the residents’ view. All events happened during the current Councillors watch.
Frogmore – despite huge community support for it’s retention and a Council commissioned independent heritage advisors report, both the House and 90 trees are gone. Why, because 3 Councillors opted to deny the community an opportunity to present their case to an independent planning panel.
Caulfield Park Conservatory – a 4 year saga (may even be longer) that saw annual Council proposals to remove because it was dilapidated (ie. the Administration neglected to maintain it). Each time the residents resoundingly voted to restore and retain. In desperation Council spent $17,000 on a lovely flyer and distributed it to 1500 households – the outcome was again restore and retain. Less than 12 months later (April, 2014), this Council decided that if residents had known the cost of restoring the conservatory they wouldn’t have voted for retention. Ergo, the Conservatory is gone. The fact that Council never provided any costs estimates to residents and that Councillors didn’t consider re-consultation (with cost estimates) an option is glossed over.
Zone Implementation – “biggest single change in Glen Eira’s planning history”, done behind closed doors, without any consultation and minimal skewed information published. Two years on and a huge public outcry accompanied by request for change, is met with an 11c flyer (containing doctored graphs) that basically says it’s not the zones it’s causes beyond our control so we aren’t doing anything.
Bascially, Councillors are saying f*ck off to residents.
October 29, 2015 at 8:38 AM
You left out another milestone in Glen Eira’s history of consultation. When they advertised for the consumer representatives on the consultation committee and weren’t happy with the people who applied, they decided to readvertise so they would get the people they wanted. The excuse was that younger people weren’t represented. Bollocks! The first round of advertising attracted people who they thought would be asking too many intelligent questions and wouldn’t put up with their crap. Solution? Stack the deck.
October 29, 2015 at 9:11 AM
Newton consulted with his developer mates , isn’t that enough, they know what is best?
October 29, 2015 at 9:24 AM
I hope the residents of Monash appreciate Monash’s the clear concise wording. It’s actually understandable.
Not so in Glen Eira. I’m putting together an objection the 9 stories in Bentleigh and trying to makes sense of Glen Eira’s planning scheme. It’s a frigging nightmare!!!
The planing scheme is a maze of imprecisely worded, and therefore open to wide interpretation, policies that constantly refer to equally badly worded, open to interpretation, clauses in other policies. Some of the policies date back to the Ark. In addition, policies frequently overlap resulting in frequent contradictions or duplication. The do the same with Rescode. It’s an unnecessarily long labourious process that in the end raises more questions that it answers.
It’s no wonder VCAT constantly criticises the scheme and developers love it. The scheme supports what ever argument (for or against) you care to make and if need be a contradiction can be found that blows all arguments (for or against) out of the water, leaving the decision in the lap of the gods (i.e. pro-development VCAT). Glen Eira claims VCAT has overturned 500 of it’s rejections, personally I’m now surprised that it isn’t a lot higher.
Seems to me, that Glen Eira would greatly benefit by submitting their planning scheme to a peer review, i.e. appoint a panel of independent professionals to review, assess and propose improvements for the Planning Scheme. Peer review is a common practice that ensures that years of inhouse development does not result in a policy, or group of policies, that no longer meets objectives.
I issue Councillors a challenge to test the veracity of the need for a peer review. Assume you are objecting to the 9 stories in Bentleigh and prepare an objection based Glen Eira’s Planning Scheme and Rescode.
October 29, 2015 at 9:26 AM
I don’t have a clue about the amendment that Monash is doing. At least they are giving people the chance to have a say and that is ten times more than our councillors think we ought to have.
October 29, 2015 at 11:34 AM
Interactive websites are great. Would estimate that at least 60% of Glen Eira residents would not have a clue as to whether they are in housing diversity or minimal change and the maps produced by Council were so small that no one could read the streets. Intentional of course.
October 29, 2015 at 2:55 PM
They received 986 submissions, that good going, If this was GE I could see PB just shredding the lot out pure malice