The issue of ‘Skyrail’ has become major news in the past 36 hours culminating in protest meetings and petitions to parliament. All accompanied by major TV, newspaper and radio focus. Many comments are also going up on our website. Hence, this post is basically a few reflections on the processes involved by all players to this stage – Liberal, Labor and Council. Please note that we are not advocating for any specific pro or con position on ‘skyrail’ – there is so much that is unknown that at this stage at least, it is impossible to form a cogent and valid viewpoint – unless one is gullible enough to swallow hook line and sinker the multi-million dollar public relations videos and flyers. What is undeniably clear is:
- The failure to inform the community
- The failure to consult with the community prior to such major decisions being made
- The reprehensible game of politics where the Liberal Party is so very quick to seize the opportunity to oppose the project whilst when in government they also had ‘secret’ plans to sell off land to developers and produce ten storey apartment blocks in the south-east. Why weren’t residents consulted here? – See: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/highrise-plan-for-railway-hubs-20140503-37p6f.html
- Next there’s Council with Hyams and Okotel (Liberals) taking full advantage of yesterday’s public protest meeting. Where was Delahunty, Magee, Lobo (nominally Labor) – especially since the mantra is that councillors are not representing political parties but the local community? Where were the Labor pollies?
- Where is Council right now with its pathetic Draft Action Plan on Transport – that is already behind schedule and most of the ‘actions’ not due to happen for at least another 2 years? Council has not raised a finger to allay resident concerns about high rise developments alongside stations, or the further loss of public open space, or sought in any shape or form to protect native vegetation or 600 year old trees. No public statements, no media releases on council position on these things. Now rumour has it that Kitmont St and the Riley Park area could be devastated by construction yet there is only one Vegetation Overlay in the entire planning scheme and no Significant Tree Register.
Each and every one of these players deserves to be condemned for their secrecy, their short sightedness, their indifference to community concerns, and the awful political games they all play at the expense of local residents and proper governance. In the end the only possible conclusion is how poorly we are governed overall and how powerful certain vested interests are.
PS: If anyone has any doubts as to our councillors being “community representatives” or political party disciples, then the minutes from 8th April 2015 should resolve all doubt. Item 9.10 of that meeting included ‘debate’ on the timing of grade separation. A motion was put and then Sounness and Delahunty moved the following amendment –
Amend section (a) to read; (a) Thanking her for her letter and commending
her and the Andrews Government on the recent announcement regarding the
Cranbourne Packenham line upgrade which will mean a great deal to our
residents.
The vote on the above was:
FOR : Sounness, Delahunty, Lobo, Magee, Pilling
AGAINST: Hyams, Lipshutz, Esakoff, Okotel
Need we say any more?
Glen Eira Debates 
February 8, 2016 at 12:23 PM
I would add another category to this list. The general public. The Age article has over 180 comments attached. Probably 90% of them can only be described as selfish, lacking compassion, and completely looking out for their own interests. The trend in these comments is that if you oppose development, or “progress” then you are a NIMBY. We are fast becoming an insular, selfish, self-focussed society that does not care what happens to people 2 streets away as long as it does not affect us or our pockets. That is why council has been able to get away with creating a second class citizenry in all its housing diversity areas. I only wish that a minority of those living in the false havens of limited residential growth would have 60 units go up next door to them because it is a huge block or because neighbours banded together to sell a huge block. Maybe then their tune would be entirely different and they would start questioning why so many residents have to put up with substandard residential amenity and why rates keep climging and climbing.
February 8, 2016 at 1:22 PM
I agree that there are just too many unknowns. One known for sure is that every time the Govt. enters into these partnerships (East West Link, City Link, Desalination Plant) the Govt guarantees their partner a never ending cash cow, there no open review of comment on the partnership and the public gets screwed twice, ie. upfront and then by continually paying for what ever it is the govt. decides will get them re-elected.
February 8, 2016 at 1:38 PM
Correct. Those of us advocating for minimum standards for all have seen repeatedly this self-interest at work, where the only time people care about amenity is when its their own amenity at risk. That’s why I argue we need a “negative feedback” mechanism in which proponents have to demonstrate that they are prepared to accept what they expect others to endure.
February 8, 2016 at 1:56 PM
If the government was being truly innovative, it would use its investment dollar to spread high-quality public transport infrastructure more widely rather than beef up an existing corridor. It could reactivate the Outer Circle so freight and VLine passenger traffic could be routed via the north, just as the Outer Circle was originally designed to do. It could reactivate the Rosstown railway corridor and route traffic up the underutilized Sandringham line. Freight from Hastings could use the underutilized existing corridor from Stony Point. Skyrail could be sent down the middle of Dandenong Rd and service Chadstone. Reactivate Inner Circle to ease pressure on City Loop. So many possibilities once amenity isn’t a consideration.
February 8, 2016 at 2:08 PM
Not the only time the Libs have jumped on the chance to bad mouth Labor. There was the Southwick/Davis extravaganza about the residential zones which their leader rubber stamped in secret with Newton and Hyams and they had the gall to stand there and ask “are you concerned about over development in Glen Eira”? The hypocrisy of all concerned is pure vomit material.
February 8, 2016 at 2:10 PM
I forgot to ask where are the Greens in all this? Why haven’t they stuck their heads up as yet being supposed environmentalists!
February 8, 2016 at 3:35 PM
I attended the rally at Murrumbeena, and would have to say it was a complete Liberal Party Love Fest. Whilst the organisers of the rally took time-out to explain that they politic neutral, I wasn’t convinced. The leaflets and the organisation was very slick and looked like a Davis Davis setup.
Matthew Guy and Davis Davis were just two of the Liberal heavy hitter attending and continually reinforcing the gross injustices that Labor is fostering on the poor residents.
They unashamedly roasted Labor for exactly the same behaviors they committed with the East West Tunnel, that left us poor taxpayers with a billion dollar compensation and legal bill, which is about half the projected cost of removing these nine road-rail crossings, estimated at 1.9 billion.
The money these political half-wits piss down the drain, just to score points against each other is a disgrace, rivaling the behaviors commonly seen in 3rd world countries like Africa and Asia.
K. Okotel promised the gathering she would do everything possible as a GE Councillor to make sure the overhead line didn’t proceed. It will be interest to see what she and her Lib councillor cohorts have in mind. Other than pretending the East West Tunnel debacle never happened.
Looks like the spillover politics of the State is going to drowning Glen Eira council into nasty vengeful tit-for-tat year.
Three layers of Government is one to many, maybe it’s time we rationalised our money wasters by getting rid of State Governments.
February 8, 2016 at 3:40 PM
See: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/melbourne-sky-rail-many-questions-remain-about-andrews-government-plan-20160208-gmo67k.html
February 8, 2016 at 9:45 PM
Excellent article from Adam Carey The Age commenting on Skyrail project on ABC 774 Jon Faine Morning segment. The full interview with Daniel Andrews is on https://radio.abc.net.au/programitem/pe0D499gB3?play=true. Clearly, the long-term success of this $1.6 billion Project depends on what happens when “Responsibility for maintaining the open space will be passed on to local councils, with state government to provide some funding”. To ensure that those ‘open space’ areas are properly developed and maintained over time Council Public Realm vision, plans and strategies need to be in place.
But, what is Public Realm? ‘Public realm is defined as any publicly owned streets, pathways, right of ways, parks, publicly accessible open spaces and any public and civic building and facilities. The quality of our public realm is vital if we are to be successful in creating environments that people want to live and work in.’ An example of Public Realm Strategy is Stonnington Council established in 2006 http://aspect.net.au/?p=578 .
There are 3 Skyrail segments on the proposed Dandenong line project, 1 in Glen Eira, 1 in Monash and 1 in Greater Dandenong City. The Premier Andrews knows them all very well as he represents the electorate District of Mulgrave part of the Dandenong line. None of those Councils have a Public Realm Strategy like Stonnington. Greater Dandenong implements ‘Revitaliaing Central Dandenong’ project with a $290 million assistance from the State Government. Part of this project are improvements in Public Realm http://www.greaterdandenong.com/document/3396/revitalising-central-dandenong. In addition the City implemented at least 3 areas with Structure Plans, within which Public Realm improvements are executed. Monash City develops 4 Major Activity Centres using Structure Planning and improved Public Realm within them (see
http://www.monash.vic.gov.au/Building-Planning/Strategic-Planning/Structure-Plans)
Glen Eira has none of those plans and it is unique in Victoria as the only one not having any Structure Plans for places or Activity Centres. In fact, when Bracks/Brumby Labor Government offered funds for Structure Plan, the Glen Eira Libs rejected it. That does not mean that Glen Eira is not improving Public Realms, but only if they own the property outright eg Caulfield Park. Another example is the Booran Reserve http://www.gleneira.vic.gov.au/Council/News-and-media/Latest-news/Glen-Huntly-Reservoir-Redevelopment-update . But, here is the rub. When Booran Reservoir became available for Glen Eira, the Labor State Gov’t was concerned that it may be used for purposes other than park. So, it did not grant the land to the Council, but offered them a development and management role. Glen Eira received a poultry $650 thousand for it. But the real rub is how little Glen Eira receives in total Grants, just $44 million for the last 2 years, Dandenong received nearly $75 million. The population for both Councils is similar. You can say that this is because Glen Eira is a very wealthy City in comparison to Dandenong. But I would also suggest that GE Liberal dominated Council are recalcitrant with divisive party political attitudes not willing to compromise with any Labor Government. The Lib Councillors actions and publicity demonstrate this ugly and destructive attitude
What should the Andrews Government do in such a situation? I would not grant any funds to Glen Eira Council to develop and manage the Public Realm associated with Skyrail segment in Glen Eira until the Council agrees to resolve and implement 2 issues:
1. Establish a Public Realm Strategy for the proposed area similar to Stonnington Council;
2. Implement fully the consultation process using the International Association of Public Participation (IAP2) techniques http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.iap2.org/resource/resmgr/imported/toolbox.pdf.
The $1.6 billion dollars to be spent on skyrail is too large and too important to be stuffed up by somekind of negligence on the part of some Councillors purely for party political reasons. We do not want to end up like the CityLink over Moonee Ponds Creek that the “path is still functional but the environment is ugly and barren”, because of ill-will between politicians.
February 8, 2016 at 10:14 PM
A minor point where I disagree with some of your comments is about the grants gained by Dandenong versus Glen Eira. Before we can draw any conclusions as to the cause for this, we should also know how many funding applications council applies for. I know that there have been countless funding opportunities offered in disability and child care but this council has not even bothered applying. Why they haven’t is the most important aspect. I personally think that they either didn’t have the money to create things like community/children’s hubs even if they got a grant of several hundred thousand dollars, because it would have cost several million. Another possible reason is that taking money for specific projects demands some accountability and even working with other councils. Under Newton this would impinge on his autonomy and control. Only when the figures of how many applications went in, and how many were received can we really have a clear picture to compare councils.
February 8, 2016 at 10:45 PM
The minor point is just that. Your point only reinforces my points. And the major implication of getting more grants is that the Rates can be lower for the same total Council expenditure. So, for the benefit of the Chief and egos of some Councillors we just pay more Rates. And why they do it? Simple, because they are in Power and they can.
February 8, 2016 at 4:04 PM
I attended this mornings rally at Treasury Place to find out more. I was not aware of the Murrumbeena meeting so did not attend. I was very concerned this morning to see the protest so heavily aligned with the Liberal Party – I agree with No.7 above that unfortunately the protest has been commandeered by the Liberal Party. I think the organisers should be very very wary indeed. The issue is one for the community to take to the government and I believe that regrettably it has very quickly become a Liberal fight against the government. The government sure have got it wrong with the way they have gone about this with no consultation with the community but I trust the Liberal party far less -East West Link is all we need to remember. I am not sure how I can voice my protest now as I cannot stand by the sides of Liberal politicians on this when their past actions have been abominable. Can we as a community rethink the approach?????
February 8, 2016 at 10:36 PM
Had you attended the Murrumbeena meeting you would have heard the organisers are not aligned with any political party and their opposition is based on the huge cost, the lack of information and public input.
Much like Labor joining in opposition to the East West Link prior to the last State Election, the Libs are looking for a good cause that has wide community support in an attempt to do unto others what was done to them.
Unfortunately, the talent in both the Labor and Libs camp is pretty light weight and so, as we enter a series of one term governments, which ever party is in opposition will be grabbing whatever media coverage they can get.
Residents are hard pressed to stop it but they can use it to draw public awareness to their cause. Focus on the message and stand up for it. Only by doing that, hopefully one day in the not too distant future, it will dawn on the major political parties that it’s time to look beyond the end of their noses.
February 8, 2016 at 5:12 PM
Whenever there’s a major innovative infrastructure project you can be sure the naysayers will crawl out of their little caves to carp. I notice some of those at the very small Murrumbeena gathering were from the Save Albert Park brigade who don’t even live in the affected area. Professional agitators. And haven’t they done well!
The media love these very small groups with disproportionately loud voices cos it sells papers and is good for ratings.
It’s currently a proposal for consideration. No more! No less! Some people just won’t accept change which is why we are such a backward country in terms of our transport infrastructure and many other areas too. I so wish we had less troglodytes and professional naysayers.
February 8, 2016 at 6:42 PM
MODERATORS: comment deleted
February 8, 2016 at 10:03 PM
So for a $1.6b taxpayer funded project it’s ok for the State Government to turn their back on everything they have said about grade separation being best provided by going underground and that an artistic impression rather than any detailed analysis or plans, is all that should be required.
May I suggest you read or listen to the media. The decision has suddenly been made to go above ground without it ever being raised in any community consultation (and their have been heaps). The only thing will be consulted on is what to do with what goes under light blocking concrete slab and even then it looks like that also been decided, ie. carparks, more concrete and possibly something that may possibly be related to active sport.
So need I say I disagree with your “naysayers crawling out of their little cave to carp” and “professional agitators” analogies and say instead that any and everyone has a right to express their views and have them heard by an open, accountable government that is focussed on achieving best results even if those results extend beyond the current term in office.
February 8, 2016 at 11:19 PM
Of course people have a right to express their views. But when they are politically motivated and known agitators such the Save Albert Park folk and others not directly affected are there as provocateurs it’s reasonable to suggest at least some are professional agitators and naysayers.
The $1.6b is considerably cheaper than the grade separation – ie rail under road- originally envisaged. It is arguable it will be less disruptive too. Will provide acres of parkland and bike tracks. Will allow the recovery of considerable costs by commercial use of some of the land. And is considered less noisy.
I don’t know whether you saw the Liberal supporter interviewed in her backyard the other day when a train went past. She was drowned out. Instead of having an unsightly and noisy train track at her back fence she’ll probably have parkland and maybe a pillar. And much less noise.
I know someone who was at the demonstration today and there were only about 30 to 40 people present she said. You’d think from the media half the population with properties on along that line were there listening to the media hoo-ha.
I do agree that the announcement process was not good. However, it appears the way governments and businesses operate so often these days.
February 8, 2016 at 8:04 PM
Readers may be interested in comparing the different attitudes of Monash Council and Glen Eira City Council. In the latter there has been a shattering silence on ‘skyrail’. No media releases, no public position taken by council – just resounding silence. Yet, as soon as reports surfaced in the major press nearly a month ago, Monash went on the offensive. Here is the link to their media release dated 11th January, 2016. Mind, this is not to say that politics will not play a part in Monash, but at least they have been ‘active’ and taken a role in informing the community and having a strong position.
See: http://www.monash.vic.gov.au/About-Us/News/Council-responds-to-media-article-about-skyrail-proposal
February 8, 2016 at 8:58 PM
For a multiunit development in say GRZ an applicant would have to provide a neighbourhood and site description along with design response as per Clauses 54 and 55; plans drawn to scale and dimensioned which show site shape, size, dimensions and orientation, siting and use of existing and proposed buildings, adjacent buildings and use, building form and scale, setbacks to property boundaries; statement about likely effects on adjoining land including noise levels, traffic and solar access; and it is assessed against a 920-page Planning Scheme. For a $1.3B project you get a colour glossy brochure.
February 8, 2016 at 10:54 PM
Off topic, but not irrelevant to Glen Eira. Enjoy.
The CSIRO has discovered the heaviest element yet known to science.
The new element is Governmentium (Gv).
It has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.
These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lefton-like particles called peons.
Since Governmentium has no electrons or protons, it is inert. However, it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact.
A tiny amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction normally taking less than a second to take from four days to four years to complete.
Governmentium has a normal half-life of 2- 6 years. It does not decay but instead undergoes a reorganisation in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places.
In fact, Governmentium’s mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganisation will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes.
This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as critical morass.
When catalysed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium, an element that radiates just as much energy as Governmentium since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons. All of the money is consumed in the exchange, and no other byproducts are produced.
This lamentably originated in Australia, but the element is found worldwide.
February 9, 2016 at 9:59 AM
A good summary
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/team-andrews-risks-lurching-from-one-crisis-to-another-20160208-gmop63.html
February 9, 2016 at 11:07 AM
I added my name to the long list of people wishing to speak to Stephen Dimopoulos about the process adopted by the government and lack of information. Parliament is unfortunately sitting, so it won’t be before next week.