We are well and truly into the era of Orwellian ‘Newspeak’ or to put it more bluntly – weasel words that mean very little but sound mighty impressive to the uninitiated or brainwashed. After months and months of deliberation(s), the so called ‘expert’ advisory panel looking at ‘open space’ along Skyrail has come up with their report. (UPLOADED HERE).
We find it amazing that any ‘expert’ panel can produce nothing more after months and months than what we find here. Jargon is paramount (ie ‘vibrant’, ‘sustainable’, ‘place making’ etc.) whilst no clear & precise recommendations are the outcomes for the purported 11 MCG’s of ‘open space’. It’s waffle, generalities, with no definitive outcomes or justifications. Questions of who pays for what, and time frames are of course considered beyond the scope of this report – yet fundamental we suggest!
Below we feature just one page from this report and ask readers to consider what is actually recommended –
Surely it’s not too much to ask that government and council reports, that clearly cost tens of thousands, produce results that are devoid of bureaucratic camouflage, high faluting nonsense, and instead deliver what they are supposed to – recommendations in plain English, and which are all backed up by detail, logic, and ‘evidence’ of some kind of cost-benefit analyses!!~!!!!!
Glen Eira Debates 
August 25, 2017 at 8:41 PM
So far no details on maps showing just how much of the open space these rail car parks will take. We know there was consider pressure to make them bigger than was proposed on the initial artist impression way back at the beginning of the project.
Under “TREE AND VEGETATION CHOICE”
Is:- “blend into the existing context e.g. Boyd Park urban forest should
connect seamlessly to the linear park”
From what little is known the end of Boyd park is going to be abutting a new overhead rail station and car park, it will be interesting to see how they seamlessly transition an urban forest into the large ground level car parking area.
It many ways this report looks like it has been been prepared by PR bureaucrats, then handed over to be rubberstamped by the panel of completely out of touch with reality experts.
August 25, 2017 at 9:10 PM
Worth highlighting that of the 11 meetings our Glen Eira Grade Separation Project Co-ordinator -James Kearney – only managed to attend a single meeting!
August 26, 2017 at 7:27 AM
If he is typical of the bureaucratic talent in Glen Eira, It was likely far better he stayed away; as he would have been useless. Maybe we could give him credit as a person that knows his own limitations.
August 26, 2017 at 10:21 AM
“Car parking that will push the boundaries of look and feel”
“Push the boundaries” Yes’ that will be right,
Like parking in the so called promised 212 hectares of open space green areas. It’s becoming the norm, for these so call planners to think of car parks as public open space areas.
This is a mote in their eye, as it stops them the bureaucrats seeing the real problems as being a car problem. This blindspot keeps them permanently bogged in the mire of more of the same old tyred (that’s a pun) solutions.
So we are now we pushing the boundaries of look and feel” more like pushing the boundaries of expert self delusion and fantasy.