No one expects council to complete its proposed infrastructure works in the space of a year or two. That does not mean that essential projects be held off for nearly a decade whilst developers get the go ahead to literally reach for the skies.
Council’s draft Strategic Resource Plan/Budget has some startling figures. We quote directly from these documents and ask that residents carefully consider the consequences of what this means.
ELSTERNWICK
- Elsternwick Community Hub & Park – $32.45m (majority of spend in 2024-25 -to 2026-27).
- Stanley Street East Multi-deck Car Park – $18m (majority of spend in 2023-24 – to 2024-25).
- Selwyn Street Cultural Precinct – $1.2m (to be completed in 2023-24).
BENTLEIGH
- Eat Street (Rotunda) – $2.55m (to be completed in 2020-21).
- Bentleigh Library Upgrade – $2.9m (to be completed in 2023-24).
- Horsley Street Multi-deck Car Park – $14.05m (majority of spend in 2027-28).
CARNEGIE
- Koornang Road Streetscape Upgrade & Pedestrianisation – $6.45m (majority of spend in 2023-24 to 2025-26).
- Shepparson Avenue Market Development – $2.95m for design, concept plans and initial consultation.
- Kokarib Road Park – $50k for design works.
What these figures reveal is that residents will have to wait at least 10 years for most of these things to be completed. Given council’s track record on time lines and budget blowouts we expect the time lag and cost to be even more than indicated here.
No information is provided on:
- Business case(s)
- How costings were derived
- Reasons for delay(s)
- Percentage of third party involvement and their ‘contribution’
Even more discouraging is the fact that no dates are provided anywhere in the SRP or the Community Plan for the completion and introduction of such vital amendments as:
- Car parking overlays
- Infrastructure levies on development
- Increase of open space levies
Much of what is proposed has not been ‘endorsed’ by residents. Do residents really want to spend $14m for a high rise concrete car park in Bentleigh or $18m for one in Elsternwick? What ‘evidence ‘ is there that this will solve parking problems in these areas? Is this really ‘value for money’ or simply ‘value’ for developers when council land will be sold off? And do residents really want to be in hock again to the tune of an additional $30m that council wants to borrow?
PS: As an example of what can be achieved right now (if there’s the will) the following Kingston amendment was gazetted a few days ago.
Glen Eira Debates 
April 29, 2018 at 4:48 PM
Very good example (again) regarding other Councils commitment to Open Space Contributions. Seems pretty straight forward for Council to address this situation as a matter of priority. The Glen Eira situation doesn’t make any logical sense when viewed from the eyes of residents. What also doesn’t make sense to residents is why Council continues to give waivers to developers for statutory car parking requirements and then commit exhorbitant funds to the development of car parks in activity centres.
April 30, 2018 at 10:12 AM
Good comment. Add up all the waivers over the last few years and you would get hundreds and now they want to erect monoliths to increase parking by these hundreds and pay through the nose.
April 30, 2018 at 2:48 PM
Yes, it makes Mary Delahuntly look like a total goose throwing all her weight behind the developers to overdevelop, when it comes to onsite car parking or lack of it.
The Mr and Mrs 10% percent’ers will be doing very well out of this little spending spree.
April 30, 2018 at 12:10 PM
Fits in nicely with the development philosophy. Get 12 storeys first then worry about all the chaos this will bring. If it takes 10 years for the basics then bugger residents.
April 30, 2018 at 3:03 PM
My addition of these numbers makes it over $80m. That’s a huge sum of money even if spread over 10 years and doesn’t include all the other spending on pavilions, drains, traffic and so forth. I keep wondering what it means for all the other areas outside of Bentleigh, Carnegie and Elsternwick. How much are they going to spend on infrastructure here and the $64 question is when. Council is definitely banking on major private/public partnerships which can only mean selling off council properties for further development with no guarantee that the community will be better off in terms of traffic, drainage and open space.
May 1, 2018 at 10:58 AM
Bentleigh, Carnegie and Elsternwick are just 3 of the 5 major activity centres that Glen Eira has [Caulfield and Glenhuntly are the other two]. Although just suburb names, that is the extent of the strategic work that the State Government has done to define them. Actually the Government has no idea how many major activity centres Glen Eira has since it keeps getting the number wrong in its correspondence, yet they’re the ones who define which suburbs are and aren’t MACs.
April 30, 2018 at 11:44 PM
Does any sale of Council owned land, regardless of its value, have to be put to a Council meeting for approval by Councillors?
May 1, 2018 at 9:38 AM
Yes
May 7, 2018 at 9:03 PM
Many thanks for a great article, it was very interesting and informative.