We have been forwarded the following letter by a resident. This is in response to an email sent to the Minister.
Please read carefully the highlighted sections. Unless we are mistaken, the decision(s) to pursue the destruction of potential heritage buildings and the further removal of trees has been given the go ahead – again without consultation and which flies in the face of the Heritage Victoria interim order. Put bluntly, the arrogance and complete disregard for the community is beyond belief!
PS – From Parliament Today –
Mr SOUTHWICK (Caulfield) (14:39): (6176) My question is to the Minister for Planning. On Christmas Eve, while many locals were enjoying their holidays, you exercised significant ministerial power under the cover of darkness to remove significant trees and buildings at the Caulfield Racecourse without consultation. Having been aware of the impending plans even a month later, many locals were left shocked when several trees, some 100 years old, were swiftly cut down in January. As a result residents have expressed their outrage that you gave approval for the felling of these trees and the demolition of these significant buildings without proper community consultation. Of particular significance among these trees is an Aleppo pine tree grown from the seed of Gallipoli’s Lone Pine which was also destroyed in the process. Minister, why did you make this order without consultation, and how will you protect the heritage significance of the Caulfield Racecourse precinct going forward?
Glen Eira Debates 
February 8, 2022 at 10:38 PM
Basically the Andrews Government is finished, their familiarity has led to contempt. Its also become a mates game of donations for favours and with internet bank who knows were the buck ends up. Its a shame their is no viable opposition, their goal is to inherit the system off Labor and rort it even more, if that’s possible.
February 9, 2022 at 9:11 AM
As for David Southwick the Police Minister and other things, could anyone trust this person after this shocking reveal.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/mp-sorry-for-padding-his-resume-20121116-29hop.html
February 9, 2022 at 10:19 AM
They are now calling for partners to help fulfil the development plan. So instead of being a huge open public space it will be reserved for those who can pay. Not sure what Southwick is talking about he was on the bi partisan committee that has caused this. It was in his watch that the terrible park in the middle of the racecourse with a shity half soccer pitch was negotiated with the MRC on condition of all the apartments in the car parks. was it a million dollars they spent?
February 9, 2022 at 12:04 PM
Quite extraordinary that the only parties who know what is going on and about to happen are the mrc and government. Until the documents spelling out what the work packages contain, we remain non the wiser. Without these documents we have no idea whether or not the mrc are operating in accordance with the plans, much less what the plans are. Going back to the gazetting of all this, it is unconscionable for government to operate in such a secretive fashion.
February 10, 2022 at 3:11 PM
One resident has correspondence from the CRRT general manager indicating there will also be public housing built on the crown land! Wonder when they will release the plan and finally provide the whole truth around the Caulfield Racecourse development scandal?
February 11, 2022 at 7:32 AM
Everything about this project stinks. Certainly gazetting it on Christmas Eve is dodgy behaviour by our soon-to-be-ex-minister. What was extremely insulting is that the Incorporated Plan doesn’t specify what is and isn’t allowed–that is specified in a bunch of documents which it lists and which are NOT public. If you’re a developer, there is a reasonable expectation that you comply with your planning permit, including endorsed plans. Not so if you’re the government or MRC. As for consultation, which the government claims took place but has very little to show for it, a key outcome of consultation is a list of issues and responses outlining how the proponent intends to handle those issues. That didn’t happen. Now the Andrews government, battling corruption claims on multiple fronts, is engaging in a retrospective cleanup of a mess of its own making through misleading claims. Parliament should disallow the amendment when it is given the chance since the process has been badly tainted. Two of the purposes of the land are public park and public recreation, and these purposes have largely been ignored over 150 years. Somehow, although interest in racing keeps dwindling, the MRC has even more control over our public land.
February 16, 2022 at 2:10 PM
CAULFIELD RACECOURSE RESERVE Dr RATNAM (Northern Metropolitan) (1741) Incorporated pursuant to order of Council of 7 September 2021: My adjournment matter tonight is for the Minister for Planning, and my ask is that the minister ensures that the Glen Eira council immediately receives all relevant planning documents that allowed the destruction of heritage trees and buildings at Caulfield Racecourse. I was disappointed to hear that under the cover of Christmas Eve the minister—at the request of Melbourne Racing Club—approved the amendment for the redevelopment of the Caulfield Racecourse. Caulfield Racecourse is set to be redeveloped into a new public recreation space, including much-needed green open space for Melbourne’s south. However, following the approval of the amendment, 42 trees on the site were destroyed almost immediately, one of which was a pine grown from the seed of Gallipoli’s Lone Pine. The remaining trees—some more than 100 years old—are set to be removed soon. While the racecourse was subject to local heritage protection, this was overridden when the planning amendment was approved, making it possible for the trees and other buildings on the site to be destroyed. And while Heritage Victoria has since received a nomination for an interim protection order for the precinct, which has put a temporary stop on works at the site, the damage has already been done. The community is rightly outraged at the loss of these much-loved heritage trees and at the actions of Melbourne Racing Club in pushing the minister to approve the amendment and authorise the works. Because the minister has taken control of the redevelopment, there’s been no public exhibition of plans for the redevelopment. Even Glen Eira council has been totally cut out of the process and has not been able to see the new plans for the development. In Glen Eira, open and green space is sorely needed. It has the second-least amount of open space of any Victorian council region. But now the council and community are worried that being shut out of the redevelopment process will prevent them from saving the existing trees and buildings on the site and will lead to the loss of precious local heritage. It’s disappointing to so frequently hear stories exactly like this, where the minister has overridden council and community concerns and imposed his own vision onto a development, especially as this usually results in the loss of trees, green space or local heritage that the community is desperately trying to save. Our councils should be part of every key planning decision for their local communities, not completely locked out of the process and unable to even see the relevant documentation. I ask the minister to provide Glen Eira council with all relevant planning documents that allowed the destruction of heritage trees and buildings at Caulfield Racecourse.