The following email was sent out to residents a few days ago:
We are writing to you because you provided feedback during the first or second phase of our engagement on the Draft Housing Strategy.
We’d now like to invite you to attend an online presentation to find out more about what we heard during the second phase of community engagement.
Draft Housing Strategy feedback – What we heard event
Thursday 11 August, 7pm to 7.45pm
Location: Online via Zoom
To join the session, please register your interest here and we will emailyou the meeting link two days before the event.
The session has been planned as an online event to help keep our broader community safe in response to the rising rate of COVID-19 infections in the community at this time.
For those that can’t make the online session, a drop-in session will be held at Town Hall on Monday 15 August, between 4pm and 7pm, at Town Hall (corner Glen Eira and Hawthorn roads, entry via clocktower entrance). Please register your interest here.
If you have any questions, please contact the City Futures team via 9524 3333 or email cityfutures@gleneira.vic.gov.au.
Given that very little detail has been provided as to the planned processes, we can only speculate as to the purpose and value of this evening. Our concerns are listed below –
- With the stated time duration of only 45 minutes, we assume that there will be no opportunity for participants to comment or ask questions.
- Will this simply be a repetition of previous council ‘forums’ where participants had no idea who else, nor how many people had logged on? Will the chat function again be disabled?
- Will the report itemise all aspects of the feedback – including the 100+ attendees at the town hall forum?
- Will the various comments made by ALL respondents be published, or will we simply get another vague ‘summary’?
- Will residents be told how their input influenced any potential changes to the housing strategy and if not – why no changes have been made?
- Will this be another evening of double-speak and weasel words, or will residents be privy to a warts and all presentation that is not presented through rose coloured glasses (ie in contrast to the ‘summaries’ provided at the town hall forum)
- Will any analyses be provided as to the quality of the consultation – in particular the survey questions and what lessons may have been learnt from the exercise?
Whilst it can be argued that council is commended in providing residents with ‘feedback’ – it is the quality of this feedback that remains questionable. Unless there is a full and comprehensive report, then council will again be guilty of fudging the data and being as non-transparent as they possibly can. What concerns us most however is the deliberate timing of council’s strategic planning. We have been told that both the Carnegie and Caulfield Station structure plans will be presented to council for decision in August 2022 – well before the final decision on the Housing Strategy. (See: https://www.gleneira.vic.gov.au/services/planning-and-building/planning-scheme-and-amendments/glen-eira-planning-scheme-review-2018). Housing Strategies are meant to be the cornerstone of structure planning. That is, they come before structure plans, NOT AFTER. So once again we face the prospect of putting the cart before the horse and council continuing along its merry way ignoring all the principles of sound strategic planning. This can only be to the detriment of the community – and of course, full transparency and accountability.
Glen Eira Debates 
July 29, 2022 at 1:15 PM
Should be interesting. I don’t want to be told that 534 or 5000 people got involved and 79% were in favour. That tells me nothing. I want to see what people wrote not the numbers who answered a survey question that was useless anyway.
July 29, 2022 at 4:39 PM
What’s important is the outcome. The housing strategy version 1 is a disaster. Version 2 has to convince people that their concerns were addressed and that the draft has drastically changed. Four councillors were unhappy with the original. It remains to be seen whether they have now changed their minds.
July 30, 2022 at 10:30 AM
Council has so far refused to answer my questions about “its” Strategy. As Council has admitted, it doesn’t know who contributed what to it or why. Based on the Objectives of Planning in Victoria, the Strategy is barking up the wrong tree. I’m sufficiently cynical to think that the [ex-]Minister demanded things through his Department and GECC dutifully did as told. That could explain Cr Esakoff’s insistence that fairness means doing up to and including whatever the State Government wants. If we are to get a full, accurate, complete picture of the feedback, it should include what the government has demanded, who in government demanded it, and why. The fact I even need to spell this out is an indictment of our councillors. There should be a public record of meetings and other interactions between Council and State Government summarising the attendees, topics, information shared, and key decisions.
July 30, 2022 at 12:07 PM
I don’t disagree with you. The one slight difference I would make with your argument is that I very much doubt if meetings are held with ministers or department officials, councillors are present. I’m assuming that all they get told is what our officers want to tell them. I’d even question whether they receive anything in writing or whether it’s a verbal report only. Following on from this you could of course still argue that councillors should insist on being present at any such meetings and then report back to the community.
July 30, 2022 at 3:30 PM
Officers occasionally have delegated authority in which case I consider them to be “Council”. However, there should be a public record, accessible both to councillors and the public so we can verify what was said, by whom, and why. Officers on planning matters are inevitably members of the development industry with a vested interest in promoting development activity. We need to be careful about what they tell us in these circumstances. It is also important to representative democracy that we can determine if people allegedly representing us are making the same decisions we would make. Very infrequently we can vote councillors out but have no such power when officers make political decisions (which includes what information is made public or shared with councillors).
On a different yet controversial matter, State Government has made the claim that it has consulted with our Council, despite the lack of evidence. It is possible they meant that they talked to some council officers, who of course are NOT members of Council. In order for consultation to be said to have taken place, I think a report needs to go to Council so that Council can formally provide feedback via resolution. I’m very unhappy that Parliament has been misled on planning matters and that there have been no consequences for the perpetrators.
I’m also highlighting the role of councillors in ensuring that officers implement Council policies, comply with their delegated authority, AND that councillors ensure suitable constraints are placed on delegated authority. Under the ridiculous Local Government Act, nobody can be held accountable and there is no need to be transparent in decision-making, especially when done under delegated authority. The situation really sucks.
July 30, 2022 at 10:19 PM
At present we have no idea who is advocating for what.