Braeside Park
The Mayor has been invited to the Annual General meeting 22-8-99. This will be the 10th anniversary of the Park. A grant of $700 has been earmarked for a portable display board.
Port Phillip Conservation Council
Sandridge Beach is to be re-nourished with 100,000 cubic metres of sand taken from the Bayside area. Bayside Council has to give approval for the sand removal. Groynes are to be constructed at Sandridge. Lifesaving Clubs in Kingston have been generously funded – Mordialloc LSC : $14,500, Mentone LSC: $48,500, Aspendale LSC:- $20,750. National Park, Portsea likely to be privatised. The company operating the car ferry is interested. PPCC organised a tour 1-8-99 to Campbell Cove where 159 beach huts are enjoying a rent free existence on Crown Land.
Carrum Residents Action Group
The State Government plans to sell Bonbeach TAFE and CRAG have been given 12 months notice to re-locate their community plant nursery. The sale of TAFE, almost certainly for residential development, will mean a further loss of open space in the City of Kingston.
Kingston Conservation & Environment Coalition
The Editor of the KCEC newsletter Communique urges Friends groups to submit articles for publication in the newsletter. This is a valuable means of publicising each groups activities. The newsletter is widely distributed to Councillors, council officers and politicians. There is a change of venue for the October meeting to the Mordialloc Neighbourhood House. Meeting at 7th October at 7.30pm. This venue will be easier t to access for the non-driver members of KCEC!
There is concern that KCEC may be being sidelined by not being included, for example, on an important Foreshore Strategy Steering Committee. The Charter for KCEC was specifically to be involved on committees where environmental issues arose, however the majority of councillors are pro-development rather than pro-environment.
Friends of Rowan Woodlands / Friends of Namatjira Park
Rowan Woodlands had a successful planting day. A skate board ramp is being constructed on Namatjira Park. Cr Comtesse wants a leisure centre built on Namatjira Park but Westall Secondary College wants the leisure centre on the school site to enable students to make maximum use of the facility.
Woodlands Industrial Estate
18-7-99 a tour of Lake I on the Woodlands Industrial Estate was organised by the consultant. After a speedy inspection of the works during a rainstorm the party proceeded to the Carrum Sewage Treatment Plant to inspect the bio-solid which is to be used as fill for the lake. The bio-solid will be sandwiched between clay liners. Although we were assured that there would be no harmful effects to the environment through the use of this material, Melbourne Water have expressed surprise that conservation groups haven’t queried its use. An article in the New Scientist, August 29 1998 No2149 discusses the use of sludge and claims that “pathogens in sludge are most likely to reach humans via groundwater.
Epsom Training Track Panel Hearing
The Panel Hearing is to commence Sept 6-Sept 17. MBCL and community groups will be heard in the second week. The public can attend the hearings at Moorabbin Council offices. They run from 10am to 4.30pm.
Natural Resource Areas
Council’s Natural Resource Area Management Contractor SERCO, has been replaced by EXCELL (formerly Manako a NZ company). The contract is for five years and the change-over has once again meant the loss of work for some of the local, qualified and experienced workers in the Natural Resource Area. Community groups have been promised the help that they were given under the Serco contract.
The Environment Officers met KCEC/MBCL to discuss a Grant Application for $30,000 for a landscaping study of Kingston Foreshore. BP and MR were asked to meet with a DNRE officer who would assess the application with the help of the Environment officers.
Mordialloc Creek Dredging
The creek is to be dredged from the road bridge to the Chute street boat ramp and the dredge spoil pumped on land on the north side of wells road bridge. The spoil contains heavy metals. The EPA claim that they are monitoring the spoil on a daily basis.
Mordialloc Traffic Study
The Study will be presented to Council “late in August”. Not a great deal was achieved was the opinion of the community members of the steering committee. One of the solutions to Mordialloc’s traffic problems, which was supported by the committee, was the linking of South Road over Warrigal Road to a widened Boundary Road. This unfortunately is not one of local politician, Geoff Leigh’s immediate objectives despite it being the best means of alleviating traffic congestion in White Street.
Bicycle Path Extension
Janet Ablitt and Stephen Calvert-Smith (PPCC) opposed the extension of the bike path through the Beaumaris Cliff Reserve from Cromer Road to Charman Road and supported the MBCL and BUGS preferred option of the bicycle path on the verge of Beach Road into Kingston – an extension of the Bayside bike path.
Stephen and Penny attended a meeting at Black Rock to observe proposals for the Bayside foreshore.
Kingston Residential Strategy Focus Groups
Mentone-Parkdale-Mordialloc focus groups to discuss residential development in these suburbs will take place 4th September from 9am -12pm at the Alan Maclean Hall. It would be worthwhile to attend if possible because there will be pressure to change height limits particularly in Bayside suburbs and especially in the Mordialloc Activity Node. Ring Liz Nairn 9 556 4295 if you wish to attend.
Our President, Jack Cuthbertson, died 2nd August. A memorial service was held at Cheltenham 6th August. Members of KCEC, MBCL and Bay Rescue attended the service in the packed chapel. Although Jack joined MBCL in fairly recent times, my association with him goes back to the 1970s at Aspendale Tech. School, at Labor Party functions when we where still members, at protest rallys and in campaigns to prevent the sale of Rossdale Golf Course, the Theme Park, Keysborough, the Hains proposals and many others. Jack’s thorough research and never failing optimism in the face of formidable odds in the many campaigns was inspiring. His willingness to assist groups in their opposition to inappropriate developments despite his many other commitments was something for which we were immensely grateful. Vale, comrade.