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Mordialloc Beaumaris Conservation League – Minutes – 7th September 2005

Rare Event! A cancelled meeting due to lack of a quorum! A combination of illnesses, prior engagements and work commitments caused the cancellation.. Never-the-less much has happened in the intervening period. Important decisions will have to be made about the sale of parks, the bike path route and landscaping of the Peter Scullin Reserve. Once again Best Wishes to family members who are unwell.

Forthcoming Events

Kingston Environment Groups Network meeting 6th October, 6.30pm at the Fujitsu Building – a presentation by Mike Hill on the Sustainability Accord. Waterkeepers Australia at the Green Building, 60 Leicester Street, Carlton Friday Nov 4 1.30pm 5pm. Worksop to explain the EPBC Act and how the referral and assessment process works. Union of Australian Women Saturday 22 October at Mordialloc Neighbourhood House, 2pm. Cost $5. Guest Speakers Caroline Hirsh and Ann Corcoran. Port Phillip Conservation Council AGM. 17 October. Guest Speaker – Doug Miller from DSE. A good opportunity for MBCL delegates to ask some pertinent questions about the proposed bike road on Kingston’ foreshore! Kingston Council have rejected a ‘back of kerb’ option according to the Leader. Watch For a forum organised by the Friends of Kingston towards the end of October when issues affecting residential amenity, sustainability, community involvement in effective decision making will be topics for discussion.

Reports

Two valuable reports have been released this month. They are The Expanding Urban Frontier: Urban Form in Melbourne’s Growth Corridors by Michael Buxton and Jan Scheurer and Sustainable Cities the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Environment and Heritage. The latter discusses such topics as Water, Building Design and Management, Transport and Urban Sprawl. Urban Sprawl is discussed also in the Buxton Report. However there is no easy answer to most of these issues. Unless the Government takes control of planning as they have done in the billion dollar re-development proposed for Dandenong. This takes planning out of the hands of local government and removes the right of third parties to object.

Healthy Rivers

Environment Victoria’s Annual report commends people committed to speaking out for their local rivers. Should MBCL speak out about Mordialloc Creek?? Waterkeepers, of which MBCL is a member will provide additional support for river advocates according to the report.

Golf course and Resort Accommodation Keysborough

Despite a stern letter from Rob Hulls stating that the State Government is “committed to protection of Melbourne’s green wedges from inappropriate development” it appears that Dandenong Council was testing the water yet again. Mr Hulls concludes his letter “I will closely monitor the progress of the application and will take appropriate action if I believed that State planning is being compromised.”

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Mordialloc Beaumaris Conservation League – Minutes – 1st June 2005

Congratulations to Councillor Rosemary West, former Age and Leader journalist, who on 27th June was awarded honorary membership by the Australian Journalists Association! Quite a coup for Kingston Council to have a councillor on board with the wealth of skills and experience which Rosemary has!
We trust that David E. is making great progress in his current battle with ill-health.

Correspondence

Bill has prepared several papers dealing with State wide issues which also impact on local councils. Paper No.1 dealt with M2030 policy on housing and the need for improved public transport if M2030 is to succeed as envisaged. At present the Brack’s Government seems to be ‘improving’ public transport with buses. Paper No 2 to the Independent deploring Council’s lack of a substantial environmental policy, and Paper No.3 is a Submission to the Victorian Environment Assessment Council River Red Gum Forests Investigation. We are grateful to Bill for the research and effort in producing detailed documents of this calibre. We need now to persuade Kingston Council that our mature trees are also worthy of preservation rather dispensable items to make way for views or developments.

Mordialloc Creek Water Quality

A copy of Stephen Hains letter was sent to Melbourne Water in the hope that a decision may be taken to monitor water quality as it enters and leaves the wetlands at Waterways. However we have been referred to another MW contact for further discussion. In the mean time the EPA have conducted a survey of toxic sites around Melbourne. Hobson’s Bay has the most contaminated sites with 14 and Kingston comes second with 8. Priority sites are those where pollution presents an unacceptable risk to health and groundwater. Interestingly “owners are forced to pay for a clean up or to stop groundwater pollution.” How will this affect the Alex Fraser concrete crushing activities in a former sand quarry full of contaminated groundwater?? And are these eight contaminated sites in Kingston adding to the poor water quality in Mordialloc Creek?

Keysborough Golf Club

Keysborough Golf Club in the Green Wedge is still bubbling along. This is Watson’s development. Golf course, clubhouse, pro-shop, restaurant, function centre, maintenance building, together with 394 dwellings. Objections have been lodged.

Bike Path Saga Continues

MBCL was represented on a Mordialloc Village community bus tour of the foreshore 18th June. CEO, Strategic Planner and Mayor, and an elderly councillor who claimed he had never seen the Bayside bike path but never-the-less didn’t want a shared path on the verge of Beach Road. Response from other committee members was disappointing. The feeling is that the Mayor etc, don’t want any discussion or debate. The attitude is one of defensiveness and claiming concern for vegetation removal but not wanting any discussion about the council’s policy of foreshore management which will see removal of understorey and ‘pruning’. The proposed meeting with the DSE has not yet eventuated though DSE people have met with Belinda Ainley and possibly others to spin their idea of veg. management. Stephen’s survey finds people wish to retain the sandy walking cliff top path.

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