Caulfield Racecourse- motion passed

At last Tuesday's 22nd Feb meeting Council unanimously passsed the following motion;

Council’s vision for the Crown Land known as the Caulfield Racecourse Reserve be codified so that the State Government has a clear and unambiguous picture of how Council envisions the land to be shared between the uses of a racecourse, a public recreation ground and a public park, as follows.

1-That the opaque fences be replaced by palisade fencing as soon as possible;
2-That the centre of the circumferential training tracks be fenced off and the general public be given exclusive and unrestricted access via the tunnel from Glen Eira Road to this entire area;
3-That the MRC landscape this area to plans and specifications to be agreed with Council, but which will include sporting ovals, areas for passive use, change areas and toilets;
4-That a firm timetable be set for the expeditious removal of horse training from the CRR so the Crown Land used for training can be made progressively available for unrestricted public use.
5-Aside from the tunnel, further public access should be provided to the new public park.
6-No car parking is permitted in the new park area other than for users of that facility.
7. That the Caulfield Racecourse Reserve be administered by an Independent Caulfield Racecourse Reserve Trust not dominated by any one group.

I was very pleased to support this motion moved and seconded by Crs Penhalluriack and Forge and viewed it as an important step forward in resolving the present inequitable situation

Ewaste collection day - Town Hall Sun Feb 27th

The next ewaste collection day will be held at the Town Hall carpark (cnr Hawthorn and Glen Eira rds) from 8am to 4pm.

This is the second of three collection days scheduled for this financial year after council last year allocated upto $ 64k to trial this service in each ward.

The first held in Carnegie in October was a resounding success with approx 27 tonnes of ewaste that included the likes of TVs and computers collected for recycling that otherwise would have ended up in landfill.

Ewaste that is being put out with hard rubbish has been an ever increasing problem especially in recent years as anyone driving or riding around the streets of Glen Eira will testify to. The practical enactment of national codes governing this problem is still several years away - these days provide some opportunity for residents to dispose of their ewaste in an environmentally responsible way.

Flooding in Boyd Park Murrumbeena

Last Friday night I rode down to Boyd Park to witness the effects of the torrential downpour that was occurring.

Amazing sights with the northern end of the park a lake and Wilson st towards Dandenong Rd an over metre deep torrent with a strong current which was a battle to get thru.

Cars parked in Wilson St were beginning to float and roll- Many of the houses on both sides of the park were unfortunately on the verge of being flooded with water approaching the verandahs.

Was sheltering in the BBQ area making a call on when over a few minutes torrents of water started sweeping down from the streets to the north, - the streets had become small rivers!

In December council voted to match a Federal govt grant of $500k to construct a 1.5million litre underground reservoir under Boyd Park that will help to alleviate flooding on both sides of the park and allow stormwater captured to be used for irrigation of Boyd and other parks.

It was quite a battle to see this approved but feel the ensuring circumstances that are predicted to happen more frequently in the future have certainly endorsed this decision

Elsternwick Childcare Centre- to close?

The Elsternwick Childcare Centre (ECC) at 469 Kooyong Rd has been providing quality childcare for the community for the past 22 years on a site leased from Alfred Health (who run the Caulfield hospital)

Alfred Health gave notice last year of its intention not to renew the lease arrangement beyond Xmas Eve 2011 and is currently participating in a review of its Kooyong Rd sites.

This potientially means the closure of one of our four council-run community childcare centres.

These centres play an important role in providing quality , local childcare and providing an excellent choice for many parents. With waiting lists and few vacancies for childcare places in this area any withdrawal of council services from this sector would compound an already growing problem.

I have been advocating strongly over the past six months that council should do everything it can to secure the centre's future and in October seconded the following motion

"In order to ensure the continuity of childcare in Elsternwick and align Elsternwick Children’s Centre with Council’s other long day care centres, Council seek the assistance of state government to use all means available to enable the land at 269 Kooyong Rd Elsternwick (lots 3 and 4) to continue to be used as a childcare centre as it has for the past 21 years"

The Save Local Childcare group formed as a response to this situation and have been very active in highlighting the importance of and campaigning for the centres future.

E-Waste collection day in Carnegie

E-Waste , electronic waste that includes discarded TVs and computers is a growing problem across all municipalities.

Whilst the vast bulk of this waste is able to be recycled up,until now in Glen Eira this has all ended up in landfill as part of the hard rubbish collection- one has to only drive around our streets to see the exent of the problem.

In this years budget council has allocated funds to run three e-waste collection days across the wards . Residents will be able to responsibly discard of all their ewaste at these drop off points.

The first day will be held at the

Carnegie Pool carpark
Moira Ave
off Koornang Rd Carnegie

Saturday 9th October
8am - 4pm

Mary Walsh

I was very sad to hear of the passing of Mary Walsh last week-

Mary was a great character who championed many local and broader issues.

While we agreed to disagree on several important issues, I certainly admired her tenacity and efforts as a community activist and fondly remember many lively discussions.

Condolences and sympathies to Kevin and family

draft Glen Eira Bicycle Strategy released

The GE draft Bicycle Strategy has recently been released for community comment.

The strategy is a comprehensive plan that was developed over the past six months and involved two public consultation meetings.

The last GE strategy was formulated in 2000 and much as changed in the past ten years. Where previously cycling was seen as primarily a recreation open space related activity, increasingly across Melbourne it is now viewed as an important mode of sustainable transport that is vital to relieving traffic congestion and contibuting to a more liveable city.

This is indeed true in Glen Eira. Our relatively flat terrain and gridlike network of roadways lends itself to good bikeways. This is not just about cyclists its about creating a safe and efficient transport network for all - pedestrians and car drivers included.

The strategy is costed at $2.1 million over upto ten years. A significant proportion of this -upto approx 40% can be externally funded .

Presently $100k is allocated in our draft budget for 2010/11. I would like to see this increased to allow for a bold and serious start in implementing this strategy.

Details at - submissions close Friday 2nd July
http://www.gleneira.vic.gov.au/Files/draft_Glen_Eira_Bicycle_Strategy_v3.2.pdf