Elwood Floods Forum - Monday March 26th

With the recent aniversary of the February 2011 floods the following community forum -details below from webpage listed in links-organised by the local environment group LIVE is very timely .

I have accepted an invitation to speak as a Glen Eira councillor - with the vast majority of run-off coming from our muncipality this is an increasingly important issue and one that was raised at last Thursday's community plan forum in Ormond.

The Elwood Floods Forum will be held as follows:

7pm-9pm Monday 26 March 2012
Phoenix Theatre, Elwood College,
101 Glen Huntly Road, Elwood

WHY hold a FORUM on FLOODS?
In February 2011 Elwood was devastated by a flood. It was called a 1 in 500 year flood. However if you actually look at the records, there was a similar flood in February 1989, and another in the 1960's. The records show that there is a major flood in Elwood, about once every 20 years.

Many questions spring to mind:

■Is the 1 in 500 year flood really a 1 in 20 year flood?
■Will major floods become more frequent?
■When floods do occur, will they be worse, and do more damage?
■Can something be done about the floods?
■Who is responsible for taking action, and what are they doing?
■What are the responsibilities of Council, State and Federal Government and Melbourne Water?
■If the next flood struck tomorrow, are people prepared?
■Are homes adequately insured? Are insurance premiums now prohibitively expensive?
■If you can't return to your home where can you go?

LIVE is organising the Elwood Floods Forum to ask these questions of people in positions of responsibility. We are not seeking to blame anyone for the floods, or the damage they do. We just want to understand the current situation, and to discuss practical responses with those who have the power to do something.

Speakers are:

Felicity Browning and Meni Christofakis - Elwood residents flooded in 2010 will speak of their experience.Audience members who were flooded will be invited to tell of their experiences.

Then the following speakers will have 5 minutes each to respond:

■Rachel Powning, Mayor of the City of Port Phillip
■Martin Foley MP, State Labor Member for Albert Park
■We hope that the State Government Minister Water, Peter Walsh, will speak.
■Adam Bandt MP, Federal Greens Member for Melbourne
■Rufus Coffield-Feith, Elwood Resident and Australian Youth Climate Coalition co-president
■David Spratt, Climate Change Expert, co-Author of Climate Code Red
Questions and debate: The audience will be invited to ask questions.

Also present will be experts on Flood Insurance, Real Estate, Flood Prevention, Emergency Services, Melbourne Water, Local Councils and State Government representatives. These people will be introduced at the commencement of the forum and will be asked to respond to questions appropriate to their roles

Rosstown Community forums coming up

Every five years Councils are required to adopt a Community Plan which identifies and outlines the priorities, issues and direction that each municipality will work to over this time period.

The present plan in Glen Eira is from 2008-13. I would to have preferred that the plan be consulted and formulated in the first half of 2013, that is at the end of the time not 3/4 thru. This would have allowed the full data from the recent census (not yet available) to be used and a new councillor group post election in have input. I wasn't in the majority here.

Saying that the following community consultation forums are still very important in providing residents with the opportunity to have input into the Glen Eira Community plan.

Thursday 16 February 2012 - Glen Huntly, McKinnon and Ormond residents
7pm-9pm
Ormond Senior Citizens Centre
2 Newham Grove, Ormond

Wednesday 22 February 2012 - Carnegie and Murrumbeena residents
7pm-9pm
Carnegie Library and Community Centre – Boyd Room
7 Shepparson Avenue, Carnegie

Other forums covering all wards are listed in the council homepage - see links

Party in the Park - Princes Park Sun Jan 15th

Princes Park
Sunday 15 January 12pm–4pm
Hawthorn Road, Caulfield South
Melways reference: 67 H7

The first community event for the year will be held next Sunday week and is outlined from Council's homepage below;

Party in the Park at Princes Park is a free day of family fun and entertainment hosted by master of mime, Jack Dan.

Join Blinky Bill as he sings and dances his way through a musical adventure show, which features terrific bush tunes, interactive singing, dancing, activities and the slapstick comedy for which Blinky Bill is most famous. Then step into the theatrical past and the golden age of magic with The Carnival of Dreams — an entertaining and mystifying stage show of magic, illusion, movement and conjuring in a cabaret and vaudevillian style. In The Carnival of Dreams, Madotti and Vegas bring over 10 years of magic experience to the stage, having performed in Berlin, Japan, Hong Kong and throughout Australia.

Come and see the amazing stilt-walking Praying Mantis, who comes from a world where blades of grass grow above your head and insects are bigger than cars. Gorgeous, feminine and fantastical, the highly skilled stilt-walking flowers are cheeky, flirtatious and elegant.

Activities include jumping castle, art and craft activities for children, community information stalls, food stalls, magic workshops, balloons and much more!

Community Events for summer

Serving on the Arts and Culture Committee for the past two years has been both interesting and rewarding. One of the most enjoyable aspects has been having some input into the popular Party in the Park series, fun and free community events.

This summer for the first time there will be an evening concert event at Packer Park Carnegie featuring renowned recording and live artist Clare Bowditch pictured, local band Tinpan Orange and recent battle of the bands winner High Voltage.
One not be missed!

Princes Park - Sunday 15 January - Daytime family event 12-4pm with lots of great childrens entertainers including Blinky Bill.

Packer Park - Under the Stars - Saturday 11 February -Evening concert event from 6pm Featuring Clare Bowditch.

Allnutt Park - Sunday 26 February - Daytime family event 12-4pm -fun for all the family with magicians, performers and the ever popular Pet Expo.