Rosstown Street Stall - Carnegie - Sat 26th March

Come along have your say and meet your local Rosstown ward councillors.

When - Saturday 26th March 10 - 12pm

Where- Koornang Rd Carnegie (outside library)

Along with Crs Margaret Esakoff and Steven Tang , I will be very keen to listen and hear about any issues and concerns.

Glen Eira planning scheme review - Rosstown Consultation Meeting this thursday

Glen Eira is presently undertaking a review of its planning scheme. Public consulatation meetings are being held in each ward. These meetings are an opportunity for residents to have their say about various planning issues in the community including-

* any zoning or overlay inconsistancies
* the effectiveness of having significant character areas
* the use of structure plans for activity centres
* transitioning from housing diversity to minimal change areas
* emerging issues such as the relevency and need of master plans by institutions
* use of development contributions (eg open space and drainage)

Thursday 29 April (rosstown ward)
7-9pm
Packer Park hall
Leila rd Carnegie

Monday 3 May (camden ward)
7-9pm
Caulfied Park pavilion
off Balaclava rd
Caulfield

full details of the consultation and review process can be viewed at
www.gleneira.vic.gov.au/Files/Planning_Scheme_Review.PDF

ROSSTOWN Ward Community Forum March 24 & 25

Last year I ran three community forums which I felt were very informative and beneficial to all who participated. Having made a committment to run quarterly forums throughout the four year council term ( missed dec thru being unwell) am very keen to recommence these meetings in 2010.

The October forum focusing on early childhood services, in particular the lack of kindergarten places in Glen Eira was especially relevant to current council policies. The present increased activity by council in addressing this issue is due in some moderate part to the efforts of those who attended.

The next forum will be organised by all the Rosstown Crs - Steven Tang, Margaret Esakoff and moi on the following dates and times.

Wednesday 24th March
12.30pm
upstairs Boyd Room
Carnegie Library
Shepparson Ave
Carnegie

Thursday 25th March
7 pm
Packer Park Hall
Leila rd
Murrumbeena

Light refreshments provided at both forums

Everyone welcome-Hope to see you there!

Suggestions and Ideas Part 2 - Community Forum 27/7

This is the second part of this article with comments noted on the progress on bringing some of these worthwhile improvements to council.

EMail subscription service for residents that would contain a sypnosis of the upcoming council agenda with links enabling people to scan deeper for more detail if required. Also suggested that there should be a place for public letters on the website for residents to express their views.

Community Notice Boards in council facilties and other sites in the muncipality- comment - both the email sypnosis and notice board ideas were discussed recently at a community consultation committee meeting with recommendations forthcoming

Notice of Motion- Concerns were raised that Glen Eira unlike the vast majority of councils in Victoria ,doesnt have a 'notice of motion' option in its local law or in the proposed draft. This is a procedure where Councillors may ensure that an item is listed on councils agenda. comment-with submissions on the GEs Local Law Draft due by the 29/9 this will quite probably be one of the important issues raised to be discussed by council

Vision - There was a feeling from participants about the need for a visioning process in GE that residents can be involved in and positively contribute in relation to how our municipality and council will develop into the future.

footnote - there was a response to some issues raised at this forum from Cr Tang that i believe were misquoted in the Leader- from my experience Steven has continuelly shown to be interested and open to ways of improving community consultation.

Suggestions and Ideas - Part 1 Community Consulation held 27/7

Here are part of the range of suggestions, initiatives and ideas that were conveyed from those attending the last community forum in late July- with comments about the progress of bringing some of these into fruition.

Council should place ads seeking public involvement in the front section of the Leader (as Port Phillip does ) rather than at the back. Also residents should be able to sign up for an email list to recieve information and be able to view a synopsis of meeting agendas .comment - this has been discussd at a recent Community Consultation Committee(CCC) meeting with minutes and recommendations forthcoming.

Especially after what happenned at Lords Res there is an important need for far greater consultation and communication with residents and park users whenever significant works are planned.- Comment Crs have requested meaures to ensure this does take place with admin also to provide greater detail and information to crs about upcoming works.

Concerns were raised about the safety aspects of unfenced parks- comment -data available from other simliar sites in GE suggests unfenced parks have not had a worse safety record .

Planning -there was an important need in Glen Eira to more widely consult on planning issues about how our future community should develop . Structure planning , involving all stakeholders particularily in our shopping strips and residential zones is sorely needed.
comment- there is much merit in this process and I will continue to advocate.

Several participants spoke of Councils relunctance to meet and consult with their respective groups because of past critisms/experiences. comment Council should be available to meet and discuss any issues with all groups in our community with none being excluded.

Residents are forced sometimes to access neighboring council services and programs because of GE s relunctance to do so- Solar bulk buys from PPhillip and indigenous plants from Bayside nursey were mentioned- comment i would like to see GE allocate more funds for programs and services to properly serve our community and will, with more cr experience now gained, be better able to articulate this next financial year!

The GE website needed a major overhaul and was very user unfriendly-comment - work is currently being done to rectify this.

Packer Park Community Consultation Meeting Mon 24/7

With approx 60 other members of the community I attended a consultation meeting at the park's meeting rooms to listen to the concerns raised re the proposed "improvements to Packer Park" in Murrumbeena.

Council has recently put forward a proposal to sell the disused Mckinnon Bowling Club site located on the western side of PP, incl plans for the construction of 8 two-storey townhouses, to finance the aquirement of two properties at 112 and 118 Oakleigh rd that are presently bordered on 3 sides by the park. The two properties account for 60% the size of the MBC site- as part of this proposal the excess monies from the sale/acq will be earmarked for acquiring public open space in possibly the Carnegie neighbourhood centre.

I felt the concerns raised by quite a passionate audience could be summerised as follows;

- this was not a land swap but a loss of public open space(POS)
- once lost this open space won't be replaced
- the aquirement of the two properties should not be linked to the future of the MBC site
- whilst the acquirements are welcome ,council should not fund this thru selling POS
- there are many potential uses for the MBC site that can benefit the whole community
- GE has one of the lowest POS in melb and with increasing housing density we need more not less

I certainly have deep concerns about council selling off any POS , particularily in Rosstown Ward and this was reinforced by listening to residents on Mon evening.

Public submissions on this proposal close Sept 9, and will be heard on Sept 29.
It is intended that there will be a vote by Council in October.

Community Forum July 09 - overview

Improving Community Engagement and Consultation in Glen Eira

On Monday night at the Boyd Room in Carnegie Library a very successful community meeting was held with 33 participants attending.

Whilst problems in our municipality on this issue were certainly acknowledged the theme for the night was on how to identify effective solutions on which our council can improve its performance and embrace best practises.
A full summary of the discussion will be posted next week detailing these problems and solutions.

Below is a brief summary of the opening address I provided outlining my thoughts-

The expertise, opinions and experiences of the community in GE are not fully valued and appreciated.
There is a culture in the Council/Admin that says 'we know best' and those whose views differ are too easily dismisssed as a 'noisy minority' and are unworthy of consideration.

The Council seems to be run more like a company than a local governing body and that widespread cultural change will probably only happen with personal changes.
However there is some scope for positive progress in this term as I feel that the current council is more progressive than previously.

Community representatives on advisory committees should be the norm not the exception.
The council meeting processes should be changed-
to allow the gallery to address the council
councillors to have greater input into public questions
The local law draft needs to be closely looked at especially where it could constrict public engagement in the meeting process.

I also mentioned the chamber should be relocated to a far more modern room that is more condusive to community interaction!

The council website can be further improved and enhanced .

I feel these forums will become increasingly important in helping to improve and reform our council and have been heartened by the feedback so far, only 14 to go!
The next forum will be held in late September with EARLY CHILDHOOD SERVICES IN GLEN EIRA being the issue to be canvassed.

Special thanks to Rose for facilitating and for all those who attended.

REMINDER - Next Quarterly COMMUNITY OPEN FORUM Monday 27th July

How can local government develop effective resident participation? And what are the implications for Glen Eira?

These are the issues to be tackled in this second quarterly open forum. Please come along to help to provide some answers to these important questions:

When: Monday 27th July 7.30 pm

Where: Carnegie Library (upstairs) Boyd Room, Shepparson St, Carnegie

Many people and organisations in Glen Eira have been critical of what they have seen as Glen Eira Council's lack of commitment to effectively engaging the community. Now is the time to develop specific proposals to help Council lift its game and to work to get those proposals implemented.

This is intended to be a forum for seeking solutions. Your involvement in contributing to seeking those solutions is very welcome!