Seasons greetings from the DCA

Seasons greetings everybody

Our DCA  Christmas party is on Wednesday, December 11 at the Harbour Kitchen on Victoria Harbour from 7.30 pm. It’s a wow of a night and everybody attends. Invitation flyers will be going to residents shortly. See you there. You can contact us about it on the email address below.

There’s a lot to mention.

There’s a groundswell of objections from Yarra’s Edge residents to the proposed tram bridge over the Yarra, close to the residential towers. The purpose of the bridge is to connect the Collins St tram at the end of Victoria Harbour with Port Melbourne and the Fishermans Bend development. There are other options for tram service routes. Objections have been lodged with authorities and the DCA has lodged a supporting objection.

I attended a presentation by Lend Lease of its development concept plan for their large Batman’s Hill site. Whilst they have been awarded the development rights, the proposed building plans have not yet been submitted for approval by the Minister. So they are engaging in the public consultation stage before that occurs, which is good. We hope we’ll be able to have some effect.

Just to clarify, the large site lies between the rear of Southern Cross Station and Collins Square and extends from Collins St to Flinders St. It is below the level of the Collins St overpass. The two proposed towers are a reasonable height. One is commercial and the other residential. Aspects always of concern to us are the amount of open space, building separation, wind tunnel effect and parking.

They say 1000 car spaces will be provided on-site. The other elements will be addressed later in planning applications. We would like to see more public open space than the 40m by 40m in the plans – part of which is a separate small area.

The DCA has responded to the Local Government Electoral Review saying the ward system should be adopted for the City of Melbourne. Under the present system there is no councillor representing any particular area especially so in our case where none of the councillors lives in Docklands. We have also supported a call by other community groups for limitations on campaign contributions/ donations with proper transparency and for the re-introduction of attendance voting with postal voting optional, to increase interest and participation.

The quarterly meeting of the Owners Corporation Network was held on November 21. Regarding serviced apartments, in the Watergate case council’s appeal to the Supreme Court  hearing is set down to go before a Full Panel of the Supreme Court, with three judges, on December 2-3. A decision may not be handed down until the new year.

Other matters discussed included strata management and greater public notification of developer plans proposed by the DPCD following discussion with Minister Guy.

The Inner Melbourne Planning Alliance is due to meet again on December 12. The newly-formed alliance is in the process of setting up structure and procedures. A main topic at present is the Fishermans Bend re-development with Port Phillip residents having made a major submission.

Speeding cyclists on the Esplanade and NewQuay Promenade continue to be a problem, despite the problem having been raised with both the police and council.

They scare pedestrians who can’t hear them coming. They refuse to fit bells or use them although required by law to do so. The problem is exacerbated by there being no speed limit for bicycles or any registration requirement. The State Government needs to step in.

Places Victoria is putting on a public display in its offices at 710 Collins St of the plans for development of Western Park, at the end of Docklands Drive.  Times are 3pm to 7pm on December 5 and 10am to 2pm December 7.

If any reader would like to become a member of the DCA or has any suggestions they wish to put forward regarding activities or issues, they are welcome to contact us on [email protected]

If you would like to talk to me about any aspect you are welcome to call me on 0412 097 706.  You can also keep up with things on our website http://www.docklandscommunityassociation.com

Safe and merry Christmas and happy new year to everybody
Roger Gardner
President DCA