News from the DCA

Greetings everybody

The forthcoming opening of the new community centre and library will provide a great opportunity for members of various ages to enjoy passive and active recreation ranging, as I understand it, from media development and entertainment, to group meetings and, of course, library use.

The existing Hub will continue to have sports and other activities. I will continue to email out lists of activities and news to members from Etihad Stadium, council, the Hub, Port of Melbourne and others as they come to hand.

Additionally, young members of our committee will be looking at the idea of organising social activities for young people in the Docklands community, comprising mainly resident students and workers. There are a lot of these people living here in apartments.

In my column last month I highlighted concern over the type of redevelopment of the Harbour Esplanade. This extensive area between the tramlines, bicycle paths and the waterfront needs to be developed as an iconic centrepiece of Docklands.

Places Victoria and council keep insisting however that, regardless of public consultation, they intend putting old cargo sheds on it. This would just serve to cement the sterility. We’ve already suggested it should be a linear park, an excellent example of which is at Broadbeach on the Gold Coast. We await release of concept plans. Lack of funds has been given as delaying the project but that comes down to priorities and we think it’s time for the project to be given priority.

On the serviced apartment front, besides the Watergate issue being referred back to the Building Appeals Board, we are awaiting release of draft legislation by Minister Guy.

The DCA is a member of IMPA, the Inner Melbourne Planning Alliance, a combined group initiated by architects and urban planners to work together on submissions on major development projects. Our involvement is to provide input of the Docklands experience. The group, now a registered association, comprises representatives from various resident associations including Port Phillip, Carlton, Flemington-Kensington, North and West Melbourne and Southbank.

The wheel keeps turning! A radio host said the other day that the kaleidoscopic lighting on the wheel at night looked bad when he crossed Bolte bridge. I replied that I hadn’t heard of any complaints and that it showed off the wheel for miles around which promoted it and Docklands.  People I talk to regularly in Harbour Town are hoping for increasing visitors and shoppers.

At the Owners Corporation Network Victoria meeting last week it was decided to set up a sub-committee to review incorporation rules using the rules of established groups in NSW and Queensland. An objective is to establish, in due course, a national front for the purpose of developing unified policy submissions on issues such as Owners Corporation legislation and major development projects.

In a recent communication to councillors on behalf of the area criticising development excesses I stated that council responses were feeble and that Places Victoria rubber-stamps developer plans, with resident welfare and amenity treated as irrelevant. It was gratifying therefore to see in Tuesday’s press a reported statement by council’s design director, Rob Adams, at least questioning the government’s strategy. He asked how can we continue to build a large number of developments straight up off the footpath and retain the amenity of the public realm. That needs to be followed up with criticism by council of elements of specific projects as required before approved by the department and the Minister. Elements given scant regard include sunlight, green space, privacy and wind tunnel effect.

I will be following up regarding monitoring of cyclist behaviour and crime stats for Docklands at the next Police and Community Meeting.

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

Regards to all
Roger Gardner
President DCA