Forum makes way for ‘‘Spring Clean’’

By Sean Car

The Docklands Representative Group’s (DRG) scheduled Community Forum on September 18 will not go ahead as planned. The DRG will instead stage an event for locals in partnership with the annual Spring Clean the City event on September 21.

The DRG, in partnership with the Docklands Chamber of Commerce, had intended to host its forum at Marvel Stadium this month for the AFL to brief locals and businesses on its plans to redevelop the stadium and surrounding precinct.

But the event has been postponed due to the AFL’s plans being months behind schedule and the news left the DRG in somewhat of a bind last month as it sought to find a new theme to engage locals.

However, in the midst of the ongoing recycling and waste management crisis gripping our city at present, DRG chair Jason Ting told Docklands News last month that it would instead use the opportunity to focus on sustainability.

On September 21, it will help launch the new Love Our Streets Docklands group, otherwise known as LOS3008, starting from Queensbridge Square in Southbank as part of the Spring Clean the City event.

It’s expected that LOS3008 will eventually make its way back to Harbour Esplanade outside Cow Up A Tree, where the DRG, with the support of the City of Melbourne, will host a series of waste pop-ups before a clean of Docklands begins (read more on page 15).

Mr Ting said he hoped the event would provide locals with a platform to connect with the DRG and engage on others issues that the group might be able to support the community with.

“We are hoping that people come along and go ‘what is the DRG’?” Mr Ting said. “They have an opportunity to come and meet us. We’d love other community groups to come and touch base with us as well so that we can begin to understand how they do things and what models they use.”

“It’s important, just like with LOS3008, to find common projects that we might be able to support them on.”

Mr Ting moved to Docklands from the Mornington Peninsula three years ago and said that prior to settling here, he had only heard bad things about the area. However, as soon as he saw it for himself, he said he quickly learned that it was “pretty damn good!”

“When I moved here I was looking for ways to involve myself in the community,” he said. “It was new to me so I thought what better way to engage with the people, find out what’s going on and develop a sense belong to the place by joining a group.”

While the original 20 members of the DRG has been reduced to eight, Mr Ting said it was simply a sign of people coming and going. And with the City of Melbourne now having removed the group’s “training wheels”, he said it was looking forward to embarking on a recruitment drive from 2020.

In the meantime, he encouraged any locals who were interested in their community and connecting with neighbours to get involved and help the DRG evolve “organically”.

“I think it’s about offering a place for the community to get together, to get to know each other, to get to know what’s going and to have a place to talk about things,” he said.