Community Conversations in Sunshine

It was great to see such a great turn out of local residents to discuss Sunvale and other local issues despite councils very poor effort to promote the event and despite the poor location

Residents continue to raise many of the same issues - they want local facilities and services, the want action on climate change and they do not want developers to make huge profits by getting away with building huge amounts of unsustainable housing that brings an increased density of population with no corresponding increase to support this with adequate facilities and green places

Rally to save Sunvale - from developers!

Sunday's rally saw a great turn up of about 40-50 local residents angry about the lack of genuine consultation, the lack of planning for proper community facilities and the lack of planning for genuine affordable housing instead of just catering to the interests of developers

I have written many times on this blog about the issues at Sunvale and my position has not changed

I do not think more housing on this site is appropriate. Council's own open space strategy identifies a need for more open space in this area and there is also a need for community meeting space and facilities (especially for youth). The community has high levels of disadvantage and this needs to be addressed with an increased level of services and facilities not less!

While council's plan to keep half the space for open space and half for housing is better than nothing, it fails to take into account the serve disadvantage in this area and the wishes of our community. If it had properly consulted with the community, it may have been able to discuss these issues thoroughly and arrived ata compromise...but to date it has failed to do this!

I think urgent and genuine consultation with the sunshine community is critical

I support public housing as the only real solution to the housing affordability crisis, but will this housing be public or just cheap! The last thing we need is large numbers people living in cheap and nasty housing which will entrench their disadvantage. We need to start demanding high quality public housing that you and I would live in.

I also support infill development in places that have good community infrastructure. But who says we have good community infrastructure!!! Our infrastructure is lousy and has been suffering from underinvestment from Labor neglect for at least the last 20 years!

Where is the complete analysis of our housing needs, do we need more buildings to be built or are there houses sitting vacant in Toorak and Brighton that could be public housing and already have good infratructure and green places that would support and increase in density better than Sunshine.

Where and when is Sunshine going to get the infrastructure it needs right now!

While State government policy continues to allow a shifting UGB and a seemingly endless stream of financial support for developers profits at the expense of local communities - we should be sceptical of plans to build new cheap and nasty high density developments

Sunvale deception

I am very concerned that Council's postcard campaign is a deception.

Members of our community have been signing the Sunvale petition that Council has been promoting because they thought what they were signing was a call for "community use".

Community use to most people means parks and community facilities...not a sell off to developers!

We need to immediately call on council to change its position and demand that the land remain 100% in public hands for open space and community facilities

Sunvale PS - a small victory
Council voted last night to support part of my motion for the immediate consultation with the Sunshine Community!

Council has recently decided it will work with the Sunshine community via a new online petition and the post card campaign and I am very concerned that this campaign is not genuine.

While the petition and postcards are calling for Sunvale to be kept for community use, Council's position has not altered. Council's position remains that it supports affordable/social housing and 0.8 hectare for open space. While genuine affordable housing (ie public housing) might be important for our commuity, 'affordable housing' usually means a sell off to developers for cheap and nasty housing.

I think my definition of 'community use' is probably like most people's . When I think of community use I think of parks, playgrounds and community facilities.... I don't think of a sell off to developers.

The Sunshine community deserves to have a say on what it wants for this site. When the issue first arose, the community was promised discussion and consultation and yet Council have yet to ask our community what they want for Sunvale.

In light of this Council campaign, I again put forward a motion that Council resolves to:
1. advocate for the Sunvale PS site to remain 100% in public hands
2. begin immediate consultation with the Sunshine community about the its wishes for the development for the site

And Council voted last night to support the immediate consultation with the Sunshine Community
While they would not support the call to keep the site 100% in public hands, I have no doubt that this is what the Sunshine community will call for during the consultation.

At last, Council is prepared to listen to the views of the community! Lets hope they keep listening...

Retrofitting the West
Council is participating in a fantastic initiative led by the City of Maribyrnong to supply, and install a suite of residential retrofit services to maximise state and fed rebates currently available eg. solar hot water, free energy/waste/water assessments/green loans info/insulation etc

Aboriginal Artefacts in Brimbank
After many months of trying to get Council to facilitate contact with Aboriginal Affairs to acknowledge a local resident (in my ward) who has discovered aboriginal stone tools along our local section of creek, Aboriginal Affairs are finally coming to Brimbank to take a look next week!

Community meeting
I have called a community meeting for this Wednesday night with our local Greens branch to discuss the Ombudsman’s report and other local emerging issues in Brimbank. This will be the first time the community has had a chance to discuss these important issues in a public forum like this.

Sunvale PS site
This is a complex issue that on the face of it looks like it supports increased housing development in an area that is close to a train station etc and would be in line with Greens policy. I have opposed the Council’s position on this development because on closer inspection it is simply supporting a sell off of the primary school site to developers. There has been no consultation with the Sunshine community over the development of this site but the community have been continually asking for it. When community members became aware of the possible sale, SUNRAA wrote on their behalf to both the Minister and Brimbank Council CEO Nick Foa to outline what they thought the site should be used for. When Council conducted the ‘Creating Better Parks’ community consultations the participants were unequivocal about the need for more open space and community meeting facilities.
Now that Council has decided it will work with the Sunshine community to advocate to the State Government to keep the Sunvale site for community use, I believe we need to ensure that Council’s desire for a partnership is genuine.
We will not be successful in this campaign if we cannot work together and genuinely listen to the needs of our community. When community members became aware of the possible sale, they were led to believe a separate discussion on the development of the site would take place. This has not happened.
Nevertheless when Council conducted the 'Creating Better Parks' community consultations the community said loud and clear that it needs more open space and community meeting facilities
They did not say they wanted a sell off to developers.
Even though councils current position says its preferred option is 0.8 of a hectare retained for public open space, it also says it is open to negotiation and it does not stress the importance of us getting a better deal because of severe disadvantage
It also concerns me that the report is saying we advocate for affordable housing without specifying what that is.
We all know that affordable housing/social housing can mean a multitude of things – none of which have been properly discussed with our community. It can mean a sell off to developers who are going to build what they can most cheaply to maximise their profit. It can mean social housing with tenants that are in supported accommodation. It can mean public housing and it can mean housing that is owned by welfare groups.
The only genuine affordable housing is public housing. But again if this is what we want there needs to be proper consultation - because we all know it has been done very badly in the past .
And if it was going to be public housing, it has to be a project of high quality, attractive, environmentally sensitive houses that you and I would like to live in and that ensures a mix of people live there.
If we push this through as it is we will be missing an opportunity to work with our community and together lobby the state government for a fantastic opportunity to have a great community asset Ecoliving centre support Council recently voted to support the construction of a CERES of the west by VU on council land (for a peppercorn rent).

Watergardens Priority Development Panel (PDP)
Recently Minister Madden has given the building approval process back to Council! We can only hope he is feeling the pressure from community groups all over Victoria...and there will be more of this happening in the immediate future. This step has meant that Council has been able to renegotiate a land deal for community hub/youth space and because of this we look like getting a much better position for the space.
Unfortunately prior to this, the PDP has worked hard to push Council to support increased retail floor space for this gross and unsustainable development. At the last meeting of Council we adopted a recommendation to accept that increase in the retail floor space at Watergardens Shopping Centre. The increase is something the developer, QIC, have been wanting badly as it has enabled them to secure a Myer department store.
While it might sound great to shoppers to have a new Myer in the area, developments like these are not good for local jobs or for the sustainability (walk-ability or liveability) of a neighbourhood. They mean that the shopping centre is 'inward looking' (i.e. an inside development that you have to drive to) rather than being a real town centre that interacts with the local neighbourhood and provides truly local services.
The Sunshine community is very well aware of what happened to its vibrant shopping strip in Hampshire Rd when Council allowed the development of the 2 monstrous shopping centres to be built along the edge of the precinct - and we are now faced with more of the same poor development decisions at Watergardens.

Click on picture to enlarge view

Sunvale Primary School Site - future development
All of a sudden postcards have appeared on the Council internet home page (http://www.brimbank.vic.gov.au/) and now an online petition! (see screen shot above)

If Council wishes to support the community on this issue, that is great, however it needs to learn to how to consult its community properly. Council launches into such a campaign and has yet to notify councillors of the design, rationale or evaluative processes. Where did this overnight campaign come from? What should the signatories of the online petition expect from signing on?

Council, the organisation, is clearly unable to see the need to build community trust, nor invite open consultation with the community. I want to see every community consultation from Council be an active-listening and trust-building exercise. It's the least we need to build good governance and good community outcomes, and attract the most active and community-minded people to contribute (to join and balance out the valuable contributions of the loud, angry ones).

I will again put forward a motion I have put forward previously calling for immediate consultation with the Sunshine community on this issue so that Council can form a genuine partnership in its approach to this campaign.

We will not be successful in this campaign if we cannot work together and genuinely listen to the needs of our community.

Transparency?
Mayor Troy Atanosovski decided to not allow television media into the chamber. Click here to see Brimbank Greens media release.

Isabella Williams Masterplan
The Isabella Williams Masterplan was adopted by Council tonight. Please phone the Council on 03 9249 4000 to enquire about the document - it seems to be unavailable on the website

Sunvale PS – only the greens support the community
I want to reiterate my concern that there has not been proper consultation over this issue despite the ill-thought out process being undertaken to give up this valuable public asset.
Again I would like to flag an alternative resolution if this one fails
That is “That council authorises the CEO to write to the state government stating that:
1. The site stays 100% in public hands; and
2. That Council will conduct an immediate consultation with the Sunshine community”

When community members became aware of the possible sale, they were led to believe a separate discussion on the development of the site would take place. This has not happened.
Even though this letter says its preferred option is 0.8 of a hectare retained for public open space, it also says it is open to negotiation and does not stress the importance of us getting a better deal because of severe disadvantage.
It also concerns me that the report is saying we advocate for affordable housing without specifying what ‘affordable housing’ is. We all know that affordable housing can too easily mean a multitude of things – none of which have been properly discussed with this community that will have to live with any development that takes place at Sunvale PS site.
If we push this through as it is we will be missing an opportunity to work with our community and together lobby the State Government for what could be a great community asset.

Sunshine UDF
This is a really important opportunity for improving the walkability of the centre of Sunshine.
I hope to get to see it implemented because I think it has the potential to bring our community together and revitalise the life of Hampshire Rd.
Our community has had concerns for a long time about the importance of fixing the interface between Sunshine Marketplace and the Plaza. This urban design framework offers some really exciting solutions that will give the town centre back rather than an ugly shopping centre that turns its back to the street.
I am still concerned about what progress has been made in discussions between Council and Centro. They are still looking perilously close to selling off their shopping centres and we are relying on whoever owns the space to work closely with us on its new design.
Unfortunately we have privatised a lot of the public space in Sunshine and it has caused real problems when it comes to working to fix public amenity and attractiveness of the town centre.

Meeting procedure Local Law Review
Please see my comments at http://www.brimbank.greens.org.au/

'Social' not 'affordable housing' at Sunvale PS site
Officers have come back with a discussion after this matter was deferred from the last Council meeting. I am told that there was a mix up with the definition of the words ‘affordable housing’ where they really meant ‘social housing’. It should be noted though that no discussions around social housing have occurred with the Department of Human Services.

Council civic centre building
I was the only one who opposed this development at the last meeting and now some other Councillors are expressing concerns. Perhaps they are finally taking heed of the community’s protests against the civic centre - not at Errington, and not at all.

Draft budget for 2009/10 endorsed by Council for public exhibition.
I alone voted against the draft budget. I believe that we should not be spending $30M on a new civic centre at Errington Reserve. It was bequethed to the community and remains of vital community importance as a recreation reserve. We should not be thinking of building a new civic centre while our community parks and facilities need so much work.

I put forward 2 motions tonight, both were defeated. I managed to get up an altered version of the TV Takeback resolution that included all e-waste, and the Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) one was referred to the Metro Waste Forum for opinion.

Container Deposit Scheme
I spoke about the success of our community meeting on Wednesday 22nd April hosted by Colleen Hartland Greens MLC for Western Metro Region and the support in our community for such a scheme As one resident said that night “it’s a no brainer”. Whatever way you look at it is a win for Brimbank. The savings have been calculated conservatively to be around $660,000 for Brimbank. Such a simple system where the 10c is added by the manufacturer onto the price of the bottle, can or carton, that money is turned over to the EPA who will administer the scheme. The fantastic thing is that the system pays for itself and works to complement the kerbside recycling we already have.

TV Takeback Motion
As you know Brimbank is already a leader in TV recycling. We are one of only two councils in Victoria who have a TV recycle programme (and accepting much broader items at our ‘Detox Your Home’ drop-in drop-off facility in Keilor Park). Given the move to digital TV and the ensuing dumping of pre-loved TVs, such an important initiative that it deserves to be run out nationally as a matter of urgency.

Motion of Congratulations
I successfully moved motions of congratulation for Gwen Goedecke, the sacked John Holland Workers and the Akzo Nobel Workers.
Congratulations to Gwen Goedecke for being inducted onto the honour roll of the Australian Council for Women. As you all know Gwen was a founder of the Sunshine International Women’s Committee in 1974 along with Win Graham. Gwen has campaigned tirelessly for years for equal pay for equal work, childcare, and women’s rights particularly those of ordinary working women and women from the western suburbs Gwen is an active member of our Sunshine community and was a councillor with Sunshine Council in the 1980s.
The workers at the Akzo Nobel plant on McIntyre Rd North Sunshine won their fight with the company who was trying to increase their working week for no extra pay. These workers were on strike for two weeks at a time of incredible financial hardship. Meanwhile this company made $264M of profits last year and was using the circumstances to try to freeze wages and attack working conditions.
Support for the sacked Westgate Bridge workers as their ex-employer John Holland is exploiting the economic crisis, job insecurity and rising unemployment to coerce workers and their unions to accept lower wages and working conditions. John Holland is a wholly owned subsidiary of Leighton Holdings a giant multinational construction company who in spite of the economic down turn reported a profit of $250 M last year.

Sunvale Primary School site
Council moved to send a letter to the Education Department saying that we support the land sale to developers for “affordable housing” and open space. I spoke against this for a number of reasons.
A report for potential uses of the site has only superficially touched on open space and has very little to do with genuine affordable housing. On closer reading you see that it is simply supporting a sell off to developers. As far as I am aware there has been no specific consultation over the development of this site but the community have been continually asking for it.
When community members became aware of the possible sale, SUNRAA wrote on their behalf to both the Minister and Brimbank Council CEO Nick Foa to outline what they thought the site should be used for. When Council conducted the ‘Creating Better Parks’ community consultations the participants were unequivocal about the need for more open space and community meeting facilities.
This site is already owned by our community, as a public asset that has served a school community. The State Government, however, have this perverse process which requires Councils to buy this land, already publicly owned, at market value.
At the moment our community groups cannot get regular Council meeting spaces in Sunshine because it either costs too much or it is at unsuitable times, or both. The wellbeing and civic life of our community cannot be supported if voluntarily formed groups with no money cannot get together and organise activities. Use of the existing school rooms for instance is an immediate resource, available without having to go to the extra expense of building new structures.
The detail of Council’s formal letter indicates its support for a private housing development with increased residential density in line with Melbourne @ 5 Million - probably 16.9 houses per hectare and a sop of .8 of a hectare (about 10 house blocks) left for a neighbourhood park.
But it is folly to think that any housing they build at the Sunvale PS site will be “affordable”. Those on very low incomes are struggling to afford houses in Sunshine as it is. The only genuinely affordable housing is public housing. And if it is going to be public housing, it would need to be high quality, attractive, environmentally sustainable houses. There would need to be a mix of people and a mix of housing. But without proper consultation we are left to live with what a developer’s cost-efficient imagination allows.
I proposed an alternative resolution on the night which failed.
“That Council authorises the CEO to write to the State Government stating that:
1. The site stays 100% in public hands; and
2. That Council will conduct an immediate consultation with the Sunshine community"