Ardeer, Albion, Sunshine community forum - Tuesday 23rd March
The forum was well attended last night with about 80 residents having an opportunity to voice their real concerns about councils priorities for our area. It was clear from the discussion that our community want the priorities reviewed. We want parks not roads which is what I had been advocating for in council during my term - to deaf ears!
Community members present raised issues about the need for more and better green spaces, better quality shopping precincts, the future of the sunvale site, the need for support for community groups and meeting spaces that are affordable and high quality, leadership and governance development, access to sporting facilities that are currently leased to just one group, services and spaces for our young people and much much more...
While Brimbank's administrators and the Brumby government might want everything in Sunshine to go quiet before the state election, it is clear the issues in our area have not gone away.
24.3.10
22.3.10
Western suburbs says NO to Racism
I attended a rally in Footscray over the weekend where community members came together to express support for residents born oversees and tell the state and federal governments that racism in Australia, especially state sponsored racism that says refugees are not welcome is NOT on.
19.3.10
18.3.10
2.3.10
DIABETES EPIDEMIC WESTERN SUBURBS
The Green’s candidate for the State seat of Derrimut, Geraldine Brooks, says the State Government must begin funding and establishing parks in the western suburbs following the release of a report that found the western suburbs are in the grip of a diabetes epidemic.
The Australian Community Centre for Diabetes found one in seven residents of the west have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes compared with the State average of one in thirty.
According to the report, a staggering one in every three residents aged over 55 living in the western suburb of Ardeer, has diabetes with two new cases diagnosed every day in the City of Brimbank.
Brooks, and a group of parents from Ardeer, spent five years fundraising to turn a large abandoned space that housed a former lead factory into a park, the only park in Ardeer.
Brooks says, “Our community needs safe, green, attractive, destinations that we can walk to. Our community experiences higher rates of diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and mental illness; with repeated studies showing this is attributable to lower income and lack of open spaces and quality parks. It is discrimination. People living in the east enjoy better health because of greater access to parks.”
1.3.10
Waste management
At last- sane analysis of the Brumby government’s future plans for waste from Kenneth Davidson (The Age, 1/3/ 2010).
As a local councillor I was being told by the Western Metropolitan Waste Management Group that there were many advantages of moving to a mega ‘in vessel’ composting facility that would cost Brimbank Council in the order of $75.00 to $90.00 per tonne. These included, assisting council with meeting the 65% diversion target in the Government’s Toward Zero Waste strategy by composting the food waste component which currently makes up just over half of the waste stream. Selling an unproven waste treatment scheme to councils was on the top of their agenda as was telling us at the same time that a Container Deposit Scheme which is already proven and works well in many countries is not worth considering.
The State government is spending $10M to develop the business case to set up organics processing plants as a profitable business for SITA. Where is the analysis of funding local councils to help residents compost their food waste and return it to their own backyard veggie patches?..but there isn’t profit to be made in that.
At last- sane analysis of the Brumby government’s future plans for waste from Kenneth Davidson (The Age, 1/3/ 2010).
As a local councillor I was being told by the Western Metropolitan Waste Management Group that there were many advantages of moving to a mega ‘in vessel’ composting facility that would cost Brimbank Council in the order of $75.00 to $90.00 per tonne. These included, assisting council with meeting the 65% diversion target in the Government’s Toward Zero Waste strategy by composting the food waste component which currently makes up just over half of the waste stream. Selling an unproven waste treatment scheme to councils was on the top of their agenda as was telling us at the same time that a Container Deposit Scheme which is already proven and works well in many countries is not worth considering.
The State government is spending $10M to develop the business case to set up organics processing plants as a profitable business for SITA. Where is the analysis of funding local councils to help residents compost their food waste and return it to their own backyard veggie patches?..but there isn’t profit to be made in that.
25.2.10
Vindaloo against Violence
About 50 residents turned out to share a meal and spend time together on Wednesday 24th February for the Vindaloo against Violence event I organised in our local park. It was a really great opportunity to meet our neighbours and enjoy each others company. The gathering was an important statement about how we feel about racism in our community and residents wanting to express support for our Indian community. We wouldn't have been able to get together like this in the past, it is only because of the hard work of local residents that we have this park.
About 50 residents turned out to share a meal and spend time together on Wednesday 24th February for the Vindaloo against Violence event I organised in our local park. It was a really great opportunity to meet our neighbours and enjoy each others company. The gathering was an important statement about how we feel about racism in our community and residents wanting to express support for our Indian community. We wouldn't have been able to get together like this in the past, it is only because of the hard work of local residents that we have this park.
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