one open one closed.....belgrave laneways prove challenging

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A big thankyou to everyone who has put up with the ongoing works in the laneway linking the main street with Safeway carpark. The reopening of the laneway has been a long time in the making but I’m sure you’ll agree the new surface is far safer to negotiate and the gradient a bit easier going with the addition of stairs at the bottom of the laneway.
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It was with great dismay I discovered that our other laneway connecting the street and the car park has been closed. This is due to the senseless theft of the stainless steel grates across the drainage pits. I don’t know if whoever removed the grates were having a bit of a joke, were after some cash for the steel or doing some home renovations. I don’t know if it is a random act of vandalism, whatever the reason it has caused our community a great deal of angst, this is a well used public walkway, particularly by pram pushers, as it does not have steps.

The Shire is in the process of sourcing new grates as soon as they can, so the laneway can reopen sooner rather than later. I ask you all to be vigilant, please report any acts of vandalism or theft to the police immediately. Belgrave is a great place to shop, the topography makes it challenging but well worth the visit. We are lucky these sorts of events are far and few between.

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If we want our town to remain a friendly, vibrant shopping centre we must all play an active part in reporting any criminal activity or antisocial behaviour to the police.

12 councils now oppose logging in melbourne's catchments

Great news to hear this week that the Boroondara and Nillumbik Councils have joined with Yarra Ranges in opposing logging in Melbourne's water catchments.

Back in November 2007 I moved a motion to oppose logging of our catchments after concerns about logging in the Armstrong and Cement Creek were raised by a local environmental group, the Central Highlands Alliance. Both of these regions are well within the boundaries of the Shire of Yarra Ranges.

Little did I know that the issue would take hold through the local government sector. Water is a key focus, we see our state government spending billions of dollars on new water infrastructure and yet they continue to allow logging of our water catchments. Studies have shown that the value of water production in our catchments far outweighs that of logging.

Cambarville, a logging coupe near Melbourne's water catchments, how can this be sustainable?





The government is re-examining the value of water versus wood in a project it calls The Wood and Water Project. I am a member of the Sustainability Assessment Stakeholder Reference Group for the project. I have some serious concerns about this project in particular the fact that there is no option to cease logging in 2009/10 as part of the assessment regimes being considered. I was so concerned that that in May I moved a motion to write (to various politicians, DSE bureaucrats and consultants) detailing the case for including as part of the assessments for the Wood and Water Project the option of ceasing logging in Melbourne's water catchments by 2009/10 and including reference to the 8 councils who have recently opposed logging in Melbourne's water catchments.

It is imperative that the option of ceasing logging by 2009/10 is included as one of the regimes for sustainability assessment. I was very concerned that all the suggested regimes did not consider an immediate end to logging of Melbourne's water catchments, with 2030 being the regime with the earliest cessation of logging being assessed. Our water catchments cannot cope with another 22 years of logging, not if we want to harvest water from them.

The municipalities now opposing logging in Melbourne's water catchments represent a population of over 1.4 million Melbourne residents. There is a growing groundswell of concern about logging of our catchments in a time of critical water shortage, with grave concerns about biodiversity and climate change too.

Yarra Ranges is still waiting for a response to our request, if the government is genuine about the Wood and Water Project it will include the cease logging by 09/10 option, if it isn’t included I question the value of the project.

It is foolhardy to continue the practice of logging in our water catchments. Eleven other municipalities agree with Yarra Ranges. I hope you’re listing Mr Brumby, Mr Holding and Mr Jennings.

report from the round table 24th June

The Budget.....

Last night’s meeting saw the budget ratified for 2008/09. This year’s budget continues to have significant funding for the environment and council’s climate change commitment. I am very pleased that council is providing discrete funding (for the first time) for our Learning for Sustainability program. I have been aware of this program through my involvement with the Birdsland Environmental Education Centre and thought it was about time council put some desperately needed funding towards this great initiative. This program is currently underway in 70% of the shire’s schools and is a great mechanism to teach children (and the broader community) about sustainability.

Over the next few weeks I’ll talk about various initiatives that have been funded including our community education officer and local laws officer who have been funded specifically for the introduction of the Shire’s new Burning Off Local Law.

I’m also very pleased to see funding for the commencement of the Upwey Children’s Services Hub, something I have fought long and hard for.

However for this report I’ll focus on the specific capital works items for the Lyster Ward*, these include:
$10,000 For maintenance of the Heritage Caretaker Cottage at Birdsland, Belgrave Heights
$16,700 Selby Community House to complete the multipurpose shed
$70,000 Drainage improvements for Glen Rd, Belgrave
$5,000 Drainage improvements for Glenharrow Heights Rd, Belgrave
$12,000 Drainage improvements for Mountain Flat Road, Narre Warren East
$6,000 Drainage improvements for Osborne Avenue, Belgrave South
$13,000 Drainage rehabilitation for Colby Drive Belgrave South
$348,142 Road improvement special charge scheme for Courtney’s Road, Belgrave South
$211,961 Road improvement special charge scheme for Priors Rd, The Patch
$395,000 Road rehabilitation including kerb and channel for Selby Aura Rd, Selby
$25,000 Lockable Gate barrier for Kerr’s Lane, Lysterfield
$20,000 Investigation and Feasibility study for bridge replacement in Narre Warren East
$20,000 Township improvements for Belgrave South
$120,000 Streetscape Works (stage 4) for Belgrave
$29,500 Township improvements for Tecoma
$50,000 Car Park improvements for Birdsland, Belgrave Heights
$70,000 Installation of demonstration garden at Birdsland, Belgrave Heights
$10,000 Rehabilitation of vegetation at Minak Reserve, Selby
$50,000 Menzies Creek Reserve improvements, Menzies Creek
$36,000 Wellington Road Equestrian Trail, Belgrave South

$1,075,000 Monbulk Aquatic Centre improvements, Monbulk (plus $450,000 from 07/08)

Also to be completed in Lyster (these works started in 2007/08):

$393,000 Road improvement special charge scheme for Braeside Avenue, Sherbrooke
$315,000 Road improvement special charge scheme for Old Menzies Creek Road, Selby
$435,000 Construction of a roundabout for Belgrave Gembrook Road, Belgrave

* Lyster Ward includes the townships of Belgrave, Belgrave South, Belgrave Heights, Selby, Tecoma, Kallista, The Patch, Menzies Creek, Lysterfield, Sherbrooke, Narre Warren East, Emerald (part) & Monbulk (part).

shining our light in belgrave

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Hanging a leaf on the community tree

What a great success - the second lantern festival for Belgrave. Once again the community came together to walk with their lanterns down the main street of Belgrave or from the sidelines to watch the amazing parade of lanterns before them.

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My contribution to the lantern parade

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The lyrebird lantern was one of the highlights of the parade

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The lantern festival is a great example of this community coming together to celebrate being part of this community. There is something inspirational and beautiful about this festival. The festival brings out a feeling of harmony, peace and connectedness that is inspiring. It harnesses people's creativity and togetherness and the parade is a breathtaking sight as it wends it way along main street.

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Some of the amazing lantern creations

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I'm humbled and proud to play my small part in this community festival and will be making sure I keep honing my lantern making skills for next year!.

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Circus folk shining their light their way

public transport in the east - summit

I'm the Yarra Ranges Councillor representative on the Eastern Transport Coalition (ETC), the ETC advocates for sustainable and integrated transport services in the Eastern region of Melbourne which focuses on the travel needs of the community and reduces the level of car dependency.

The ETC are holding a major public transport summit on the 4th of July to discuss what changes we need to accommodate for the increase in public transport patronage in our area, now and in the future.

The summit will feature keynote speaker Professor Peter Newman, Professor of Sustainability, Curtin University. Professor Newman is a renowned West Australian academic and planner who is credited with coining the term ‘automobile dependence’ — an expression describing the creation of cities reliant on cars.

The Summit will also hear from Professor Graham Currie, Monash University Chair of Public Transport and Peter Daly, Chief Engineer from the RACV.

The Summit is an opportunity to highlight the Eastern Suburb's basic requirements of a transport plan for our region. If you're interested in improving public transport in Yarra Ranges you should come along and if you can't make it you can still send in your ideas (to: info@etc.org.au).

There is no doubt that Yarra Ranges needs better public transport, the summit is our plan for the future.

Details
Friday 4 July, 8:30am to 11am
Manningham City Council,
Doncaster Road, Doncaster
To RSVP to the summit by Friday 27 June contact Melissa Sparrow
e-mail: melissa.sparrow@knox.vic.gov.au or phone 9298 8126

report from the round table 10th June

Environment Strategy - we finally have one!
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A winter's morning - Sherbrooke Forest, Kallista.

It was great to be at council last week to move the motion to ratify the Environment Strategy. The strategy has been a massive effort from all concerned and several months of work has gone into the document. There has been endless meetings to consider the document and after the seventh reading of the entire document I was happy to finally see it before council.

It seems crazy that a municipality like Yarra Ranges never had an Environment Strategy, when you consider how much of the shire is environmentally precious, zoologically significant and home to endangered flora and fauna.

I was one of the councillors on the working group, a task I shared with Cr Jeanette McRae (Ryrie ward). I have been very proud to have a key role in steering this strategy, it's a document that cements Yarra Ranges' reputation as an environmental leader.

The purpose of the Yarra Ranges Environment Strategy is to provide strategic direction and guidance to the Yarra Ranges Shire Council in its:
• delivery of community and infrastructure services;
• management of land parcels that it owns;
• efforts to reduce its own corporate environmental impacts;
• regulation of community activity through planning and other permitting and compliance processes; and
• role as a community leader, advocate and educator in sustainable outcomes.

If you'd like to have a look visit: http://www.yarraranges.vic.gov.au/Files/08-06-10Item8-5.pdf

what to do with the cockatoos?

Last Thursday’s public meeting to discuss cockatoo damage saw a huge community turn out, at last count it was 137 locals who took the time to attend. The crowd was a mix of residents whose houses/decks had been chewed, environmentalists who were concerned about the destruction to Sherbrooke Forest as well as the proprietors of Grant’s Picnic Ground Café.

Ian Temby, DSE’s cockatoo guru (aka: Senior Policy Officer Wildlife Damage Control Flora & Fauna Program), had much to say about this very intelligent bird.

I have long campaigned to try and change the laws in relation to feeding of wildlife, with cockatoos being top of the list. It was one of the first issues I raised when elected to council. In the past I have spoken and met with Parks Victoria and James Merlino (MP for Monbulk), but all to no avail. I welcome the reinvigorated debate about feeding cockatoos, perhaps this time government will listen and make the legislative changes required to stop this outmoded practice.

Ian’s key message was around the relationship of backyard feeding of cockatoos and how that impacts on local neighbourhoods. In the wild cockatoos need around 2 hours of foraging to get their fill of food, from a backyard feed they can get their fill in 15 minutes, this leaves cockatoos with a lot of spare time to wreak havoc.

I have long been concerned about feeding of all wildlife and Ian’s presentation confirmed my concerns. As a starting point the community needs to be aware of the impact feeding the birds has on their neighbours. I have asked the shire to start an education campaign so people know the impact of feeding, it’s not going to be easy, some people have been feeding birds for many, many years. In some cases it’s a tradition that’s been handed down from generation to generation. The difficulty will be further compounded by the fact that feeding of birds is allowed at Grant’s Picnic Ground, an activity that is supported by the state government, locked in by lease agreement until 2019! But knowing what we know today, it’s time to stop this outdated and obsolete practice.

Public meeting organiser, Kaz Mckay, asked people to write down the dollar value of damage to property caused by gnawing cockatoos, a total of 61 people had $240,000 of costs, that’s around $4,000 per property. The cost of damage to Sherbrooke Forest - how will we ever be able to quantify that?

I will also investigate whether there is any capacity under the nuisance provisions of the Health Act for enforcement action. Ian mentioned this is a possibility and I’m keen to see if this is an avenue the Shire could pursue.

If you want to help the cause write to your local MP, ask them to outlaw feeding of wildlife, tell them how it impacts on you and your environment, they need to hear your voice in order to act, make sure they do.

no quarry expansion for yarra ranges

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Chris Morgan, Sam and me celebrating Minister Madden's decision with members of StopMontroseQuarryExpansion group, Dave and Robyn Dobson at the Conserving Our Landscape in a Changing Climate Forum dinner on World Environment Day.

What a great bonus for World Environment Day, Minister for Planning, Justin Madden announced he has decided not to intervene in Boral's application to extend its quarry operations in Montrose.

“Following careful consideration of this request I believe that the planning control should remain with Yarra Ranges Shire Council in this case,” Mr Madden said.

This vindicates council's decision of November 2007 to not support the extension of the quarry and is a hard fought victory for the hundreds of community members who have campaigned over many years to see the end of the quarry.

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What an environmental disaster, soon to be going, going, gone.....

the pipeline muster

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Me and Councillor Jeanette McRae join the muster.
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It was great to see a contingent from the Shire of Yarra Ranges.

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The Shire asked the state government to provide evidence of claimed water savings, we still have not seen any evidence to support their claims.

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The convoy through the city begins.

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The death of rural towns and the environment.

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Even the dogs are out of a job.
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By no means is this crowd "the usual suspects", on this issue the state government has got it wrong.

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Mr Brumby - don't let this be your downfall.

lovable larrikin or destructive pest?

There is a public meeting coming up next week (see below for details) to discuss the issue of Cockatoos. The cockatoos have been damaging people’s houses by chewing decks, window frames, doors and all manner of fittings, even the local childcare centre suffered when the cockatoos decided to make a meal of the play equipment.

I have no doubt that this behaviour is exacerbated by people feeding cockatoos. The DSE recognise the connection between feeding cockatoos which encourages the birds to stay in the area and cause all manner of destruction to timber fittings and furniture.

Feeding any wildlife results in a change of population which has consequences for other plants and animals in our area. The feeding of wildlife results in a dependence on food sources supplied by people rather than natural sources. A well developed and extensive education program is needed so people realise the consequences of feeding our wildlife.
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Cockatoos in their 'natural habitat' in the Dandenong Ranges National Park.

However it is going to be very hard to convince residents to stop feeding cockatoos while the state sanctioned feeding of wildlife continues at Grants Picnic Ground (Sherbrooke Forest). I am told that there is a lease agreement in place to allow the feeding of wildlife, given what we now know, I wonder how long we can continue to tolerate this practice?

This is an issue I have been concerned about for some time (see blog 6 July 2006), but my efforts to address feeding wildlife in our national park has been an uphill battle with no end in sight to date. I welcome the opportunity to have yet another go at addressing this issue and congratulate Kaz McKay on her initiative.


Meeting Details:
Where: Burrinja, 351 Glenfern Rd, Upwey
When: 7:00pm Thursday 12th June

Look forward to seeing you there.










When will we see an end to feeding of wildlife in our national park and the natural population balance restored?

selby's greyspot funding gettting whiter

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A sleepy Sunday in Selby?
This photo was taken today at midday.
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It is very unfortunate that the proposed roadworks to improve safety for pedestrians in the township of Selby have been scaled down. The initial plan included the construction of three traffic islands. This would enable safer crossing of Belgrave Gembrook Road and also have the effect of slowing traffic down.
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I now find that there will only be one traffic island at the Eastern end of town with line marking instead of traffic islands for the rest of the town. The change has been driven by difficult topography and loss of parking spaces, further compounded by a limited budget from VicRoads to fund the works.
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This makes it even more imperative that Minister Pallas heeds our request for 50kph zones to be applied throughout Yarra Ranges townships. A letter requesting the change to speed limits was sent on 22nd April, I do hope the Minister is giving it high priority, we don't want someone to be injured or even worse, killed in the mean time.
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My challenge is still on the table, I'd like to see someone from VicRoads cross the road safely with kids in tow.
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When will we see this signage throughout our townships in Yarra Ranges?