downhill festival coming up

Great news for longboarders, slalom, slide and jammers. The Yarra Ranges Downhill Festival is on again. Held at the Baynes Park Rerserve in Monbulk using Baynes Park Road as the course, it's a great chance to skateboard legally and show off your skills.

Everyone's welcome to attend the all day, all age, drug and alcohol free event to race or watch as riders reach speeds of up to 75kmh, all competing to win skate gear.

Musical entertainment will be provided by local bands and DJ's on the Yarra Ranges Youth Services stage who will also be providing a free BBQ. There will also be a mini market with clothing and skate gear.

If you want to know more click here.

Some of the action from last year's Downhill Festival,
it made for great spectating.

 

samantha in the press

Driven Away

Mail Newspapers
by Jesse Graham
29 Oct 2013

Seeds plant habitat awareness
Mail Newspapers
by Rebecca Bills
29 Oct 2013

State kicks in $650,000 for soccer hub
Mail Newspapers
by Rebecca Bills
29 Oct 2013

samantha in the press

McDonalds faces backlash in Tecoma, Australia
BBC
by Phil Mercer
2 Oct 2013

Wildlife retreat taking shape
Mail Newspapers
1 Oct 2013

Caravan park to be returned to bushland
Leader Newspapers
2 Oct 2013

60 year party planned for Menzies Creek Hall
Leader Newspapers
2 Oct 2013

aldi approved for monbulk

report from the roundtable - 14 may

At this week’s council meeting we had to consider an application for an ALDI supermarket in Monbulk. It came with it’s complexities, as is often the case in the hilly and vegetated terrain of the Dandenongs.

I supported the application although had some concerns about the configuration of the driveway entrance and the intersection of Baynes Park Rd and the Emerald Monbulk Rd, as well as the removal of a significant remnant tree.

In speaking to the motion I talked about the point of tension between those motorists turning right into Baynes Park Rd and those motorists turning right into the site and my concern about the potential for collision. Emerald Monbulk Rd is under the jurisdiction of VicRoads and the configuration design has been approved by VicRoads. With additional negotiation by planning officers the permit conditions provide greater clarity around the turn lanes and where vehicles should drive by providing clearer line marking. I was concerned that to refuse the application based on approval by VicRoads would be impractical and an appeal on that basis would not be upheld at VCAT.

I was also concerned about the removal of a substantial remnant large old tree, a Messmate some 28 metres high and 100cm diameter at breast height (dbh). As part of reviewing the application VicRoads had imposed a condition that the tree be removed to improve sight lines when exiting the site.

I asked the traffic consultant from GTA whether the applicant would be prepared to further negotiate with VicRoads to get an outcome that would see the sight lines improved and the tree retained. The consultant responded positively to this proposition and with that I amended the motion to include that “Council advocate to the applicant that they continue to work with VicRaods to investigate alternate road safety options to enable the retention of Tree #15”. 

There is no doubt that the addition of an ALDI supermarket would be of great benefit to Monbulk and surrounds. The motion to approve the application was supported unanimously by councillors (note Cr McCarthy absent and Cr Cox left the chamber due to a conflict of interest).

biological control for wandering trad?

Yarra Ranges Council has supported Monbulk Landcare and other environment groups in their  call for the development of a biological control to assist in the management of Wandering Trad (Tradescantia Fluminensis).

A recent weedblitz saw enormous amounts of Wandering Trad
removed from our environment, but it's ongoing control is very challenging.

Wandering Trad is one of Yarra Ranges weed nasties and voraciously infests many of our natural waterways having a detrimental effect on biodiversity and waterway health.

Wandering Trad is ranked number 10 of worst weeds threatening biodiversity in Yarra Ranges and council spends much time assisting with its removal and control. Our Landcare and Friends of Groups also spend an enormous amount of time trying to control this week. Weather conditions of recent times have seen an explosion in the amount of Wandering Trad and its spread.

Wandering Trad very effectively smothers all other ground cover plants until it becomes the dominant species. It's very effective at spreading itself as small parts of the plant break off and produce new plants, particularly around natural waterways and drains.

It's removal is problematic, the more cost effective and safer alternatives to chemical treatments, like slashing, mulching and hand removal are not effective as control measures. Chemical treatments are difficult due to the risk to waterways, aquatic and semi-aquatic life forms. 

Given the challenges with this weed, it makes it a good candidate for research into a biological control and it's worth noting that a biological control program has been in progress in New Zealand since 2011. A successful control would save hundreds of thousands of dollars of future investment and deliver far better results for control than current methods, allowing natural biodiversity to recolonise its traditional areas.

Let's hope support of this initiative will see some focus given to the issue, environmental weeds are one of the biggest threats to biodiversity and it's great to see Monbulk Landcare  along with an affiliation of environment groups in the Dandenongs take the lead on the issue.

new design and development overlays on exhibition now

Yes, sorry for the planning speak, but it's important council gets your views on what's known as Amendment C126, as this is all about the built form of new developments in our townships. I know that built form and township character have been key issues for some very controversial applications in the Lyster Ward so I encourage you to have your say on this consultation. The eventual outcome in this process is for Amendment C126 to be incorporated into the Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme to give more weight to local design priorities.

Where does the amendment apply?

The amendment applies  Design and Development Overlays (DDO’s) to the following town centres:

Belgrave, Belgrave South, Coldstream, Kallista, Kilsyth, Healesville, Monbulk, Montrose, Mt Dandenong, Olinda, Sassafras, Seville, Tecoma, Upwey, Wandin North, Warburton, Woori Yallock, Yarra Glen and  Yarra Junction. 

What will the DDOs do?

The new overlays will provide design guidelines for new developments in these town centres. So they are all about the built form component of new developments. The design guidelines will make it easier for potential applicants and other interested parties to understand Council’s design objectives for the future development of town centre areas.

 The design guidelines will be used in the assessment of planning permit applications and in pre- application discussions with potential planning applicants. The new overlays will not increase the number of matters that currently require planning permits.

What information is available?

The Amendment info includes maps highlighting where the proposed DDOs will apply and a 'schedule' which details the sorts of things that are being considered to be included in the DDO. This includes things such as a character statement describing the town, the design objectives describing what's important to the town, what things are exempt, design requirements which has specific information detailing the town centre character, landscaping, the interface with public places and residential areas, car park design and if applicable design guidelines for key redevelopment sites. 

How can you find out more?

Community members can view the proposed design guidelines and other Amendment C126 documents at the following locations:

~ Council’s Community Links - our closest Monbulk or Upwey
~ Council’s website here

The closing date for submissions is 26 April 2013.

Submissions should be addressed to the Manager, Strategic Planning, PO Box 105 Lilydale 3140 or mail@yarraranges.vic.gov.au, quoting Amendment C126.

longboarding comes to lyster

Matt Cassar, one of the organisers of
the Downhill Festival. Baynes Park
Road proved to be an excellent course.

It’s been a busy time for events in the hills, the End of the Line festival last week, the ThreeOneSixOh! Film Festival last night and today the Yarra Ranges Downhill Festival, the first Victorian Closed Road Longboard / Slalom race.

Onlookers were treated to some fierce downhill competition with racers reaching speeds up to 80kph by the time they reached the finish line at Sassafras Creek. Baynes Park Rd, Monbulk proved to be a great course for participants and my thanks to the residents for their permission too.

Organisers were thrilled with the response, both locals and visitors flocked to Baynes Park to vie for the winning prizes. It was terrific to see so many people having a great day out. I was surprised how far afield some competitors had travelled to be part of the competition and it was terrific to catch up with locals pleased to have the event so close to home.

Yarra Ranges Council supported the event with the Youth Services team providing free sausage sizzle, drinks and music. I was very pleased to learn from one of the race organisers, Matthew Cassar, that profits from the day will be donated to Monbulk CFA.

Event organisers, ASRA, did a great job, it’s good to see longboarding taking place in a controlled, family friendly environment.

samantha in the press

Fears over Rowville rail project
Leader Newspapers
by Tim Michell
20 November 2012



blitzing weeds this weekend

From left to right: Gavin Prentice - Yarra Ranges
Bushland Coordinator for the Southern Dandenongs,
Cr Samantha Dunn - Lyster Ward and Kym Saunders -
Coordinator of the Urban Fringe Weed Management
Initiative, with a skip brimming with wandering trad.

Well done to the team from the Shire who staffed the weed blitz at Monbulk over the weekend. Through some trying weather conditions, residents were still keen to take up the option to 'skip' their weeds.

It was great to see people bring trailer loads of agapanthus and wandering trad to fill the skips out at the Monbulk Reserve.

The trailer loads of weeds didn't stop coming, this load
from Belgrave full of Agapanthus and Wandering Trad.

Although all environmental weeds were part of the blitz, it seemed that wandering trad and agapathus were the order of the day.

The first skip, brimming with environmental weeds
gets taken away.

It's great to know that there's less environmental weeds in our environment and I congratulate those residents who took up the option to 'skip' on one of our more inclement weather days.

Did you know that council offers tip vouchers as part of our "Weed Wipeout" program? If you'd like to know more visit the Shire's website here.

weed blitz coming to monbulk - 26 may

Weed Blitz - Free Environmental Weed Tipping Day
Skips will be available at Monbulk Reserve, Moores Rd, Monbulk on Saturday 26 May.

Cr Samantha Dunn gets rid of some agapanthus,
ranked as Yarra Ranges 5th worse weed.
Still not listed as noxious and available
for sale in some nurseries!

The sorts of weeds you can bring:
Agapanthus
Arum Lily
Asparagus Fern
Banana Passionfruit
Cotoneaster
English Holly
English Ivy
Japanese Honeysuckle
Karamu
Mirror Bush
Montbretia
Red Cestrum
Sweet Pittosporum
Wandering Trad
Wild Tabacco Tree

We can't accept Noxious Weeds, due to legal limitations on transportation. You can find out more about noxious weeds on the DPI website.

There'll be weed information and advice available on the day, or you can visit the Shire of Yarra Ranges website

note: When removing weeds please be aware of the potential that native animals may be sheltering in them. Always check woody weeds for nests before removing and where possible replace a weed with an indigenous native plant. Nest boxes are easy to make, inexpensive to buy and a great way of providing homes for native animals  and there's 3 nest boxes to win on the day!

This event is being sponsored by the Urban Fringe Weed Management Initiative, a collaboration between Yarra Ranges Council, our environmental volunteers, the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges Landcare Network, Parks Victoria, Melbourne Water and the Department of Sustainability and Environment.

samantha in the press - planning

Mobile tower gets the nod in Monbulk
Yarra Ranges Weekly
by Melissa Cunningham
8 May 2012

samantha in the press - planning

Tower ticks all boxes
Mail Newspapers
by Mara Pattison Sowden
2 May 2012

replacement phone tower for the patch/monbulk

report from the roundtable - 24 apr

At this week's meeting I moved a motion to support the replacement of a telecommunications tower currently on site at Garden City Plastics in Monbulk.

It is rare that Yarra Ranges council gives approval for telecommunications towers due to the lack of consideration of siting and significant landscape issues. This was not one of this occasions.

In speaking in support of the application I talked about the fact that the site was zoned Industrial 3 and as such was an appropriate location for such a facility.

The pole was not situated on a ridgeline and minimal earthworks would be required. As there is existing power on the site no additional disturbance is required to complete the installation.

The pole would not impact on the heritage overlay on the site which protects the significant elements of the old Monbulk Jam Factory.

The site itself is screened by vegetation and the landscape contains many tall trees which provide a backdrop to the area which mitigates visual intrusion. In fact in some places it's difficult to see across the hills due to the extent and height of the vegetation.

There will be enormous community benefit with the installation of the pole which will replace a 30mt pole with a 35mt pole.

The replacement pole will enable council to upgrade analogue television services to digital and see improved television reception, it will see the co-location of Optus, Vodaphone and Telstra, something council is very keen to encourage rather than see the proliferation of telecommunications towers.

I also think the improved mobile coverage of Optus and Vodaphone will open up a far more competitive market in the hills, something lacking at the moment as Telstra has the lion's share of coverage in the region.

I'm pleased to report that councillors supported the motion unanimously (note: Cr Cox was excluded from the vote due to declaring a conflict of interest).

samantha in the press - planning

Monbulk Soccer Centre furore

Leader Newspapers

by Kimberley Seedy

21 Feb 2012

awesome ornithorhyn-kids - awesome again

It was terrific to be part of the third annual Awesome Ornithorhyn-kids Day, at the Belgrave Lake Park. Organised by the Southern Dandenongs Landcare Group (SDLG) and supported through a community grant from the Shire of Yarra Ranges, families had a great day learning about not only about our local platypus but the importance of habitat to all of our wildlife.

Today I was launching a new 'housing policy' for some of the local wildlife. Here I am with SDLG secretary, Vicki Boyle and some new homes for Sugar Gliders, Kookaburras and Rosellas.

SDLG and Monbulk Landcare Group have working away constructing an assortment of nesting boxes for our wildlife. The nesting boxes will be installed in Shire reserves at Belgrave Lake Park, Birdsland, Butterfield Reserve and Moores Road Reserve.

Part of the day's activities included banner painting led by local artist pictured here, Emma Johnson.

Kids very enthusiastically painted all manner and colour platypus on the banners, which will be used to the promote the event into the future.

SDLG were able to provide a myriad of activities for children including a wildlife display by Animals of Oz. Other activities included platypus art, storytime, singalongs and Rudy the One Man Band.

Many small hands were keen to pat the croc, not to mention the snake, frill-necked lizard and the bat too.

In speaking to onlookers I talked about the new 'housing program' and how important it was to continue to provide opportunities for our native animals to nest as pressure on our natural environment continued to increase. I also talked about the importance of retaining trees with hollows and how the incremental loss of trees with hollows, both legally and illegally, has had a large effect on wildlife over the broader landscape.

Here's Blair installing the first nesting box near Monbulk Creek at Belgrave Lake Park.

















.

Glenn Brooks-McMillan from the Cardina Catchment Landcare Group spoke about the importance of healthy waterways for our local platypus population.

Another treat for people on the day, the local Powerful Owl roosting nearby. This species is listed as threatened and vulnerable in Victoria.








.
Pictured here, Jackie Glenn, President of SDLG and myself.

The SDLG work tirelessly to improve our environment and raise awareness of environmental issues in the local community.

It was a terrific day out, very well attended, the SDLG intend to make Awesome Ornithorhynkids an annual event. Let's hope next year our nesting boxes have some residents.

samantha in the press - libraries

Library service for Monbulk
Leader Newspapers
by Kimberley Seedy
17 Aug 2011

anti obesity intervention coming soon

Breast feeding for at least six months has been shown to provide health benefits for Mother and baby and has been proven to reduce the risk of obesity in children.

A lactation clinic, in association with Eastern Health Maternity Services, will soon be based at the Monbulk Living and Learning Centre in the Maternal Child Health area. The clinic will support women and provide positive intervention with breastfeeding issues before they impact on the mother/baby relationship and prior to the mother potentially deciding to wean her baby to formula.

Up until now mothers wanting to access this service have had to travel to the Angliss Hospital in Upper Ferntree Gully, it's terrific to be able to offer this service to Mothers in the hills and provide Mothers with support locally.

monbulk soccer - come and have a look

A second community information session for the proposed Monbulk Regional Soccer facility will be held at the Monbulk Living and Learning Centre (the new hub) on Tuesday 22nd March.

Landscape master plans will be displayed so community members can get a better idea of what is being proposed on site.

People will also have the chance to give feedback to council on the proposal - we want to hear what you think.

Here I am celebrating with the Monbulk Rangers Soccer Club. The Monbulk Rangers are one of the fastest growing, largest clubs in Melbourne. Junior and women's participation is off the scales, it's great for soccer but we need facilities to cater for soccer's popularity.

The proposed Soccer facility will feature a pavillion, three full size synthetic pitches and one full sized grass pitch, a training pitch, lighting, car parking and an access road.

Council has allocated $4million towards stage one of the project. At it's meeting on the 22nd February, 2011 council noted a report on the project, you can read more here. The federal government has also allocated $2million to the project.

Soccer has grown exponentially in the region and proper facilities are well overdue. The local club has over 600 members and fields over 40 teams, putting great pressure on existing grounds which haven't been built to sustain these levels of use.

If you're interested in learning more you can visit the Monbulk Living and Learning Centre (21 Main Rd, Monbulk) from 4:30pm to 6:30pm on Tuesday 22nd March.

monbulk soccer - have your say

Plans are underway for the new soccer facility in Monbulk and we want to know what you think.

The plans can be viewed at the new Monbulk Living and Learning Centre or at the Soccer Rooms at the Moores Rd ground in Monbulk.

The centre will feature a pavilion, 3 full size synthetic pitches and 1 full sized grass pitch, a training pitch, special lighting, car parking and access road and is located at 115 Old Emerald Road, Monbulk.

The impact of the popularity of soccer has been huge with the local club outgrowing the ground at Menzies Creek. An increase in player and team numbers has seen council commit $4million in our capital works budget to the new facility with the federal government putting $2million towards the project as well.

You can find more information and also look at the plans online by clicking here.

Submissions are due by 31 January, 2011 and can be emailed to mail@yarraranges.vic.gov.au or posted to PO Box 105, Lilydale VIC 3140.

samantha in the press - public transport

Pre-poll promises flood
Mail Newspapers
by Russell Bennett
19 Oct 2010