Monash Ratepayers' Public meeting - Wednesday 5th July - some notes

[This is all from memory, so if there are mistakes they are memory
lapses and personal impressions, all mistakes are mine.]

About 30 attended. There were a diverse group there, some wanting to
protest the rate rises and some wanting to protest against the closure
of Oakleigh Pool.

Jack Davis welcomed all to the meeting and invited a Wheeler's Hill
action group spokesperson (David) to speak about inappropriate
development. David gave a good talk and used as his example a potential
six [poor memory - apparently nine] storey aged care building to be built on the corner of Ferntree Gully Road and Jell's Road, the highest point in Monash (an old Mobil service station site). He described the process where the development was refused by Council, it went to VCAT, refused by them, resubmitted at four storeys (industrial height storeys, so 16 metres high), passed by council with some conditions, the developer appealed the conditions to VCAT. Council defended and the action group also made submissions to VCAT. VCAT passed with conditions, construction will now proceed. One of the problems was that the "Design overlay" (a temporary planning measure) or its permanent replacement (I forget the jargon) was not in place and so there was no protection against inappropriate development. The permanent replacement planning device is taking an expected 2.5 years to establish and it is being done on an urgent basis. The same process is also supposed to be in place for Brandon Park, but so far nothing has happened. This would prevent the high rise because VCAT is to take into account these overlays and permanent planning mechanisms
(which the State Government approves anyway). They also have weight
alongside the Melbourne 2030 planning document. The speaker also tried
to define "inappropriate development" and said it was easy if there was
a big difference, eg a 6 story building alongside a single story - but
this is an extreme example. Other cases are more subjective. The
speaker also said that there were many "action groups" to protest
against inappropriate development, and they spring up all the time as
the need arises. Jack Davis said that the Monash Ratepayers' Association
may be a good framework to work through, though each group would have to
actually do the work.

Jack Davis invited Cr Stephen Dimopoulis to speak about the Monash
Council budget, recently approved.

Stephen said

The increase is 8.95%, broadly speaking 9%. There is 6% which is
necessary to keep pace with the inflation of construction as
construction increases at a higher rate than the CPI. Council wage
increase is 4%. The remaining 3% is for an increased rate of expenditure
on footpaths, drains and roads, Clayton Centre and a provision for the
re-development of the Oakleigh Pools area. Monash has the the second
lowest rate in Victoria (lowest is Whitehorse who sold an electricity
company and hence have a lot of money in the bank). Monash's increase
may be one of the highest, but because the base is lower the $ figure is
less on a comparative basis with other councils. Local government
revenue is only one or two cents in the total tax revenue by all
Governments (I forget the exact figure but it was pretty small).

Questions from the floor concentrated on the poor decision to spend
money on the fish and there was discussion about how much it would cost
in the end, how much it cost in the beginning and whether the $50,000
was to purchase it or merely to repair it after it had been given to
Council. Apparently $100,000 has been allocated in the budget.
Apparently Stephen voted a reluctant yes for the fish on the basis that
it was a start in fulfilling Monash's public art policy, which though
has been policy for some time, no public art to date has been pursued.
It also had to be seen in the context of a $100,000,000 [budget].

Stephen was told that the rate increases were too high and that families
had to make their own ends meet so why didn't the Council do the same.
Others said the rates were too high. Stephen said that yes, this is
always the feeling, but to make the question meaningful people needed to
point out which areas in the budget they had the problem with (which
brought us back to the fish).

Stephen was asked whether he had personally lobbied State Government for
more money to be allocated to Councils from the cash rich State
Government. Stephen said that this happens three or four times a year
when Council meets with MLPs from State Government. Apparently the
answer from MLPs is that they understand the problem, but larger
allocations are not going to happen. Stephen was then asked this
question again, about three times.

This was the end of Stephen's section.

At this point a woman with two children stood up, and said that she
would have to go because it was the children's bedtime, but she was from
the Oakleigh Dragons (she and her children had the Oakleigh dragons
track suit on) and represented five hundred families and that they
wanted the Oakleigh Pools kept open. She spoke well about why the pools
should be kept open - social reasons, ability to grab some chicken and
rolls and go to the pools and have a picnic. I think the diving pool
was mentioned, petitions were mentioned, community effort to save the
pool was mentioned, the efforts gone to four years ago, how the council
had been already shown how important the pool was and that it had now
changed its mind, almost in secret. She also said that how the 50
metre outdoor pool at Clayton had been lost, but that had been accepted,
as a compromise, because there would be the 50 metre pool (and the
diving tower at Oakleigh) - it seemed a good compromise. She was
clapped, her children said in unison "Save our pool" and they left.

Cr Denise McGill then spoke, but rather than speaking just took
questions from the floor. She said she could not take responsibility
for people's health [and so voted to close the pool] and talked about
the risks of skin cancer. A person from the floor said that she had
swum in the pool all her life and so had her children, who are now
adults and that they are now very healthy. It is the indoor pools that
are unhealthy, it was concluded. The person from the floor spoke very
well (and some of the remarked ascribed to the first woman may have well
been said by the second.

It was also said by Denise McGill that she had only been a councillor
for six months and all the internal reports and papers presented to her
indicated that the pool must be closed. It was pointed out that this
must be internal council documents, because as far as the public was
concerned that the decision to keep the pool open still stood up until
Cr McGill and others voted to close it. It was stated from the floor
that all the community consultation had been one proposals to refurbish
the Oakleigh pool area and other aspects of the Oakleigh Recreation
Centre - and to close the pools had never been mentioned. It was also
said from the floor that at one point it had been agreed to set Oakleigh
discussions on one side to concentrate on Clayton, and then come back to
Oakleigh discussions at a later point. Jack Davis also confirmed this
floor comment and said how CLAG and ratepayers had put in a lot of work
on Clayton and that there had been consultation on Clayton, but none on
Oakleigh.

Former Councillor Solity was there and expressed her full support to
keeping the Oakleigh Pool open. She asked why had the motion been put
prior to full public consultation. This question was never answered.

The Liberal State parliament candidate for Oakleigh, Colin Dixon was
there and asked if the Labour member, Ann Barker had made any
application for money for the Oakleigh Pools under the State
Government's "Better Pools Program". It was stated that Council had not
asked the State Government for money for Oakleigh Pools because it had
not decided what it exactly wanted to do with the pools [until now].

There was some general talk about splash pads, but they definitely got
the thumbs down from the floor, even though Denise McGill said that the
public doesn't yet know what is being offered because all the concepts
have not been developed and given out for public consultation. But
apparently they will be free!

Stephen said that there will be consultation, but only within the
"canvas" of the options that the steering committee is looking at. 50
metre pools and diving pools are off the agenda.

[Methinks once the the "options" are released, there will only be one
and it will be a "take it" or "take it" situation. But we must not give
up. Fight to keep the pools in their current configuration!]

Jack Davis thanked the speakers, thanked everyone for coming, stated
that the Council must return to proper consultation and said that there
was tea and coffee available at the back of the room.

An attendance list was circulated and Heather Norling's petition to
State Government was available.

SOME ADDITIONAL NOTES (1)

Addendee. Liberal candidate for Oakleigh, Colin Dixon also attended.

Difficulties for Councils due to State Government. Additional point with regard to Stephen Dimopoulos's explanations that the State Government was continually reducing fund from the local government sector and how State Government Department edicts had impact on Council costs. He gave the example of the new "wheely bin" recycling bins that cost Council over $2 million. Council already had a "tub" system. However the State Government's Workcover Department considered these to be an occupational health and safety risk and threatened the council with prosecution. Council resisted for 8 months, but in the end there was no choice, but to spend the $2 million.

More on rates. A person for the floor asked how it was possible for the Mayor, Councillor Banerji, at the time the new recycling wheelie bins were introduced, to say that the Council finances were very healthy, even with the $2 million + expenditure, and yet now rate increases were necessary? Cr Dimopoulos answered that the Council's finances were in good shape precisely because the rate increases were applied.

More on inappropriate development and planning. Comments and questions from the floor indicated a view that if the Council voted against a development and it then went to VCAT, Council may not very effectively defend the Council decision, thereby the development goes through, but with VCAT getting the "blame", rather than "Council". There seemed to be a conclusion that Council's defence at VCAT needs to be more vigorous and of higher quality.

SOME ADDITIONAL NOTES (2):

This meeting was also reported in the "Monash Journal" newspaper of Monday, July 10, 2006 on page 5 where it said:

"CLOSURE STILL PUZZLES PUBLIC

"By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS

"TWO Oakleigh councillors faced the public at a Monash Ratepayers Association public meeting on Wednesday to explain the council's decision to close the Oakleigh pool.

"The councillors' explanations did not fully satisfy a bemused and puzzled public.

"Speaking on behalf of Oakleigh Dragons Junior Football Club, Alexandra Pardy said she felt "cheated" by the council's decision. after the pool was saved in 2002.

" 'Where else can a family with children of all ages go around here?'

"Another resident, who had learned to swim in the pool and whose father was a life member of the pool's swimming club, said Oakleigh was the best pool in Victoria.

"Former councillor Jeanne Solity asked why the council coundn't build a new pool, with $3.5 million set aside for it.

"Pool steering committee chairman Cr Stephen Dimopoulos said the closure was based not soley on financial considerations, but also on usage.

" 'We'll definetely consult on what will go on there from now.'

"Cr Denise McGill said a previous council made the decision to build Clayton Community Centre, which included a 25-metre indoor pool, ahead of Oakleigh pool.

" 'Oakleigh pool is paying the price for the earnest work that has gone into the facility at Clayton.'

"She said the pool was part of the outdated 'sizzle and dip' mentality, and compared its 14,000 attendance last summer to the 700,000 visitors to the Monash Aquatic and Recreation Centre last year.

" [bullet point] Liberal candidate for Oakleigh Colin Dixon has joined former Oakleigh mayor Heather Norling's petition campaign for the State Government to save the pool.

"Mr Dixon said he would gather signatures fir Ms Norling's petition at shopping centres.

" 'It would be such a shame if the Oakleigh pool was lost forever - it's a fantastic community asset and a place where families can go on a hot day.' "
Barry_Clearwater