Buy now - nice suburb with schools !

For some time residents in Notting Hill have been concerned about the activities of real estate agents and false advertising.
Agents are selling houses on the basis of easy access to schools in the neighbourhood.

Here is an example of the spiel from Bingley Street.




Read the text

More on Our Lievability

The Liveability Coaltion Meeting Outcomes

Motion passed unanimously at a Public Meeting on Sunday 28 October, 2007,
at the Good Shepherd Hall, Wheelers Hill, by some 150 residents of the City of Monash.

That this meeting endorses the commitment to liveability expressed by the State Government and the Monash City Council, but regrets that these commitments are not being carried into practice.

This meeting calls on the Monash City Council and the State Government to commit to a policy and practice of

1. matching growth under Melbourne 2030 with a concomitant increase in infrastructure, public open space and facilities
2. reserving adequate space and facilities to meet the needs of local communities (as expressed by those communities) where public land (such as school land) is sold for development
3. requiring every new development project to prepare, as part of the process of planning and consultation, a liveability impact statement assessing the impact of the proposal upon local communities in term of concentration of population, density of housing, traffic congestion, green ambience, open space, public amenities, community health and environmental considerations. This liveability impact statement to go to all affected communities for discussion and response.


Marian Quartly
Chairperson (on behalf of the Monash Liveability Coalition)

"if your car fell out of action for a week or more ...could you meet most of the essentials of your day.."

From a recent talk on ABC Radio National

A recent international urban design conference on the Gold Coast highlighted three major areas of change that our cities and towns are facing.
Firstly, the climate change as a phenomenon is already abundantly clear, whether induced by human actions or is part of a natural cycle.
Secondly, the sources and security of energy which is absolutely vital to the way people live are certainly likely to change. The changes will be triggered either by our endeavours to manage the drivers of climate change, our CO2 emissions; the depletion of supply of liquid hydrocarbon fuels and their consequent higher prices or both.
Thirdly, an increasing number of the Australian population will be the older generation. We are likely to be living longer and there is already a clear trend that our households are predominantly of ones and two's rather than families of three's or more (while ironically occupying more domestic space per person). All this awaits us in the next 10 to 20 years - a very short time in the life of cities.
Cities have had to deal with changing conditions in the past. However, few changes in history have approached them at the rate they are advancing upon us now. Yet, we have chosen to ignore these realities like symptoms of a nasty disease. We have entered a state of denial. We are making furtive and superficial provisions for the changing future such as minor gestures towards public transport, planting some trees to offset carbon emissions and optionally installing a few water tanks. However, this is largely equivalent to taking the foot off the accelerator while our brakeless car hurtles towards the cliff.
Let us be optimistic that the future will offer some redeeming options. But should even an optimist not have a PLAN B? At the moment we are relying on faith alone that somehow everything will turn out right. However, retrofitting cities and towns is usually an immensely expensive and often impossible business. To say that we will fix it when the day comes is an option we will all regret. We need to revise our thinking about cities and towns NOW!
As we face the challenging future, the most fundamental of mindset shifts is to realise that cities and towns are not merely a stock of real estate, built property as a type of asset or capital, all held together with engineering infrastructure and transport arteries. It is all those things but primarily it is the stage setting of life for most of us. It is the background 'scenery' and props against and around which we participate in social and cultural interactions, live out our mortal existence, seek happiness and fulfilment.
We often complain about inconveniences, lack of amenities and opportunities or blame the authorities for creating places and conditions that we would rather not have. The only way we will be able to collectively respond to climate change, energy issues or our new social structures is to realise that WE ourselves are largely the problem as well as the major part of the solution.
As a new measure of urban quality and planning objective, I suggest that every part of a city or town be evaluated thus: if your car fell out of action for a week or more or you were unable to drive for an extended period, could you meet most of the essentials of your daily, weekly or seasonal needs by walking, cycling or using public transport (which includes taxis)? This is not to imply that we should forgo all means of private transport. However, this test would transform the paradigm of scale and thinking about cities and towns.
Our most eminent social researcher Hugh Mackay, writing in 'Advance Australia Where?' says "If we ultimately had to choose between material prosperity and survival, which way do you think we would jump? If we know the answer, why not act now, so we never have to face that choice." That is exactly the type of choice that confronts our towns and cities right now. Unless we adopt a different mind set about them, we will not only be creating an uncomfortable future for ourselves but leaving a difficult legacy for our children and grandchildren. Is that really what we want?
If we are to effectively deal with climate change, energy security and cost as well as demographic adjustments, we need to rethink the way we make, use and live in cities and towns - and we need to do it NOW.


by Jursi Greste
Urban designer with an architectural background and over 50 years of professional experience as a consultant.

The Liveability Meeting on Sunday Oct 28th

MONASH LIVEABILITY COALITION
Representing Community Groups in the area of Monash Council
The Monash Liveability Coalition is supported by Monash groups and residents including the Notting Hill Community Association, Brandon Park Residents Action Group, and Wheelers Hill Residents Action Group

MEDIA RELEASE
7 Oct 2007

CHANGE IN MONASH – NEW LIVEABILITY COALITION WANTS TO INFORM RESIDENTS

KEEPING MONASH LIVEABLE - SPACES AND PLACES FOR PEOPLE

Residents groups, community associations, theatre and sporting groups from various suburbs affected by the lack of public space within the City of Monash are to come together to draw urgent attention to the ongoing threats currently to future liveability in the Monash area.

The groups have combined under the banner of the Monash Liveability Coalition to explore the future liveability of their areas at a public meeting at 3.30 pm on Sunday 28th October at the Good Shepherd Curch Hall on Academy Avenue at Wheelers Hill (located behind the Brandon Park Shopping Centre).
The meeting will run from 3.30 pm to 5.00 pm on the Sunday afternoon.
Coordinator for the meeting, Vincent Leveridge, said the meeting was to allow local residents and groups to be informed on the latest information and research findings on change in the area.

Experts and researchers on planning and development in Melbourne will address the meeting on how these changes are damaging liveability in Monash.

“This will focus on the effect of planning and development outcomes on public land sales, increasing housing and population density, employment centres, and more crowded transport and how this will impact on health and liveability for residents,” he said.
“The Monash area is losing what little public land it has very quickly. This includes the sell off of the area’s schools for medium and high density housing, loss of open recreational space and overwhelming increases in employment related traffic into Monash.
“The meeting will be of interest to those who want to keep Monash liveable and ensure that there are spaces and places for people in the changing urban landscape,” he said.

The meeting will hear from Dr Bob Birrell. Dr Birrell is the Director of the Centre for Population and Urban Research and Reader in Sociology at Monash University. He is well known for his work on planning and development in the suburbs of Melbourne, the size of increasing population densities, and its effects.

Professor Kevin O’Connor from Urban Planning at Melbourne University will speak on urban planning issues stemming from rapid population and employment growth. This includes the new patterns of employment and industry that are emerging in the suburbs, particularly in Monash.
Our health is also being damaged by the rush to build without thought of the longer term consequences such as obesity and illness.

Rachel Carlisle from the Heart Foundation will speak on the importance of physical and environmental design on promoting health.

Mr Leveridge said that it was part of residents’ plans to bring their concerns about the harmful effects of developmental change on the lives of Monash residents to a wider audience under the umbrella of keeping Monash liveable.

“While many groups and individuals in Monash are concerned about loss of public space and increasing density they rarely get the opportunity to hear about the larger picture of urban change and its effects. The meeting will provide information on the latest research about how development is changing the suburbs and alert people what can be lost.”

“We see the meeting as means of informing people of the common concerns that neighbourhoods share across Monash”, said the spokesman for the Monash Liveability Coalition.

Its a Question of Liveablity

Click to enlarge

Our Lantern Festival

Saturday evening was Lantern Festival in Notty
Families turned in numbers for the first Neighbourhood House Lantern Festival organised by Joe, who has celebrated the festival previously just in Tulip Court.
The Neighbourhood made an ideal venue and more than 60 children and adults walked in procession around the streets with their glowing handmade lanterns and torches.
Next year even bigger - thanks Joe and family and all who helped make the lanterns last weekend.





And Mel lights up too

The Notting Hill Story

The following are the notes on a short speech made recently on behalf of Notting Hill residents to a meeting of community groups with the Minister for Planning Justin Madden.



Notting Hill is one of the smaller suburbs of Melbourne situated in the Monash City Council area. The residential part of the suburb is near the Clayton Monash University campus. It is often confused with Clayton.
The suburb includes a distinct residential area of 700 dwellings. This distinct area of housing and streets is encircled or surrounded by major traffic arteries on three sides. The residential estate is bounded by Blackburn Road, Ferntree Gully Road and the Monash Motorway. These are among the largest multi land traffic arteries in Melbourne.
The suburb has only two entry and exit streets and cannot be exited without crossing or entering the six lanes of Blackburn Road or Ferntree Gully Road.
On the other edge of the suburb is an industrial area and the rapidly expanding Monash science park/business park (along Blackburn Road and including the new Australian Synchrotron). This is a major area of expanding employment - the result of planned structural change.
The development of the Notting Hill suburb is also perhaps unique. The residential estate was built in the 1950’s and 1960’s by A V Jennings as the first planned suburb in Melbourne. It was planned in the sense that shops and schools were within walking distance without crossing major roads, and traffic flow was limited.
Unfortunately when finished the “planned” suburb failed to include any parkland or open recreational space for residents.
As the suburb filled up a primary school and a secondary college were built along with a kindergarten/preschool. (Monash Primary School, Monash Secondary College and Westerfield Pre School)
The playgrounds and an oval of these schools became the recreational spaces of residents as well as their children.
In recent years the community has lost its kindergarten/preschool, primary school and secondary school (the primary school in 2004 and the secondary college in 2006). On 7 August the Monash Council agreed to rezone the Monash Primary School and its open space for high-density housing.
The school closures were justified in terms of declining school attendance numbers and an aging population despite vigorous objection from local residents that the demographics in the suburb were changing quickly again to young families. Now as the Government moves to cash in on the land value of the school the Education Department is still attempting to justify its decision by using the same population figures that are a decade old and were disputed even then.
In 2007 residents conducted their own survey of households in Notting Hill and accessed the latest census data. This research demonstrated an increasing number of children of school age in need of a school and a turnover in occupancy in the suburb with more families moving in. An increasing density of residential use was also noted with suburban in fill and unit development.
The result has also been an increase in car travel as children are driven daily to schools several kilometres way.
The Monash Secondary College faces the same fate as the Primary School. It has been declared surplus to requirements and is being allowed to decay into dereliction. This includes a theatre built at the Secondary College by community support and public fund raising. The local cricket club has been banned from using the school oval for the local cricket competition.
The kindergarten (a Monash Council venture) was last used as pre school in May 2007 and is now a Neighbourhood Centre supported by Monash Council.
This has all occurred while:
• Occupancy change and suburban infill has lead to increased population density in Notting Hill and increased number of children of school age.
• Increasing congestion of the highways that grid-in Notting Hill
• Forced increase in car use out of Notting Hill as children are transported out for schooling
• Loss of publicly owned spaces used for recreation by a community with no dedicated parks or recreational areas
• From the edge of the Notting Hill housing area high-density accommodation is encroaching into the suburb. Several hundred units have been built by private developers between the suburban streets and Blackburn Road as part of a speculation into the market for accommodation for overseas tertiary students. This is to be the ultimate fate of the land where the Monash Primary School used to provide its public services.
• Transport and other amenities are to be put under further pressure by a massive increase in employment in the business park area adjoining Notting Hill. Recently Telstra announced it was moving 4000 employees into this area. Until the loss of state government services these employees could have walked from their place of work to a pre-school, a primary school and a secondary college.

It is clear that liveability in Notting Hill is secondary to short-term speculative development.
The disappointing aspect is that the State Government is in no way neutral but a participant and beneficiary of this sale of public amenities.
This loss of public space will never be rectified.

Some Times We Are Not Alone - There Maybe No Escaping Development

Sometimes we forget we are not alone in the current period of rampant development. Far down the coast to the East another community battle is blazing.
Bastion Point is located in Mallacoota, the most easterly coastal township in Victoria. An icon on Victoria’s Wilderness Coast, Bastion Point is part of an outstanding natural environment. Immediately to its north is the entrance to Mallacoota Inlet, a natural estuary and lake system renowned for its unspoilt beauty. To the east are Cape Howe Marine National Park and Gabo Island, home to the largest colony of little penguins in the Southern Hemisphere. A wilderness coastline stretches in either direction as far as the eye can see. This spectacular marine and coastal environment is surrounded by Croajingolong National Park which is recognised by UNESCO as a World Biosphere Reserve.
The Save Bastion Point Campaign
A coalition of concerned groups and supporters has formed to fight the East Gippsland Shire Council’s proposal for a boat ramp and breakwater development at Bastion Point, Mallacoota. The campaign opposes such inappropriate development: it aims to protect the many values of Bastion Point and to promote safe and sustainable use of the area.
Where is Bastion Point - Why is it so special?
Bastion Point has extensive indigenous cultural heritage sites, has one of the few accessible shallow reef habitats in East Gippsland, and has ecological, geological and landscape values of state significance. It is the town beach and is used for surfing, swimming, beachcombing, bird-watching, rock pool rambling, scientific study, snorkeling, relaxing, angling and other recreational and social activities throughout the year.
What is the issue?
The East Gippsland Shire Council wants to construct a large ocean access facility at Bastion Point. Bastion Point currently provides ocean access for the abalone industry, government departments and recreational boating. The existing single-lane concrete ramp is 40 years old, and has not been maintained. It is in poor condition and is often covered by transitional sand. We recognize the need for improvement at Bastion Point; however all of the options considered by Council would require heavy engineering works, including large breakwaters, and would result in irreversible damage to Bastion Point. The Council’s preferred option, 150 metres south of the current boat ramp, includes ~
• a 2-lane boat ramp
• a large car/trailer turning area on the beach
• a boat holding area, with jetty
• a large breakwater approx 130m long, 2.3–2.8 high and 15m wide
• permanent sand dredging equipment
• road access through the headland
• catch-weighing, boat washing and fish cleaning facilities
• a boat trailer, car park and toilet facilities.
The Council is currently preparing an Environment Effects Statement (EES) for their proposal, which is a requirement by the Victorian Minister for Planning before any decision can be made about the development.
What’s wrong with the process?
To date, the Council’s conduct of the EES process has been substandard. They have failed to provide genuine, transparent and inclusive engagement of the Mallacoota community. A number of the reports that have been commissioned by Council have been inaccurate and flawed. Options for Bastion Point that could be environmentally, socially, culturally and economically sustainable have not been considered or assessed.
What’s wrong with the proposed development?
It will degrade a significant wilderness coastal environment & habitat.
The proposed boat ramp and breakwater would cut through the geologically significant Bastion Point reef, resulting in the destruction of diverse and species-rich marine habitats. It would also interfere with the coastal processes and require an on-going dredging operation that would further impact the reef and nearby beaches. Construction of the access road and turning area would remove significant coastal vegetation and habitat, and threaten fragile dunes and a cliff-face of geo-scientific importance. Impacts on the wider environment from the proposed development are also likely. An outstanding coastal panorama would be seriously interrupted, and the natural integrity of a wilderness coast destroyed forever.
It will be inequitable and discriminate against all other users
Read more

The New Centre Opens in Notting Hill

On Saturday Notting Hill turned out for opening of the new Neighbour Hood Centre.
In what what marked a new beginning for Notting Hill the Governor of Victoria, his Excellency Professor David de Kretser, officially opened the Notting Hill Community House with the formal ritual of the cutting of the ribbon.


The new Neighbourhood House is in the renovated kindergarden on Westefield Drive near the shops.

Professor de Kretser and his wife Jan lived in Notting Hill during the 1980s' and their children attended the kindergarden in its early years.

At 2.30 Professor de Kretser and his wife Jan arrived to be met by Marian Quartly,our local MC.

Then Melinda Ashton, kicked off the proceedings with a welcome and speech. Followed by the Governor, More from Marian and Tom Morrisey, the Mayor of Monash City.

Then the cutting of the ribbon and the crowd joined in for sandwiches and cake.


A great day for all.

What Future for Community Voices in Planning and Development

Reader M highlighted a news article in the Age today - Council stripped of permit power : Planning Minister Madden is considering a model introduced in SA in which special panels dominated by unelected planning and design experts to determine major planning applications

Councils urged to consider cuts to planning powers
Royce Millar July 19, 2007
A leading local government figure has urged Victorian councils not to immediately reject a proposal to strip local councils of some of their planning powers.
Planning Minister Justin Madden is considering a model, introduced by the South Australian Government, under which panels dominated by unelected planning and design experts determine major planning applications.
Development groups have enthusiastically backed the idea, but some councils are adamantly opposed.
However, some senior local government figures have welcomed debate on the issue, and have urged councils not to reject the proposal outright.
Victorian Local Governance Association president Beth Davidson said councils should be prepared to consider better methods of decision-making "rather than continuing on just because that's what you've always done".
But she cautioned the Government against imposing a new system, noting the Government's vow to work with councils. "Partners collaborate, they don't impose," she said.
Cr Davidson's council, the Surf Coast Shire, has used a similar system for many years, under which local experts decide more contentious planning proposals. Planning staff decide the rest. It is the only council in Victoria that uses such a system, and it worked "extremely well", she said.
But Opposition planning spokesman Mathew Guy said Labor's consideration of the SA model represented "the beginning of the end" for community input into urban planning.
"The adoption of this planning system will give a clear run to build higher, and more densely, across existing urban areas and will have scant regard for existing urban character across Melbourne and rural and regional Victoria," he said.
It is believed the Liberal Party was considering introducing a similar system before it lost power at the 1999 state election.
Port Phillip Mayor Janet Bolitho said the Government should not be considering such a significant change before fulfilling its own promises to cut red tape.
The Government "should be putting its energies into fully implementing its own policies instead of leaping on another quick fix", she said.
"Planning can be a fraught business, but it's essential that local democracy not be undermined simply to appease sections of the property industry," Cr Bolitho said.
Brian Welch, executive director of the Master Builders Association of Victoria, said that reform of the planning system along the lines of the SA model should be the Government's priority in any bid to improve housing affordability.
Link

This was followed by the Liberal Opposition Planning Spokesman with more dire warnings

FAREWELL COMMUNITY PLANNING INPUT – HELLO HIGH RISE ACROSS THE SUBURBS

News that the Bracks Government is considering adopting a centralised model of planning approvals is the beginning of the end for community input into urban planning. Adoption of Labor’s plan would see unelected officials determining what can and can’t be built across Victoria. “The removal of planning powers from communities is what the Bracks Government has always wanted,” Shadow Minister for Planning Matthew Guy said today.
“Despite assurances to the contrary by the Premier late last year, this Government has always seen local councils and local input as the enemy in planning decisions.”
Mr Guy said that adoption of the proposed model would clear the way for high-rise residential towers across the suburbs.
“The Bracks Government has had huge problems forcing the implementation of its flawed Melbourne 2030 planning scheme which advocates high density, high-rise apartments across the suburbs.”
“The adoption of this planning system will give a clear run to build higher, and more densely, across existing urban areas and will have scant regard for existing urban character across Melbourne and rural and regional Victoria.”
“For people who have resisted high-rise or high density developments in their suburbs, they will have no say when this planning scheme is implemented.”
For rural and regional Victoria the news is worse. Not only will communities lose their chance to have a say on planning decisions, but the decisions on what will or won’t be built in towns across Victoria will be made by an unelected clique from Melbourne.
“In 1999 Steve Bracks was elected to government and claimed on election night that he’d ‘bring democracy back to Victoria’ – clearly his Government’s word means nothing as local democracy and local planning input are set to be a victim of their lies."


What’s the word from the curvy streets of Notting Hill?

Notting Hill History

Wilkinson's Bakery on the Southwest corner of Ferntree Gully Road and Blackburn Road, 1888


The Notting Hill History Project is underway. As part of the opening of the Neighbourhood Centre there will be an exhibition on the history of the estate. The items for the display are being collected with the assistance of a grant from the Local History Grants Program.

A little on our history. Originally our suburb was known as Barkers Hill, MJ Barker being an early resident in the district but was renamed when a settler by the name of Thomas Wilkinson setup camp in the area because of his association with Notting Hill in London (although this is disputed as he actually came from Lincolnshire).
He was a Cobb & Co carrier of both parcels and passengers between Prahran and Ferntree Gully and in the late 1870s his house became the Half Way House Hotel (now the Notting Hill Pub) as a source of refreshment on their journey through the area, and finally he then became postmaster at the Notting Hill Post Office.
Within our estate, there was a creek called ‘Mile Creek West’ which had two branches at the northern end crossing over Ferntree Gully Rd joining into a main section which ran south along side the primary school’s eastern boundary and
continued on. These branches of creeks came from the southern boundary within the well known ‘Thomas Napier’s Historical Scotchmans Creek Grazing Run’.
The local aboriginal tribe from our area where called ‘Boonoorong’. Research indicates that the name of one of our avenues ‘Akuna’, draws from the Koori name meaning ‘Clear Water’.
Historically, the people from Notting Hill,when gathered together, have strong voices and have paved the way in several aspects. They were heard through many channels of both Council & Education Departments.
Our estate was and is known as Westerfield and was Australia’s first completely pre-planned neighbourhood by AV Jennings in the late 1950s, and early 60’s with approximately 8 different house plans to choose from - designed to provide modern living in a complete community with a character and atmosphere of distinction.

Recent House Auction Action in Notting Hill

Recently this house on Westerfield sold at auction for $457,250 after some energetic and spirited bidding.
Apart from a free Saturday morning's entertainment what does this mean for local house values - any ideas or thoughts?

Appearing in Your Letterbox Soon - The Latest Notting Hill News

click on page to increase to full screen

Notting Hill News Part 2

Notting Hill News Part 3

Notting Hill News Part 4

In the News: Planning Backlash

High density apartment developments encroaching Notting Hill with an appetite for the school grounds next


FROM Camberwell to Moonee Ponds, normally sedate and polite people are joining a movement that could eventually mean trouble for the Bracks Government.
John Masanauskas May 07, 2007 12:00am Herald Sun

These unlikely suburban warriors are opposed to Melbourne 2030 -- a plan to fit more than one million extra people into the city over the next 20 years. Under the plan, much of the growth should occur in so-called activity centres, high-rise apartments built around transport and business hubs.
The best known proposal involves Camberwell station, mainly because of high-profile opponents Geoffrey Rush and Barry Humphries.
For members of protest group Planning Backlash, the big issue is that many developers are destroying neighbourhoods by over-developing existing residential sites.
Ann Reid, from Malvern East, said replacing single house blocks with multi-unit and dual occupancy developments was making people angry.
"There's more traffic congestion, a loss of open space, loss of trees and loss of neighbourhood character," she said. "This dogma of growth is destroying the suburbs."
Marion Quartly, from Notting Hill, said residents were concerned two public schools that were closed were being replaced by hundreds of houses.
Monash University demographer Dr Bob Birrell said building approval figures showed the Government's plan to move people into activity centre apartments wasn't working. He said the apartments were too expensive, and more than a third of dwellings now built in Melbourne comprised so-called opportunistic in-fill.
"This is where an existing house is demolished and replaced with several units or a unit is built in the backyard of an existing home. It's fundamentally changing the nature of suburbia, but in-fill is not discussed in Melbourne 2030 at all."

Read more
From BRAG

Locals Begin the Revegetation of the Wetland

On Saturday locals joined together to begin the revegetation of the wetland area in Notting Hill. With the help of Monash University ground staff who prepared the ground native plants were put in to create a new bushland areas around the small dam.
More planting will occur as we raise further funds to pay for more plants.





And a little clean up of the rubbish in the area too. Old thongs and plastic anyone?

Followed by coffee and scones all round

The Telstra Empire Colonises Notting Hill - Offices for 4000 over the Back Fence

Telstra announced their plans today for their site at 770 Blackburn Rd, the former Telstra Research Labs. This joins onto the Notting Hill housing area.

Quoting from their media release - link

"Telstra will build a large 40,000 square metre office complex in Clayton, Victoria."
The new flagship development, to be completed by late 2009, will accommodate around 4,000 Telstra employees in four low-rise buildings ranging from two to six storeys."
Leading property Developer Salta Constructions will undertake the construction which will also feature an additional 2,000 square metres of retail facilities comprising a mini-market, newsagent and cafes."
"Site work is expected to commence in early 2008 and will involve the demolition of the existing vacant buildings"

In Notty the response is mixed – more people in the area but the traffic; the lack of open space and parking point to failures in planning that are being compounded by school closures.

L wrote:
The South Eastern employees scattered over the suburbs and outer CBD will all be relocated to this site. If we thought the traffic was bad around here now, just wait until this place opens ... and where are all the cars going to park as most of the site will be office/retail buildings? The price of apartments might rise if people want to live and work in the same suburb? Who knows ... all the more reason to press on for some open spaces and greenery, bike paths etc as we're going to bear some of the pressure of all the extra human and vehicular traffic.

D wrote:
If even just 5% of Telstra's 4000+ staff brought their children to a local school that's 200 or more kids. Imagine if there was a good primary school just off the Telstra/University sites [perhaps, the former Monash Primary School :)], which then fed into the Monash Uni Science and Technology Secondary school, or one of the local Sec. schools such as Mt. Waverley or Glen Waverley ... and what about childcare facilites close by?? What is the State Govt/Monash Council going to do about providing all the extra services that will be needed by the influx of Telstra employees?


This is a B3 Zone and for the site (770 Blackburn Rd) there is a 28,000 square meter limit for leasable office space above which a planning permit would be needed
--- thus expect to see a planning application notice .. should be detail available when that happens.

D2 wrote:
Parking ... my reading of 52.06 (can't find anything that overrides it in the B3 zone) required 3.5 cars per 100 square meters of floor for an office. ie 40000/100 * 3.5 = 1400 car parks ... given my past life at that site I'd say there will be a few extra people looking to park cars (Expect 1 person per 10square meters of floor area and nearly 1 car per 2 persons at best) --- ie 4000 people (as stated in the announcement) so 2000+ cars. Not sure where they will go let alone get in and out of the site. When TRL was there at its peak there were only about 600 people.

L2:
the more reason to press on for some open spaces and greenery, bike paths
etc as we're going to bear some of the pressure of all the extra human and
vehicular traffic.

- AND SCHOOLS!!!!! surely some of those people will want easy access to a
primary school, as was the case with the now-closed primary school.

The Greening of Notting Hill Begins

ALL WELCOME
Tree Planting - This Saturday (Sat 2 June)

This is a reminder that the Tree Planting Day is happening this Saturday 2 June between 10:00am and 12:00noon on the vacant land between the open stormwater drain and the Melbourne Cricket Centre on Duredin Street.

EVERYONE IS WELCOME along with your shovels and spades!
So please join us in greening up our suburb.

Courses to be offered at the Notting Hill Neighbiourhood House

The Mulgrave House people have kindly put up the coming timetable of courses that will be available the Neighourhood House after it opens in July.
The list can be viewed here

For further updates check links on the side.

News from Notting Hill - May

It is a busy time in the suburb

Survey and Petition

Doorknockers are visiting every house seeking signatures for our petition on the school closures and sell off of the land. At the same time they will be conducting a survey of households to find out how many school age children there really are in the suburb – and whether this fits with what the Education department claims.

This information may be matched with the census data due out soon to give an accurate picture of who lives in Notting Hill and from this what their needs are. The reason for the survey is a strong suspicion that the data used for making decision about schools and other services is extremely out of date and probably inaccurate or deliberately misrepresented to justify Government decisions. Recently we sought information from the Education Department under Freedom of Information on the basis for their decision making. The result was pretty paltry and does not give us any confidence in the quality or relevance of data used.

Liveability Coalition
Planning is continuing for the big meeting planned now for late July or August. More local community groups are joining to together to increase the awareness of the threats to liveability in the City of Monash by inappropriate, ill-conceived development and the apparent inability of the State Government and impotent local councils to admit that their planning measures are missing the target. Link

Native Vegetation Repair
The work on restoring native vegetation is proceeding quickly with the help of the grounds staff from Monash University. A working day will be held in early June to plant trees and other plants in the wetlands area owned by the University along the gully or former creek.
Donations have provided the seedlings and some of the tools while Monash staff is preparing the ground for planting.

The Neighbour House
Work is proceeding to open the Neighbourhood House – where the kindergarten used to be in Westerfield near the shops – in July. See previous post. Link
Computers have been donated from Monash University and furniture and chairs have been sourced and are now in storage awaiting the opening. The Monash Council is to carry out renovations.

Community Garden Proposal
The community garden proposal continues. The Monash Council has provided some in principle support for a community garden and suggested a block for a community garden. Unfortunately this block is not viable. The block of land suggested is at the back or rear of the Pinewood nursery on Blackburn Road opposite the Pinewood Shopping Centre.
This is too far away for Notting Hill residents. The garden should be within walking distance of people’s residences.
It is several kilometres away and across two major arterial roads and a motorway. Thanks but no thanks.

We are asking for something more appropriate and able to be easily used and enjoyed by Notting Hill community gardeners. I plan to letterbox all gardeners and organise a meeting in the new Neighbourhood House.

Debate over Public Inquiry in Public Land Sales and Where Dogs Don't Bite

It was with these words that politician, Matthew Guy a member of Victoria Legislative Council opened debate on setting up the inquiry into public land for development (Permanent link on the left)

"We are in the first decade of a new century and already it is clear that communities and Victorians are becoming more and more concerned with the naturaland built environments that surround us.
Victorians are taking a keener interest in the form and style of our city that is our capital, and the character of the country and regional towns that make up our great state.
Importantly Victorians are taking a much more proactive interest in the character of the neighbourhoods in which they live and in the preservation of the existing public open space in those cities and towns.
But since the turn of the century it is clear that public open space has come under attack. It has become a commodity to sell or develop, rather than to preserve.
As land prices have risen dramatically across the city over the last few years, principally near central activities areas, and moreover due to the establishment of a rigid urban growth boundary, the state government appears to have become a land speculator with its public land holdings.
Unfortunately public open space has become more of a line item in the Department of Treasury and Finance’s Excel spreadsheets first and a public, economic and social asset second.
This motion has been put forward for debate today to establish this select committee in the hope that this chamber will view this issue with exceptional importance, because once open space is lost, as we all know, it cannot be replaced.
Further, it is clear that the Bracks government is disposing public land across the state in order to get a quick financial gain with little or no regard to the open space that is being lost forever".

Notting Hill had a mention during the debate too.
Some of it here:

"Another example I would like to draw to the house’s attention is the suburb of Notting Hill. It was Australia’s first preplanned neighbourhood, if you like, the first estate built by renowned builder AVJennings.
It is a quiet, peaceful suburb with kids, families and people kicking the footy in the street.
It is a place where the dogs do not bite.
It is a place where people can live what many of us would regard as the great Australian dream, with a house on a block of land in the suburbs, where the neighbours are all still friendly to each other.
However, Notting Hill is under siege, as residents know. In the last four years they have lost their day care centre, their kindergarten, their primary school and their secondary school.
Unfortunately when AVJennings built the estate it ran out of money, and the public land in the middle of the estate that was set aside to be a park never eventuated.
As I stated, both the primary and secondary schools recently closed. It was those two schools that the community used as public open space. Realising that they were under siege, members of the community rallied together.
They went to the local council and presented a plan for part of the site of the now closed secondary school to be used as public open space, because their suburb does not have any left.
The council went to the government and was told that this was not a problem, so long as the council paid market rates for the land.
This was a wild and ridiculous suggestion, as the government knew no council could
possibly afford to do so. Why would the government not want these two school sites sold to the highest bidder?
It is because, irrespective of the fact that no open space now exists in this small suburb, according to the Melbourne 2030 document the land on which the two schools are located is right in the middle of the Monash University health research precinct.
So it is not just an average surplus-to-government-requirements school sale anymore. It is a couple of plots of public land that are now worth millions upon millions of dollars more than they would be if they were schools stuck out in the suburbs somewhere else.
Land on the edge of Notting Hill is already being sold for high-rise student accommodation. Right next to the old secondary school is land that is being sold to have new office blocks of four or five storeys. So the sale of the high school by this government, so pious about its record in education, is because the government has seen the flashing dollar sign first.
Like Kew Cottages, there is more to this story than meets the eye. I am informed by the residents that the school closed on 22 December last year for good.
By the end of January 2007 it was already deemed surplus to government requirements. It was not even a month later. This means that the Department of Education (DOE) had written to all other government departments and offered the land to them. After receiving replies it had then gone to all other schools in the area and offered it to them and got replies back.
This was all done over the Christmas period. Then it declared the school surplus.
Are we seriously expected to believe that the process to declare this school surplus was
conducted by DOE over the Christmas period, that it contacted all involved and it was done inthe proper way?
There is more about Notting Hill that we need to know about. A German school was approached and it became interested in establishing what is called a co-host school similar to, I am informed, one in Caroline Springs at the old primary school site. Surprisingly, the Department of
Education refused to meet or talk to that school.
When the Germans left a Chinese group came in. The department refused to talk to that group as well.
We are talking about a school site a couple of kilometres away from Clayton and Springvale where those communities have large numbers.
We should not be surprised. As I mentioned earlier, it is becoming clearer to all of us that DOE does not want to talk to any of these people because the monetary value of these sites is more important than the actual use of the school.
I should inform the house at this point that the Notting Hill residents association contacted their local MP, Hong Lim, the member for Clayton in the other place.
The association never received a reply and it did not contact him once but multiple times. It also sent over 130 letters to the then Minister for Education and Training, Lynne Kosky, now the Minister for Public Education.
Ms Kosky appeared to have the same attitude in education as she does in transport because
she did not want to hear about its letters; more than 130 letters were sent to her but she did not reply to a single one.
So Notting Hill is set to be a small suburb with no schools, no shops and now no public open space. The public land has been entirely sold off for development over the last few years because the state government is obsessed with being a land speculator first. It is a suburb that will now have all the hallmarks of Melbourne 2030 — what the minister and this government want — with hundreds of additional people living in the suburb but with vastly reduced open space".


Full debate available at:
http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/council/publicland/Proof%20Hansard.pdf

Inquiry Launched into Sale of Public Land for Development

From the Age newspaper
Inquiry launched into sale of public land for development

David Rood and Royce Millar May 3, 2007

MELBOURNE'S controversial 2030 planning policy will come under scrutiny following the establishment of an inquiry into the Government's sale of public land for development.
Flexing their muscle in the Victorian upper house, the Opposition parties established the potentially embarrassing inquiry yesterday.
The inquiry, initiated by the Liberals, will investigate the sale and development of public land and the relationship to Melbourne's 2030 planning policy and Green Wedges.

More at link
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/05/02/1177788225256.html


Details of the Committee are now available at:
http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/council/publicland/

Terms of Reference for the Inquiry are at:
http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/council/publicland/tor.html

A Little Gardening Inspiration

Link

http://kenalovell.com/blog/2007/04/11/vegeprivation/

Liveability Meeting Coming

$75 Million To Plan An Even More Liveable Victoria

WHAT DO YOU THINK ?

From Our State Government - Budget Time Propaganda

From the MINISTER FOR PLANNING
Projects to rejuvenate major suburban centres and meet the challenges of population growth are the focus of a $75 million plan to keep Victoria a great place to live, work and raise a family.
Planning Minister Justin Madden said the 2007-08 State Budget delivered on the Bracks Government’s commitment to meet the challenge of planning for a growing population.
“Since 1999, the Government has legislated to protect Melbourne’s precious Green Wedges, direct housing to where new communities can access schools, shops and transport, and streamlined planning processes,” he said.
“We made a commitment to help councils implement the Melbourne 2030 blueprint to manage growth over the next 30 years. “We also promised to give local government the tools and expertise needed to update and strengthen local planning schemes so that communities, developers and councils have greater certainty about what is allowed.
“Today we are delivering on those promises, with funding to facilitate investment, boost local economies, create jobs and make Victoria an even more attractive place to raise a family.”

There is more - it goes on and on
go to
http://www.budget.vic.gov.au/domino/Web_Notes/Budgets/budget07.nsf/d6e571e551bef80eca2572bb002bcea7/4463a6eef077dcb2ca2572cd0037908f!OpenDocument

What do people think

The Notty Blogger is back

I have been overseas in Hong Kong and China in past weeks but I return with a new sense of wonder at the how the human species is taking over urban spaces. You might call it the Hong Kong 3D urban dystopic withdrawal.

Back in suburbia it is different - even safe - or is it? Confessions of Ballard fan.

"The system is self-regulating. It relies on our sense of civic responsibility. Without that, society would collapse. In fact, the collapse may even have begun.” J.G. Ballard. Millennium People (2003; p. 104).

A Ballardian view of recent events in the suburbs of Melbourne

LINK

http://www.ballardian.com/the-rats-that-ate-mill-park/

The Outcome from Our Monash Groups Meeting

MEDIA RELEASE
30 March 2007

THE MONASH LIVEABILITY COALITION

KEEP MONASH LIVEABLE

(SPACES AND PLACES FOR PEOPLE)

Residents, Theatre & Sporting Groups from various suburbs within the City of
Monash area met last night to discuss their concerns at the loss of Open Space
created by the closure of schools in the area, and the development of their sites as
medium to high density housing.

The meeting heard Dr Bob Birrell from the Monash School of Social Inquiry explain
his concerns about the Victorian Government’s failure to provide living and
recreational space to meet the needs of suburbs with rapidly rising populations.
The meeting also discussed other issues relating to the increased density of
population within Monash, including traffic congestion and potential water shortages.
The Residents’ Groups represented at the meeting decided to form a Coalition to
address all of these issues within the Monash context.

It was also agreed that all Groups support Councillor Gerry Koteck’s decision to
oppose the re-zoning of the Notting Hill Primary School Site in light of the multiple
school closures and lack of future planning within the Westerfield Estate - Notting Hill.
They are planning petitions to both the City Council and the Victorian Parliament
concerning public use of land and facilities, and a Working Group will meet in May to
plan a large Public Meeting ‘To Make Monash More Liveable’.

Should you or any members of your Group wish to participate in this united Coalition,
please contact your local Residents Action Group, Rate Payers Association or Marion
Quartly (NHCA) Ph: 9561 3975 or Melinda Ashton (NHCA) Ph: 9561 5131
Notting Hill Community Association

More open space push - Local Newspaper

The Waverley Leader Newspaper publishes this:

More open space push
Andrew Miller
27Mar07
THE State Government and Monash Council should share the blame for the city's woeful record on open space and spend the millions reaped in developer contributions to secure more land, campaigners say.
The Notting Hill and Brandon Park resident action groups have questioned the council's decision to spend $4.3 million gathered from mandatory developer contributions in the past four years on upgrading parks, reserves and recreational facilities.
Notting Hill Action Group spokeswoman Melinda Ashton said the council should have used the money to buy more land.''Once again, the population is increasing and there has been nothing set aside,'' she said.Australian Research Centre for Urban Ecology figures show Monash has only 7.4 hectares of public open space for every 1000 residents one of the lowest ratios in Melbourne.
The Government is expected to this year sell land from five Monash schools, four of which have closed, and open space campaigners want up to 10 per cent set aside for parks.Council can take 5 per cent of the value of the land being developed or ask that 5 per cent be set aside for recreational use.Brandon Park Residents' Action Group convener John Shrives said the council should pressure the Government to set aside more land.
``The State Government is making a windfall from all these sales of land they bought for very little money,'' Mr Shrives said.''Council should certainly be working hard to encourage greater support from the Government before the land is subdivided, so the developers don't just give a little bit here and a little bit there.''
Mayor Tom Morrissey said the council had opted to spend the $4 million on park upgrades rather than buying more space because the land parcels offered were in unsuitable areas.

Couple of points of clarification from your blogger

The land was not necessarily purchased in the past - It was public land and used for schools - it always has been public land. All land began as Crown land in Victoria and remains so until sold off to private interests. This has been a preoccupation of Government in Victoria since 1830 after the Crown declared all the land as Crown land.

Not all residents think 10 per cent retained as public land for public use is sufficient. In the schools for sale much of the areas are already open space - formerly playgrounds and ovals. These areas have been used as recreational areas for children and residents and are now being sold off. The ten per cent figure is being promoted by councilors as a compromise - that is we are entitled to get 5 per cent back but we can be tough and get 10 per cent back.
Not everyone thinks this is good enough.

Update on Community Garden

The response to our recent leaflet on the community garden proposal has been gratifying. More than 20 residents have expressed a written interest and another dozen a verbal interest.
I think we can acknowledge that there is support to start a community garden in Notting Hill.
I will be contact with all those who did respond and keep them up to date.
A first move has been to seek the support of Monash Council for the proposal and to this end I have written to the Mayor and local councillors and said:

Recently residents in Notting Hill met and offered support for the concept of a community run garden in Notting Hill.
Following this:
· a survey of all residents was undertaken;
· a leaflet explaining the concept of a community garden was placed in all the letterboxes in the suburb;
· the leaflet invited responses and expressions of interests in becoming a community gardener;
· more than 20 written responses were received; and
· the initiative was also unanimously supported at a public meeting of residents on 14 March 2007.
Community gardens are recognised worldwide as a great way to grow food, improve our health, meet people, and cultivate vibrant communities.
We are proposing to investigate further now and follow through on developing a community garden project for the Notting Hill community.
We realise that establishing a community garden will not be easy but require a level of commitment and efforts of many before it becomes a reality.
Therefore we request your support and advice on this useful community initiative.

We await a response.

Recently the Age ran a piece about community gardens. It’s at:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/health/backyard-bliss/2007/03/20/1174153120432.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2

Meeting to Consider Government Provision of Community Green Space from Sales of Public Land

People are invited to a meeting of residents of the City of Monash who are affected by the closure of public schools and the threatened loss of community green space and facilities.

The Notting Hill Community Association will host this meeting at 7.30 on the evening of Thursday 29 March. It will be held at Monash University, in room SG04, one of the Manton rooms on the ground floor of the Menzies Building.

The meeting will consider how the State Government may be persuaded to set aside for public use a portion of all public lands sold for development – most urgently, of public school sites in the City of Monash recently or about to be deemed surplus to requirements by the Department of Education.

It will also consider the decision by City of Monash Councillor Gerry Kottek to vote against the Council’s planned rezoning of the Monash Primary School Site to residential use unless a substantial section of the site is reserved for community use.

The meeting will also consider how the Monash Secondary College Theatrette can best be retained for community use.

If anyone would like further information or assistance on how to get to the meeting up at the campus please contact his website and nottynews@gmail.com

Update to Notting Hills News

The public meeting held last week was a great success with nearly 50 locals attending the meeting in the Pre School on Westerfield Street.

Much interest and support was evident for the work of residents.

A decision and was made to incorporate and association to be know as the Notting Hill Community Association. To date the residents group known as NHAG – the Notting Hill Action Group – has been operating unincorporated.

NHAG will of course still be there to keep representatives honesty.

An election was held and positions determined for a management committee

­ Marian Quartly – President
­ Melinda Ashton – Vice President
­ Vince Leveridge – Treasurer
­ Chan Cheah – Secretary
­ Committe members – Lauren Gates, Michaela Dommisse and Sherry Mayo

President Marian reported on the progress to renovate the pre-school for its use as the neighbourhood house and coming opening.
As reported elsewhere on this site the Governor of Victoria, his Excellency Professor David de Kretser, will open the Notting Hill Community House in a ceremony on the afternoon of 28 July.
Professor de Kretser and his wife Jan lived in Notting Hill during the 1980s' and their children attended the kindergarden in its early years.

Discussion after the meeting has resulted in a project to collect and create a display of photographs and other items reflecting the history of Notting Hill. This exhibition will open with the Neighbourhood House.

Further updates were given on the situation of the Monash Primary School and the activity around the future of the small theatre at the Monash Secondary College.

Local Newspapers buy into the Plight of Notting Hill

We are getting some attention to the plight of Notting Hill in the local media - last week the Monash Journal newspaper ran a piece on the school closures. Although the comment by local member of parliament Hong Lim was not helpful and not well received in the suburb.

From the Waverley Leader newspaper this week

School sale space fear
NOTTING Hill's open space looks certain to shrink after the State Government pushed ahead with plans to put the former Monash Primary School site on the market.
The Government has asked Monash Council to rezone the land to RZ1 residential, making way for the classrooms to be turned into flats, units or houses.Under the Subdivision Act, the developers will be forced to keep at least 5 per cent of the land as open space. But the council will negotiate with developers to possibly save 10 per cent of the site.The rezoning application will not be ready before April.
Plans for the sell-off have prompted an angry response from residents and Oakleigh Ward councillor Gerry Kottek.Cr Kottek said the Government was ``flogging off public assets'' without concern for the community.``They are reducing the amount of open space and not having a meaningful dialogue with the community,'' Cr Kottek said.
The former primary school is one of four closed Monash schools that could be sold to the highest bidder.The Monash Secondary College, Brandon Park Secondary College and Clayton West Primary sites are still in limbo.Cam Scott, a spokesman for Education Minister John Lenders, said the future of all three sites was yet to be determined.
But Mr Scott confirmed the Government had plans to sell Monash Primary School.Notting Hill Residents' Action Group spokeswoman Melinda Ashton said she was worried the school's ovals would be replaced with dozens of high-rise units.``It's certainly not what we need what we need is some open space,'' Ms Ashtonsaid.``If we lose the school, we lose any recreation area we have. It's extremely important we maintain the school's oval.''

Similarly in the Oakliegh Monash Leader newspaper

School sale space fear
NOTTING Hill's open space looks certain to shrink after the State Government pushed ahead with plans to put the former Monash Primary School site on the market.

Link http://www.oakleighmonashleader.com.au/article/2007/03/06/11200_wov_news.html

Governor to Open Notting Hill Community House with Homecoming Visit

In what will signal a new beginning in Notting Hill the Governor of Victoria, his Excellency Professor David de Kretser, will open the Notting Hill Community House in a ceremony on the afternoon of 28 July.

Professor de Kretser and his wife Jan lived in Notting Hill during the 1980s' and their children attended the kindergarden in its early years.

Representatives of Monash University and the Monash City Council will attend this official occasion along with all the folk of the suburb.
It promises to be a big event.

From the latest Notting Hill News - Newsletter of the Notting Hill Action Group - now appearing in your letterbox.

For more information of Professor David de Kreter go to http://www.governor.vic.gov.au/welcome.htm

BIG MEETING IN NOTTING HILL

A number of community issues will reported on and discussed at the Public Meeting planned for Wednesday 14 March 2007

What Do You Want From The
Notting Hill Community House?

• English Languages Classes?
• Computer Classes?
• Yoga Classes?
• Space for a Mothers’ Group?
• Venue for Meetings?

Come to the PUBLIC MEETING

Wednesday 14 March 7:30pm
in the Kindergarten building,

37 Westerfield Drive
AND HAVE YOUR SAY

A Resident Writes to Councillors and Members of Parliament

Dear Ward Councillors
Some of you may know of me and some may not, but I write to you as a resident of the Oakleigh Ward living in the suburb of Notting Hill, regarding our total loss of open space in losing our two (2) schools.
Please find attached below an email that I’ve sent to our State MPs and also sent it to: Hong Lim, Gavin Jennings, Inga Peulich, Gordon Rich-Phillips, Bob Smith, Adem Somyurek, which I believe you should read.
Please be aware that the residents of the Notting Hill community have used these two school grounds for recreation over the many years either: after hours, during school holidays or over weekends.
We have never needed to request public open land previously, as we’ve all used these facilities, however, with their loss, the entire community will have no where to exercise, fly a kite, play footy/cricket etc and in comparison to other areas of Monash, we are totally lacking in open space.
Please explain how the 2 to 5% of land set aside, is calculated? What is the formula? and How old is this formula - 1920’s ?
As our Ward Councillors, I ask you all to familiarize yourselves with our area and assist your local community in retaining a decent amount of the land for the community.
I understand that you are all no doubt busy with the Oakleigh pool situation.
However, this issue is just as important to us, we too are in desperate need of some decent recreational area/facilities and I feel that our issue should be receiving just as much action from Council before it’s too late!
The responsibility for retaining some of this land is constantly being passed backwards and forwards between State Government and Local Council, but the issue still lies and is falling through the cracks.
This needs to be addressed and done so that it ensures this community’s future before this land goes to auction for the highest bidder.
To what lengths does the community need to go to, to get someone to pay attention and help us with this matter?
I’m more than happy to discuss this issue with you all and would love to hear from all of you on how you will be assisting your local community with this much needed land before it’s too late.

Kind regards
Melinda


And to the State members of parliaments Melinda wrote:



Dear Ministers
We have no public open space!! I hope I’ve caught your attention
I write to you as a resident for 10 years of the suburb of Notting Hill Victoria 3168 (Melways Map 70) and over the last 5 years, our suburb/estate has lost:

Day Care Facility – Old Rusden Uni Campus, Blackburn Road/Samada Street
Kindergarten – Westerfield Drive
Notting Hill Primary School – Samada Street
Monash Secondary School – Duredin Road, NantillaRoad & Dunlop Road

I am disgusted that our suburb has lost all of the above facilities and received nothing in their place! Let alone kept any land aside for future generations needs and requirements.
This is State owned land paid for by the people, yet nothing is being set aside for us! 2 or 5% is just not enough, we require the same facilities that our surrounding suburbs have, a sports oval with proper recreational facilities and playground.
The demographics of our suburb are changing with the increasing birth rate within our estate – where do our children go for easy and safe access to education, not to mention sporting activities?
We lost the Day Care facility on the Rusden site which has now been redeveloped into high-rise – medium density dwellings without any allowances for public open space.
Now the DEET are rezoning the primary school to residential and selling that off to the highest bidder, closely followed by Monash Secondary School which will no doubt meet the same fate!
Where is everyone going to exercise?
Our estates’ residents have all used these facilities over the many years as open space and without any recreational areas, what is the State Government going to give us to compensate us for loss of open space? If you look in the melways, you can see that our suburb is the only one in the vicinity that doesn’t have any green areas for open space but is slowly filling up with business parks and factories.
The only available land is owned by Monash University who also intend on developing it over the next 5>10 years.
I believed that the State Government were concerned with the increasing obesity problem, yet we’re losing all of our open space to developers who will fill it with more high density dwellings to gain maximum dollar. At what price do we pay for these losses?
Where do we go or take our children to play footy, or fly a kite? Not everyone has a car and can travel to other open spaces. Not to mention young 5 year olds walking to the nearest primary schools over major roads and across freeway on/off ramps.
What happens to the future generations within this area? There is an urgent need to set aside areas for future development… people are moving back into the suburbs for more affordable living, yet there is nothing being kept for the future. What happened to the 2030 Plan? Isn’t it supposed to allow for spread into residential areas outside of the activity centres?
It was recently published in the local Monash Journal Feb 12, A Monash University Urban Population Expert, has criticized the State Government for failing to retain public open space at former school sites.
We have been lobbying our local Monash Council for some of this land to be kept as public open space, but they say that it’s the State Government’s responsibility to put these reserves aside and that they can’t afford to purchase land for the local community.
I moved into this estate with the intention of building a home, starting a family and having my children be able to walk to kinder, primary school and high school… I now have a home and two (2) children and have to drive them to day care/kinder, so what is the State Government going to do for me and my neighbours?
I’m supposed to be living in the Garden City… not the high density, dual occupancy capital.
There is a total lack of concern for our suburb and its inhabitants and it’s about time someone took notice. We are not lambs lined up for the slaughter; we are human beings with needs and requirements that quite simply aren’t being met.
I’m happy to discuss any or all of my concerns with any of you who can find the time to speak to the people. I look forward to hearing from you

Sincerely
Melinda Ashton
Notting Hill Vic 3168

Ideas for Notting Hill Spaces

While there is real concern about the lack of space in Notting Hill and the lose of amenities such as the primary school and secondary college it is also important to think about what we as residents might to with public space if by some effort some becomes available for public use.
I would like to open the conversation on a community garden and gauge the initial level of support for such a proposal. I realise that establishing a community garden will not be easy and require a level of commitment and efforts of many before it becomes a reality.
We include some thoughts on the benefits of a community garden for residents. Community gardens are recognised worldwide as a great way to grow food, improve your health, meet people, and cultivate vibrant communities.
They:

• allow people to grow their own vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers
• contribute to building an ecologically viable and socially just food system
• are a convivial way of getting fresh air and exercise
• foster community engagement and a culture of generosity, reciprocity, trust and self-help
• are great places to learn about gardening and share local knowledge
• preserve and improve the precious green spaces in urban environments
• develop innovative ways of living sustainably in the city
• provide opportunities for cultural exchange and learning
• some community gardens produce enough food and share the surplus and/or develop community enterprises.
  
  For more information about community gardens go to:
  http://www.ringwoodcommunitygarden.org.au/
  http://www.ceres.org.au/
  http://www.communitygarden.org.au/
  http://www.cultivatingcommunity.org.au/
  http://www.canh.asn.au/community_gardening/
  
  
  I would be interested in any responses or comments on the possibility of a community garden

On Urban Development and Residents' Responses

The Minister for Planning in Victoria has often stated publicly that Melbourne 2030 is about protecting the liveability of Melbourne by encouraging the right development in the right places. This is exactly what resident groups are trying to do. Residents groups are not against all developments. They are however, against inappropriate developments.
In an ideal world, there would not be any need for the establishment of Concerned Resident Groups or Action Groups to campaign against developments in order to protect the liveability of Melbourne.
However we do not live in an ideal world. Inappropriate planning proposals from developers in the misguided belief that they comply with Melbourne 2030 have raised the level of consciousness within the community to problems associated with Melbourne 2030.
There may come a time when residents feel so strongly about a particular issue, that they consider campaigning against what they consider to be a proposed inappropriate development in order to protect the liveability of their suburb. They may even consider forming a resident’s representative group to allow the campaign to be more effective.
Forming and working in a concerned resident group to campaign against a proposed inappropriate development will require considerable time and effort from all members.
The decision to form or join a resident group and undertake such a campaign should therefore not be taken lightly, and should only be made after consideration of a number of issues.

Residents wanting to be heard have to consider:
Firstly decide if they wish to embark on a campaign against a proposed development.
Secondly decide whether they want to establish a representative residents group to undertake the campaign
Thirdly, appreciate the tasks need to be done in order to maximize their chances of achieving a desired outcome.
Finally, to obtain advice on how best to undertake these tasks.

This advice is from the Wheelers Hill Action Group within Monash Council who are sharing their experiences with other interest groups.

The Space Race - Notting Hill versus the Developers

Let’s talk about open space in Notting Hill
Notting Hill in reality is not a big suburban area. The residential area is small and compact and bounded by arterial roads.
The main residential areas are the Westerfield Estate and the Rusden estate.
Westerfield Estate people have always been forced to use school grounds as their open exercise and recreational areas as the developer, A V Jennings, did not provide a park as originally promised.
In these is the former Monash Primary School which has a compact sports oval. This is now fenced off and access is officially denied although the fence is falling down. Its future looks bleak as once the Monash Council rezones the area the developers are likely to move in.
The High School or Secondary College is closed and the future of its land is questionable.
So what public access land does the area of 600 dwellings have? There area couple of small patches where vacant blocks have some public use. This gives the residential area less than 0.2 percent of the area as public space.
In Monash City Council overall the amount of public space is 5 percent.
According to the 2001 Census figures, 234 people out of 1364 persons living on the estate are 15 years old or under; that’s around 17%. These kids need space, and adults increasingly need room for exercise.
The link between growing obesity of the population and lack of open space or areas for walking is obvious.
The steamroller approach of increasing the density of the housing without though for mobility physical activity by people has to be rejected.
The locals have had the school grounds as open spaces for exercise and recreation in the past but it is unlikely they will in the future given the influence of the development and real estate lobby in State politics.

Our Natural Heritage

One of the last areas if not the last one of native or natural vegetation in the Notting Hill area is on the site of the Monash Primary School.

The long leafed box (Eucalytpus goniocalyx) are the remnant of the original vegetation of the area, as are the swamp gums (Eucalyptus ovata).
The trees are of significant heritage value as they predate the Westerfield Estate, and the University.
The trees are reported to be good health and are valuable because few healthy examples of the long leafed box remain in local council reserves let along private areas.
Also because the species are growing in clumps their seed and seedlings are genetically pure and they have not hybridised as other eucalypti species have. So the trees represent a valueable resource and a pool for propagation.
They provide a remaining habitat for our wildlife. A future bushland reserve would provide a cooridor linking Monash University's Jock Marshall Reserve, the Monash Freeway roadside reserve and Jells Park.

Picture from Lauren Gates
Link to more pictures

http://www.users.bigpond.com/lnd.gates/PicturesNativVeg_20061126_simple.htm