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.