By Cameron Smith

Concerned residents have heard candidates for the electorate of Albert Park at a ‘Candidate Forum’  state their position on the recently installed pop-up bike lanes prior to the start of polling on Monday 14 November. Three of the candidates have provided written and firm comments, reflecting community feedback and an independent Traffix Group report on the safety of the pop-up bike lanes.

The four candidates speaking at a community forum last Thursday were provided with the Traffix report three days prior to the event, ensuring that they had time to understand the findings. Concerned residents also attended a Candidate Forum last Thursday to hear four candidates respond to the following question: 

“You have all been provided with an independent risk assessment of the pop-up bike infrastructure installed throughout the electorate. The study concludes that what has been installed is unnecessary and will inevitably add to the risks for cyclists – the exact opposite of what was intended. If you are elected, will you support the removal of all of the pop-up bike infrastructure from the streets of Port Phillip?” 

Please see table below for a summary of candidate positions on the pop-up bike lanes as of 14 November 2022:

The Club
Established in 1873, the bowling club was created as the centrepiece of the beautiful St Vincent Gardens in the heart of the bayside suburb of Albert Park. The green itself is open year-round, permitting members to enjoy both casual and competitive bowling in all seasons.

The current club membership of about 150 (60/40 male/female) is a diverse community of men and women of all ages and bowling experience. New members are always welcome. The club, with its beautiful surroundings and friendly atmosphere, is the ideal place to while away a few hours. Members enjoy bowling in a variety of formats. Many a casual game of bowls will be followed by relaxed conversation in our licensed clubhouse. Rather more animated discussions typically follow the popular and highly competitive inter-club pennant matches on Tuesdays (2 teams) and Saturdays (4 teams).

Membership
Members of Albert Park Bowls Club enjoy bowling in one of the most attractive environments in the city on a green that is open year round. Other membership benefits include:

•    Access to the clubroom and rinks
•    Bowling opportunities ranging from casual social games to regional pennant competitions
•    A club community that is welcoming and supportive
•    Professional coaching
•    Club bar at member prices

New memberships require a current member to propose, and another to second, the application, which must subsequently be approved by the Board of Management. Successful applicants will be advised by email. Membership is currently available, so please download and complete the membership application form here if you are interested in joining and forward it to the secretary (secretary@albertparkbowlsclub.com.au)

Covid Impacts
2020 was a surprisingly successful year for our club given the uncertainties we faced.  Our seconds team on Saturday won the section pennant and was promoted as a consequence. Most of our other teams made it through to section finals. We are fortunate that we have retained most of our membership and have managed to minimise the impact on club finance in 2020, however revenue dropped by 30% from our main source of external income, corporate bowling days.

2021 has been a very difficult year for bowling clubs.  We have been prevented from bowling for 3 months.  The Pennant Season start has been delayed by the lockdowns and many major bowls competitions have been cancelled, including our own Muriel Powe Memorial competition.  In addition, our club has seen a series of annoying acts of vandalism since the latest lockdowns took effect, including the "tagging" of our club house front and all our scoreboards and damage to one of our shade structures.

The summer of 2021 will be difficult financially, with the ongoing significant restrictions on social gatherings and density quotients on internal spaces we expect to see our external revenue base further eroded.

2023 - Our 150yr Celebration
We are 150yrs old in 2023!  We are busily planning our celebration events and look forward to seeing our friends and neighbours joining in the fun events we are planning.

By Greg the Gardener

Got a problem with ants around your garden and home? Here is a simple, safe, effective, cheap and fool proof remedy. Greg the Gardener shows you how to make homemade ant killer, using just 2 ingredients, honey and Borax. Borax is quite cheap, and you should be able to find it in the laundry or cleaning section of your supermarket or hardware store. 

Borax naturally kills ants by interfering with their digestive system. This slow kill allows time for the worker ants to consume the bait and head back to their nest to share it with the rest of the colony and the queen. It may take a few applications to totally rid yourself of ants.

This budget ant killer is very effective, give it a try!

Just watch the video here.

By a concerned Middle Park resident

We understand that the Middle Park Hotel has sought planning approval for 4th floor (i.e., rooftop). This development is within 500m of our house. The proposed additional patrons will be able to access this rooftop venue, with open air noise issues, seven days a week, after 11pm (until we understand 1am). We strongly object to this proposed development. We consider this inappropriate development for what is essentially a residential neighbourhood. We are well served by licensed venues, and it is clear they are trying to create a 'destination' venue rather than serving local patrons. The ‘open air’ nature of the proposed development in a rooftop setting will clearly cause nuisance and disturbance. 

The significant noise from a venue of this nature, particular on the rooftop, will inevitably create nuisance and disturbance, which in turn will depress residential utility and local residential prices. I understand that their consulting acoustic engineers have suggested that the crowd of 200 will generate 104db - a limited search on Google suggests that noise levels over 100db are potentially dangerous to human hearing. It is unclear whether these levels of noise are before or after adding in the music (whether from an acoustic group or a DJ – who can play any sort of loud music they choose). Either way, the idea that this will not impact as a nuisance at street level is a complete nonsense. Furthermore, as the noise is being generated on the 4th floor it will be heard at far greater distances than if it was at ground level in an enclosed building. Now we can hear music from events being held at locations in Albert Park, so having a source of noise that much closer will clearly cause disturbance.

Furthermore, it is proposed that this venue will be open "after 11.00pm on seven days of the week"; so, the nuisance and inconvenience that this proposed development is not something that will happen on a few occasions a year; if allowed it will be something they can open every day of the week. The license they are applying for effectively goes through to 1 am - they say that the actual trading hours "are generally" for shorter periods. This is disingenuous - what the current trading hours are is not relevant to what they will be if this development goes ahead. It will be in their commercial interest to maximise the return on their investment in this development and nothing to stop them opening until 1am on almost every day. 

Whilst our major concern is the level of noise that will emanate from this rooftop development, it will also create significant issues with parking, crowd dispersal (especially late at night/early morning when the venue eventually closes), waste management (the bins from this venue are already substantial and it is unclear where they will store the additional waste). They are suggesting reducing car parking, whilst increasing the patron capacity, which seems counterintuitive - it will inevitably lead to residential parking in adjoining streets being used by patrons and staff). They say there is an "absence of residential premises within close proximity of the site" – we are unclear what their definition of "close proximity" is, but approximately 60% of the 500m radius on their own map is residential (the balance being Albert Park. Despite this being a significant proposed development, with profound impacts on the character of the neighbourhood, as a local resident we were not asked about this when the initial planning application was made; the City of Port Phillip goes on about how they communicate with residents, however in this case there was no communication - it would have been relatively easy for the City of Port Philip to have emailed residents in the area that will be impacted by the noise.

We reiterate that we strongly object to this planning application.

Ron's Rant

Everything faded into mist. The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten. The lie became the truth. - George Orwell

What is the real truth? Where do we go to find it? And when we find it is it really the truth or just a fabrication? The world seems to be spinning in all directions these days and finding out what is really happening without the propaganda, spin and gloss is difficult.

Depending upon which side of the world you live in, or which side you are on, the messages you are receiving can be poles apart. For example, if you are living in Russia, what are the messages you would be getting about the activities in the Ukraine? Would they be the same messages as we are hearing here in Australia or a twisted version of the truth that whitewashes and justifies Russia’s actions to placate and rally their people?

Is the same happening on our side of the fence but with differing messages? Is what you are led to believe simply what information “they” feed you? And who are... “They”?

How many beautiful young men over the ages have been marched off to war based on the manipulation of the truth. Is this happening again? Are the politicians, spin doctors and faceless men pulling the strings again? Are they contorting the truth, blurring the lines, and manipulating the facts to rally the misinformed masses?

A lie based on the truth can be twisted and manipulated to create different messages and outcomes. I can remember 9/11 and there being a white powder incident in the US where some sort of deadly powdery substance was being posted all over the place. The news media first reported it was related to the terrorist attack of 9/11 but then after being analysed was found to be anthrax which came from a US military laboratory and then the story simply vaporised into nothingness with no further mention on any media thereafter. I felt myself wondering whether I had just dreamed or imagined the incident and was confused as to why an American agency would send poison letters to its own people and why this issue was not adequately raised.

More recently in our own backyard, we have seen the truth clumsily twisted by politicians and bureaucrats regarding our COVID-19 and vaccine rollout disasters. “Bull Shit” excuses were rolled in glitter to placate the public into thinking that our politicians and bureaucrats had been on top of the Delta pandemic, when the reality was that the bureaucrats had been so far behind the ballgame they were constantly playing catch up. These over-paid bureaucrats that are meant to advise our "here today, gone tomorrow” politicians, stuffed up time and time again. Yet no heads rolled, no one was made accountable, no one lost their job. Our untouchable Public Service have the power to alter the truth and get away with it. Too much power with no accountability.

In our own City of Port Phillip, the manipulation of the truth is thriving with constant sham community consultation processes "shaping" the direction of how our overtaxed ratepayer funds are spent. He who controls the research controls the outcome.

In a recent deliberative consultation, participants were asked to consider changes to the rating system and the introduction of a separate charge for kerbside waste collection. Participants said they were cynical and distrusting of the Council’s motives for the proposed changes. They were concerned that the proposed initiatives would be implemented despite the lack of consensus. In a recent Council push polling survey, participants were asked about rates. The options offered were to cut services or increase rates to maintain services. There was no option to freeze or reduce rates while maintaining services, or freeze or reduce rates by reducing corporate overheads. An objective survey would have put all options on the table.

People today seem to think that there are different levels of truth. “My truth” is how they perceive the truth, through their eyes with their biases and beliefs. So, twisting the truth to their way of thinking is easy. But this type of truth is totally wrong, there is only one real and honest truth. Finding it and keeping it pure will always be the challenge. Greater honesty, vigilance and less complacency from ourselves, our media and people in power will help keep us stay free from the blurring of the truth over the passage of time. 

We the people need to stay on guard to protect ourselves from the powerful that seek to gain from their manipulation turning lies into truths using all forms of media to spin their gossamer webs of deceit. 

Elwood Life Saving Club (LSC) opposes Port Phillip Council's proposed redevelopment of the Elwood foreshore precinct that includes moving the Elwood LSC clubhouse away from the beachfront and construction of a lookout tower in front of the stormwater drain. 

Elwood LSC recognises its current clubhouse is no longer suitable for its existing 900 members, with storage and space constraints as well as maintenance issues already contributing to a cap on Nipper participants and restricting social and training activities. We welcome moves to address this issue however hold significant concerns and seek important detail on proposed changes to the Elwood foreshore precinct.

Port Phillip Council propose to relocate the clubhouse away from the beachfront because of the impact of climate change on the Elwood foreshore which is low lying coastal land and its buildings are at risk of permanent inundation due to sea-level rise and/or storm tide inundation. Its shoreline is not static and may recede.

Club President, David Rylance said “Relinquishing our foreshore position given its importance to the functionality of our operations, practicality in watching over beachgoers and presence spanning 110 years is not supported based on the current proposal. The proposed lookout tower further fails to grasp the logistics of what our lifesavers need to keep beachgoers and visitors to the foreshore safe”. The adequacy and location of parking, shared boat storage and notations flagging shared use of Elwood LSC’s proposed new clubhouse are among additional concerns with the proposal.

Elwood LSC welcomes detailed discussion with Port Phillip Council. For more information the club’s submission to the council sets out the club's position in detail.

https://www.elwoodlsc.com.au/news/foreshore-redevelopment/ 

Elwood Life Saving Club has been part of the area’s social fabric for more than 100 years, having been established in 1912. Today the club plays a core role as an emergency service with volunteer lifesavers last year alone watching over 170,000 beachgoers, performing four rescues, tending to more than 30 first aid cases and taking 950 actions to prevent a more serious safety incident.

If you wish to provide feedback on Elwood Life Saving Club’s position, please feel free to email us via info@elwoodlsc.com.au   

Port Phillip Council’s “Enhancing Elwood Foreshore” proposed site plan is available on its Have Your Say website. https://haveyoursay.portphillip.vic.gov.au/elwood-foreshore 

“Hooning is a major problem in many areas across Melbourne including the City of Port Phillip. Local ‘hot spots’ include Beach Street, Williamstown Road and Station Pier,” - Eddie Micallef, President of Beacon Cove Neighbourhood Association (BCNA).

This special issue of The Beacon explains the problem, action taken by BCNA and provides statements from Inspector Jacki Kline Victoria Police; City of Port Phillip, Mayor Cr Marcus Pearl; and Mr Martin Foley MP.

BCNA takes action

BCNA has made significant progress in tackling the issue of hoon driving, a very complex issue involving public safety, noise and general disruption. The matter was raised with the BCNA in 2020. A subgroup - the Port Melbourne Road Safety Group (PMRSG) - was formed to focus on the issue. The group is co-ordinated by the BCNA and works with a number of organisations and individuals including Ward councillors.

The PMRSG has taken a broad approach involving the City of Port Phillip, the State Government and other neighbourhood associations. For our neighbourhood, the Station Pier area is of particular concern as it has become a ‘hoon meeting place’ creating quality-of-life issues for residents. Some residents have elected to leave Beacon Cove as a consequence. The hoon behaviour in this tourist area is negatively impacting on visitors. So far, the PMRSG has:

• Petitioned the Council requesting action to combat the escalating hoon problem
• The installation of a Victoria Police camera above Station Pier in the summer period
• Petitioned Council for the introduction of a mobile CCTV camera in strategic locations around Port Melbourne, anti-hoon signage and greater police attention to Beacon Cove and Station Pier
• Developed a budget submission for permanent CCTV cameras to be installed at Station Pier and hoon hot spots on Beach Street, boom gates in the Station Pier precinct and speed humps in the Station Pier parking area.
• Called for anti-hoon Local Laws successfully used in some Melbourne municipalities.

Through the BCNA, the group has met with a senior advisor to the Minister of Transport and the Road Safety Head of Road Safety Victoria resulting in a Hooning Community Reference Group being established. This review will include community consultation. The Beacon Cove community will be part of these consultations.

Police action

Inspector Jacki Kline, Port Phillip Area Commander, said that Victoria Police will have a greater presence patrolling roads in Port Phillip and Stonnington looking out for reckless, erratic and dangerous driving behaviour. This is part of a state-wide response to hoon driving, using our powers to impound cars to keep dangerous drivers off our roads. We will continue to work with local government agencies to deter hoon gatherings and look at new ways to target offenders.

She encouraged the community to report information involving hoon driving to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. In an emergency, call 000. All information provided to police is assessed and investigated.

Council action

Cr Marcus Pearl, Mayor, City of Port Phillip said Council Officers will be presenting a report to Council on the steps that can be taken to address hoon behaviour. This includes the possibility of implementing a hoon Local Law to stop large groups of cars in industrial areas or carparks where peace is being disrupted, and other more targeted solutions. No formal request has been made by Victoria Police to implement changes to our Local Laws as yet.

Government action

Martin Foley, MLA Albert Park, said that the State Government is establishing a Hooning Community Reference Group. It will bring together community members and experts in road safety across government, enforcement and research bodies to develop localised action plans in areas where hooning has been identified.

He added that community engagement sessions will be held to support the work of the reference group. BCNA has an important role to play in this process. Local knowledge and experience will be essential to the success of the group established in our region. Martin thanked BCNA and local residents for the work undertaken to date on behalf of the neighbourhood to put a spotlight on hooning.

By Dean Hurlston - Ratepayers Victoria, Inc.

For too long, Council executives have known one thing – they are the constant in local government.

Combined with the CEO, Council Executive and Director level staff are our “de-facto” local government.

Unelected and highly paid, with mandates as broad as the municipality, the truth is, in Local Councils these are the implementers of all things, good, bad, or just plain bizarre.

You see in Local Government much of the “work” in forming policy, strategic frameworks, determining facts, evidence, and eventual recommended actions (insert spending), is in the hands of the mighty, elite Council CEO and Executive staff.

Local Government has income of around $12 Billion in Victoria and about 55,000 staff. These executive staff are often earning salaries in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, some up to $700K a year! For most, performance metrics are non-existent, soft, or completely commercially out of step with that level of salary in the real world.

These are the staff who can oversee cost blowouts in the millions regularly and know that there is little consequence for their poor management decisions. Rarely fired, usually shuffled to another Council, but never mind, ratepayers will foot the bill, always.

What Council CEOs and Executives have long known – is that it is they, who control the whim of Council. Councillors merely come and go every 4 years. Most senior Council officers and executives know that Councillors for the most part have busy lives outside the Council chamber, and they often play this to their own self-indulgent advantage.

Listen to most Council meetings and you would think that a Councillor asking hard questions of a highly paid Council Executive or CEO is a cultural faux pas. It’s simply not the norm and the Executive often, want advance notice, no hard on the spot questions and over the top thank you's for simply doing their jobs. It is a well-constructed and managed film set indeed.

There are even strong codes of conduct and mutual respect charters to manage those pesky Councillors and residents in every interaction with Council staff.

IBAC, The Victorian Auditor General and The Ombudsman have made it crystal clear that the position of influence in Council senior staff have is not being adequately addressed. It is in the executive and decision-making roles that outside influence, potential corruption and perhaps foreign influence is so readily deployed and effective. If you want something everyone knows you get in good with Council officers and executives.

Victorians elect Councillors every 4 years, but the most part, those Councillors are being stage managed, fed information designed to garner Council Officers recommendations and often exhaust them with over information. Our democracy is failing the first test, the test of over controlling administration and bureaucracy.

Make no mistake, this is a deliberate tactic by most Council staff, too much information, not enough time and aloof on the granular detail and evidence.

It’s no wonder so many Councillors full of ideas and reform end up worn out, jaded, and exhausted.

It’s time these public fat cats were scrutinised like the federal senate committee and oversight hearings.

It’s time the spotlight on performance was made public for all to see. I mean how can Council staff earning more than the Premier and State MP’s get away with average or poor performance?

Much of the err and public outcry of “Council has gone mad” originates from the poor, sloppy and rhetoric-based recommendations coming before our elected Councillors.

“Stuff” that is written, designed, and peddled by Council executives who remain largely immune and insulated from the communities they should be serving.

Executives that are holed up in their ivory towers, too busy “stage managing” the image of Council and their own agendas, to see that their communities are more frustrated than ever with them.

A community that feels taken for granted, unheard and often “told” by an out of touch and inward focused executive, spending millions on hired consultants and strategic business transformation projects to tell them what the people think in the suburbs.

The truth is, they could actually pick up the phone or venture out into the real world and talk to people. They won’t because they don’t know how to. It seems they have succumbed to a woke culture where the residents are their new enemy.

An executive who no longer treat the job as an absolute privilege and are more interested in demanding respect than giving it.

Something has got to give, and it shouldn’t be ratepayers and residents.

The Broome Shire utilises integrated pest management principles to respond to mosquitoes, which includes surveillance (larvae and adults), a sentinel chicken bleeding program, community education, larviciding and, in certain circumstances, adulticiding.

What are council doing:  
1. Checking standing water and treating for mosquito larvae: Did you know that mosquitos have adapted to breed in a wide variety of environments, including fresh, polluted and saltwater? The Shire's Environmental Health Officers have been monitoring standing bodies of water around the town for any mosquito larvae and treating were required. So far council have seen very limited mosquito breeding in drains, basins and flood water.

2. Setting adult mosquito traps: Adult traps have been set at various locations across the town. These have indicated increased activity of Aedes vigilax, the ‘saltmarsh mosquito’. The recent heavy rainfall resulted in higher-than-normal spring tides, which expanded the breeding habitat of this mosquito around Dampier Creek and across Roebuck Plans. Easterly winds help this mosquito travel into town. Over the weekend of February 12-13, council anticipate there will be a further increase in the number of saltmarsh mosquito around town due to the forecast of light easterly winds.

While many mosquitos prefer dawn and dusk feeding, the saltmarsh mosquito will often bite during the day - so it is important to cover up and use repellent even during daylight hours.

Council have also seen some increase in activity of ‘backyard mosquitos’. These are generally ones that breed in containers that hold water. They do not tend to travel far from their breeding site.  

3. Sentinel chicken surveillance program: Blood samples are routinely taken from our sentinel chicken flock, which acts as an early warning system for increase presence the mosquito borne diseases, West Nile Virus Kunjin Strain and Murray Valley Encephalitis.

What you can do:
Clean-up: remove anything that can hold water that mosquitos breed in. It may be as small as a pot plant, pet water bowl or disused tyre. Anything that can hold water for longer than three days can become a breeding site for mosquitos. If there are sites you are concerned about, please report it to the Shire.

Cover up: wear long, loose-fitting light-coloured clothing. Mosquitos can still bite through tight fitting clothing such as leggings.

Repel: use a DEET or picaridin based repellent. Citronella and other natural based repellents are not recommended as there is no evidence they can prevent mosquito borne disease.

See source council statement here.

Following community and political backlash over a proposal to sell three early childhood centres, Council voted on 2 March to explore alternative solutions for the early childhood centres on Eildon Road, St  Kilda, Tennyson Street, Elwood, and The Avenue, Balaclava.  Potential solutions include upgrade/refurbishment, rebuilding, relocation, lease to own arrangements, community purchase and maximise State and Federal Government funding opportunities. The timeframe for the potential sale and settlement of the Eildon Road centres has also been extended from early 2023 to the end of 2023 to allow Council Officers to find alternative solutions. 

Port Phillip Council have been slammed by parents, state, and federal politicians over its plan to sell the centres because the centres are 100 years old and are not compliant with building codes and the Disability Discrimination Act.

Image of parent’s rally to protest planned childcare centre sales in Port Phillip (Source: Herald Sun) 

Council acknowledged the value provided by these centres to the community and will endeavour to minimise the uncertainty and disruption to the delivery of those services. Mayor Marcus Pearl said that “Council will ensure there are sufficient childcare and kindergarten places across Port Phillip”. 

The decision to sell the three centres was made after the Victorian Government advised Port Phillip by email that it was not eligible for state funding because of certain eligibility hurdles. After the issued blew up the state government has corrected their earlier advice and will accept an application for funding, but it was clear their earlier advice played a significant role in the Council’s decision making. 

Council is seeking to secure funding from the State and Federal Governments to upgrade the three Childcare Centres to be compliant with building standards, disability access requirements and other regulatory standards. Early childhood learning is the responsibility of the Victorian Government, and the state has $1.67 billion budget early learning. Refusal by the state government to fund upgrading the three centres would be seen as an attempt to cost shift to ratepayers. Cr Baxter noted “there are some politicians, sitting MPs who have been thundering at us that we need to do more but have yet to contribute a single cent”. 

Earlier in proceedings on 2 March, an alternative motion brought by Cr Crawford to guarantee the  three properties would not be sold was rejected by a majority of Councillors. Cr Clark objected to the alternative motion because a commitment by Council not to sell the properties would undermine Council’s ability to negotiate funding with state and federal governments. Cr Clark stated the alternative motion was “financially irresponsible if it undermines our ability to get state money”. Cr Clark also questioned Cr Crawford’s motivation for the alternative motion by saying “we should be under no misunderstanding that this (motion) is purely political as evidenced that this motion was put on Facebook this afternoon”. 

Campbell Spence, President of the Ratepayers of Port Phillip said that “we object to political interference from state and federal MPs who are forcing Port Phillip to fund the upgrades to these centres when the Victorian government has a responsibility to fund these centres”. 

Port Phillip Council should represent the whole community not political parties and they should ignore political interference from state and federal politicians. Port Phillip wants independent Councillors who support the needs of our community and who do not serve their political masters who seek political advantage in an election year.  

Port Phillip’s Councillors voted unanimously on 2 March to support 5,935 petitioners who strongly opposed Port Phillip’s heavy handed, draft Nature Strip Guidelines. The petition was initiated by Emma Cutting who started The Heart Gardening Project
https://www.theheartgardeningproject.org.au/ 

The Port Phillip community overwhelmingly rejected the draft Guidelines which Emma Cutting said “would mean the end of street gardening for the vast majority of residents”. Emma stated in the petition that “these new NSGs effectively deny residents the ability to contribute to the natural beauty of our city and also individually respond to climate change and declining urban biodiversity”.

In response to the petition, Council acknowledged the benefits of nature strip gardening including community connection and wellbeing; improvements to biodiversity and aesthetics; and flood and urban heat mitigation.     

Council have committed to several updates for the draft Guidelines including:  

• Updating the guidelines as a celebratory and encouraging guide 
• Shorten the guidelines with more information available online, including information about biodiversity and planting suggestions  
• Reassess setbacks and consider differences in parking arrangements to accommodate more planting 
• Undertake further review of under tree planting  
• Develop a de-paving program to provide more areas for nature strip gardening 
• Provide warnings about growing edible plants in contaminated soil

Council stated that they are not looking to remove existing non-compliant gardens; removing a garden would be a ‘last resort’ option if they were unable to make it safe. If a nature strip garden was identified as being unsafe or obstructing accessibility, Council committed to work with the community gardener to develop modifications. 

So what can you do on a dirty, windy day when mother nature is throwing sand in your face… get creative, get off the sand get into the water and get into some action.

Stormy weather! You wouldn’t expect to see anyone out and about let alone in the water.

But Sandridge beach is a buzzing with thrill seekers hitting the waves and hitting their straps with daring bodies flying high into the sky.

Sandridge is alive with activity when the weather gets wicked the wind and water create the perfect playground for all sorts of water sports. 

Check out these intrepid thrill seekers enjoying our beautiful bayside suburb.

Celebrating 25 years as a proud resident of the Port Phillip community, the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) Orchestra will perform a free concert at St Kilda Town Hall on Sunday 3 April.

The ANAM Orchestra is comprised of 80 of Australia’s most outstanding young musicians under the direction of Maestro Johannes Fritzsch.

ANAM trains the country’s top performers to take on leadership roles in the national and international music world.

ANAM General Manager Nick Bailey said: “South Melbourne has been ANAM’s home for close to a generation; it is the place that nourishes us and to which we in turn give back. It is where our heart and soul lie.

“We very much hope that our relocation to north of the river is only temporary, and that soon we may be home to make music with and for our friends and neighbours in the Emerald Hill precinct, and further into Port Phillip community”.

ANAM has temporarily relocated its operations from South Melbourne Town Hall as the building undergoes major repair and renewal works. Council is currently working with ANAM to negotiate a further redevelopment of the SMTH as part of an extended tenure that would deliver a state-of-the-art facility for ANAM and secure access for the community to the upgraded facilities within the historic Town Hall for many years to come.

Flautist and former ANAM musician Eliza Shepherd said: “It goes without saying that ANAM’s upcoming community concert at the St Kilda Town Hall feels like a homecoming to me.

“After finishing my ANAM training in 2018, I am once again performing alongside ANAM musicians and Maestro Johannes Fritzsch for the Port Phillip audience, this time connecting the audience with the musicians as I and Johannes share fun discussions about the music that the ANAM Orchestra is performing.”

The program will not only include music of the old masters, but also by a living Australian composer, Melbourne’s own Melody Eötvös, who will be sitting in the audience to watch her piece being performed.

This community concert is a free event for family, friends and music lovers from all walks of life.

ANAM is continuing its long-standing offer of free ANAMates memberships to all residents of the City of Port Phillip community. An ANAMates membership gives free entry to many ANAM performances, including concerts, recitals masterclasses and discussions, and discounts to ANAM’s season concerts.

For more information or to book your tickets to the community concert, go to anam.com.au or call 03 9645 7911.

See source statement by council here

The AGPC is offering some residents within the St Kilda, Albert Park and South Melbourne postcodes a free community day park pass, which includes free access to all grandstands on Thursday 7 April.

Residents and business owners within the postcodes 3182, 3205, 3206 and 3004 (only on presentation of a 1-83 Queens Road address) must show a valid photo ID with their address to receive a day pass. This ticket does not allow for guest passes.

Community day tickets can be collected from the ticket booths located at gates 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 and 10.

Council state they are working closely with the AGPC to minimise the disruption to Port Phillip residents and businesses as well as leveraging opportunities for local traders after a particularly hard two years. 

In response to some issues raised by the community about the previous traffic management during the GP, council are trialling a new approach for 2022. They will replace the previous physical barricades around Middle Park and Albert Park with temporary parking changes to 2P Thursday to Sunday 8 am to 6 pm to discourage GP visitors from parking in residential streets. Council state the trial aims to provide ease of access to residents and visitors to local businesses, schools and community centres in the area. 

All properties within the affected area will receive two temporary parking permits in the mail exempting them from the temporary parking changes. 

The Council and the AGPC will be conducting an evaluation to measure the success of the trial.

The GP is a Victorian Government event run by the AGPC. 

For more information on the GP, including the community day, visit F1® Melbourne | Formula 1® Heineken® Australian Grand Prix 

For more information about the trial traffic management approach go to Grand Prix parking and traffic - City of Port Phillip

See source statement by council here.

Ron's Rant

The plague of colourful scooters that has made a sudden appearance in our suburbs is dwindling with less and less foreshore riding as the 'new toy' uniqueness wears off. What hasn’t been noticed by many is the occasional scooter that has found its watery grave in our bay and waterways. I don't have an opinion either way on the virtues of scooters other than that there need to be rules as to their proper usage. The glaring thing that does stick out in my mind is the fact that our public servants, the ones that are charged with implementing these activities, give no thought as to educating the general public as to their safe and proper use. 

The right to drive a motorised vehicle such as a car requires many hours of supervised instruction, learning of road rules, culminating with a driving test to ensure that new drivers on our roads are fully aware of the rules to keep themselves and other safe. 

Unfortunately, this is not the case for other users of our roads such as bike riders and now motorised bicycles and scooters. It seems ludicrous that these riders can just hit our roads with no instruction, training or knowledge of the road rules. Top that off with the crazy and thoughtless ingress of council funded bike lanes in our suburbs that are squeezing out already congested car lanes and putting both bike/scooter riders at risk. Our Public Servants have given no thought to the safety aspects of putting slow moving cyclists, bikes/scooters, that have little knowledge or rules, on the same roads as cars both moving and parked. The onus of safety is being unfairly put on the licensed drivers rather than the unlicensed riders. 

Painting a couple of white lines on the road and then declaring that this is now a sacrosanct push bike pathway has been a stupid and dangerous act perpetrated by all our public services in the name of stemming the tide of global warming. Surely the safety of our citizens should be paramount and not be warped by idealistic political stupidity that puts people at risk. Our roads were designed for motorised vehicles such as cars and trucks and motorcycles. They are all registered and insured and driven by educated, licensed drivers and riders. To mix the educated and slow moving uneducated (or at least untested) on the same roads beggars belief. They need to be kept apart.

Our unthinking Public Servants should be ashamed and taken to task for their stupidity in letting our roads system deteriorate to what they have become, placing citizens in harm’s way. This fast-moving world is changing, and electric vehicles will soon be taking over our roadways. Roads that were designed to move, not block traffic. Councils and State government need to stop scooting around the subject and create a decent plan for allowing our community to commute safely, whether that be by car, bike, scooter or foot.

By Greg Cassano

VicRoads are installing up to 40kms of new and improved pop-up bike routes in the City of Port Phillip. The proposed routes include up to 2kms of pop-up bike lanes on Kerferd Road, with an additional 38kms of new and improved bike routes across Port Melbourne, Albert Park, St Kilda and Elwood.

Have your say on the proposed pop-up bike lanes on Kerferd Road on the Vic Roads website:

https://transport.mysocialpinpoint.com/pop-up-bike-lanes#/ 

I'm all for cyclist safety as a cyclist with teenagers using the roads, but not unnecessary or poorly designed traffic reduction measures. They are proposing to:

• reduce traffic to one lane each way through the Richardson Street Roundabout creating congestion and making it harder to cross Kerferd Road, and
• to reduce traffic to one lane under the light rail overpass on Albert Road towards MSAC which make it a nightmare to get across Canterbury Road at all. It’s also completely unnecessary as there is a good 1.5m unused on the right hand side that could be used to make the existing bike lane wider and safer.

I fear using Kerferd Road will be like getting through St Kilda in peak times. I'm sure there are better solutions for cyclists and cars. 

Image of existing bike lane in Kerferd Road, Albert Park

By Reg Macey (Posted in Born & Bred Port Melbourne on 25 February 2022)

What was long time Port Melbourne fisherman Mr Beazley telling these boys in the photo with him, of the morning 80 years ago tomorrow, that has gone down in history?

Mr William Beazley's granddaughter Karen Perry has answered my question about what he may have been telling the boys in the photo below.

Karen Perry wrote “It would be nice to think that my grandfather William ‘Oppy’ Beazley was recalling the events of that day back on the 25 February 1942. He certainly did tell Dugga Beazley, and Dad has passed this story down. It was only a few years ago after a 2016 article appeared in the newspaper that I realised that this event was not reported to the public in 1942”.

A morning where he saw what few others saw.

Certainly nothing about it was reported at the time anywhere, not in newspapers or the 'on the wireless' (the radio).

Dugga Beazley's Dad was out fishing before dawn that morning.

An hour or so later, he heard the sound of an unfamiliar aeroplane's engine.

Port Melbourne folk had grown accustomed to the sound of a variety of fighter and bombers that were then being constructed in Port Melbourne's Fishermans Bend's two aircraft factories.

It was flying low.

He watched it as it changed its course to follow the lights marking the shipping channel to the Port Melbourne Piers.

As it came closer, he saw it was a single engine float plane, with a red roundels on its wings and fuselage.

It was a JAPANESE plane.

On the 20th February, only a few days earlier, front page newspaper stories had reported that the Japanese had bombed Darwin, in Northern Australia.

The plane Mr Beazley saw had been launched two hours before dawn from one of the world's then largest submarines, the I25.

No RAAF plane got anywhere near the Japanese plane that morning, although it had been spotted as it flew low over the RAAF base at Laverton, and (reportedly) over a battery of anti-aircraft guns in the Williamstown Rifle Range

No searchlights searched for it.

Not a single round of ammunition was fired at it.

Not until years after the war was that morning's flight revealed to the Australian public.

An illustration of the submarine launching a float plane.

An enlargement of a section of a 1937 Japanese annotated British Admiralty map of PORT MELBOURNE that the plane's pilot and observer would almost certainly have been carrying with them at the time.

by Ron Burggraff

Having taken a leisurely stroll along the beach I was surprised at what I discovered at the Sandridge Lifesaving carpark.

Bikes with bling. Not the usual noisy Harley Davidson blinged up monsters that terrorise our Port Phillip streets but a more sedate lot of beautiful and lovingly tricked up BMX bikes.

Happy to have these little pimped up beauties blessing and quietly brightening up our bike paths and streets.

Certainly a refreshing change to those of the noisy, angry engined kind.

Deep coloured, ripe and delicious fruit and vegetables, aromatic hand-made cakes and jams, freshly laid free range eggs and just cut flowers are only a few of the sumptuous goods you’ll find at our monthly Gasworks Farmers’ Market, held on the third Saturday of each month. 

You will love spending Saturday mornings on the grass soaking up the vibrant atmosphere and sampling the very best of local Victorian produce, direct from Victorian farmers and specialty makers.

Gasworks Farmers’ Market is proudly accredited by the Victorian Farmers Market Association (VFMA) and our market received the Outstanding Farmers’ Market Award at the 2012 delicious. Produce Awards.

The Gasworks Resident Artist Studios are also open during the Farmers Market, so make sure you pop in and say hello!

For the full list of stallholders and the circuit of accredited farmers’ markets in Melbourne every week, go to the Regional Farmer's Market news Facebook and Instagram.

Please remember, Gasworks Farmers’ Market is plastic bag free and all packaging is as environmental responsible as possible so bring your own trolleys or baskets, reusable bags and coffee cups/mugs.

Gasworks Farmers’ Market, 3rd Saturday of every month, 8am – 1pm.

https://gasworks.org.au/whats-on/gasworks-farmers-market  

What is an example of how Rotary is involved in the local community?

In the spring of 2020, Rotary led the formation of PorTTogether, which is a part of the Town Team initiative.  Quite simply Town Team is a coalition of business, council, service organisations and most importantly, residents of an area, all coming together to work collaboratively for the betterment of a specific area. It is about connecting, organising and acting to regenerate the fabric of their neighborhood’s and to create better places. We abide by the Town Team charter which can be found at the Town Team website https://www.townteammovement.com/. There are 81 Town Teams spread across 34 local government areas in Australia.

How is Port Phillip Rotary involved?

Our Town Team is a coalition of Port Phillip Rotary, the City of Port Phillip, Port Melbourne Business Association, SHIP (Star Health Inclusion Port), Southport Community Centre, and community members and stakeholders.  For more information on how to get involved simply email pres@rcpm.org.au

What does PorTTogether do?

PorTTogether works toward goals.  The first goal is the betterment of the entire area, which we will accomplish through a series of smaller specific projects.  Our first project is to help make Bay Street one of the most vibrant town cores in Australia.  By revitalising Bay Street, we make Port Melbourne and the City of Port Phillip even more compelling for residents and attractive for visitors.  We have so much to offer.

Our broader mission is to work together.  By building a strong, inclusive and democratic coalition we will shape our communities for ourselves and the people who come after us. Our Town Team is another example of service organisations impacting local areas.  It’s also a model that can be rolled out quickly and efficiently in virtually any part of the country.  

Is something happening soon where we can be involved?

Covid has impacted us in so many ways and due to the restrictions we have been under, it has been hard to plan ahead too far with definitive and expansive plans for this year but  there will be an event on Saturday 4th December at Bay Street, which the  Business Association have organised so pop the date in your planner and come on down to support your community, purchase some goodies and have fun.  Come and chat to me, too, as I will be there.

Kevin Beagle
Port Phillip Rotary Membership Officer

email: kmbeagle@gmail.com

The BCNA is a not-for-profit community association in Port Melbourne. It is the successor organisation of the Swallow Street and Bain Street Residents’ Association formed in February 1987.  It was formed out of fear that the Victorian Government would acquire their homes as part of an urban renewal project.  

Purpose:
BCNA’s purpose is shown in its Rules of Association.  It is to “… provide a forum for all residents of Beacon Cove and abutting neighbourhoods to discuss key local issues and thence to take appropriate action to preserve and enhance the quality of life for residents and visitors to the area…”.

How we operate:
BCNA representatives meet key people and organisations to find solutions to local issues. They include Members of Parliament, State Government departments, the City of Port Phillip, Victoria Police, developers, the Environment Protection Authority, and Ports Victoria.  

Current issues:
Some of the recent issues BCNA has been involved in are:
•    Hoon driving and excessive vehicle noise around Station Pier and Beacon Cove.
•    advocating for air quality monitoring near Station Pier.
•    advocating for the redevelopment of the Waterfront Place precinct.
•    the enforcement of planning controls.
•    protecting the foreshore from overshadowing from developments.
•    An upgrade of the Princes Street stormwater drain.
•    Port planning.

Communicating to members:
The committee reports on progress with current issues by short news items on the organisation’s Blog website at www.beaconcove.org.au.  Members can receive these news items by subscribing to an email news service. In addition, a hard copy newsletter, The Beacon, is prepared twice a year and delivered to about 2800 mailboxes in the area.  

Encouraging a sense of community:
In addition to the email news service, BCNA organises social events. Often these are dinners at local restaurants. The events are popular and attract around 60 plus attendees.  They are a good way for newcomers to meet neighbours and to hear about local news.    

Membership:
Membership is open to individuals. You do not need to live in the area. An application form is shown on the website at www.beaconcove.org.au.  Current membership stands at 461.  

Further information about BCNA can be found on the website www.beaconcove.org.au 

Or contact:
The President at president@beaconcove.org.au
The Secretary at secretary@beaconcove.org.au 

 Rising Sun Hotel

 Prince Bandroom

 Middle Park Hotel

 Prince Alfred

 Esplanade - St Kilda

 Inkerman Hotel

 George Lane

 Iddy Biddy

 Republica

 Cornerstone

 Jimmy ONeils

 Captain Baxter

 Palais Theatre

 Memo Music Hall

 Recital Centre Melbourne

 Alex Theatre - St Kilda

 Arts Centre - Melbourne

 Crown - Southbank

 Astor - St Kilda

 Palace Dendy - Brighton

 Classic - Elsternwick

 Hoyts - Docklands

 Palace - Brighton Bay

 Village - Jam Factory

 Gasworks

 Whats On in St Kilda

 Jewish Museum of Australia

 Whats On in Port Phillip

 Events @ South Melb Market

 Markets in the Area

 Special Events

 Middle Park Bowls Events

Author Emma Cutting

Hello Lovely Local!, My name is Emma Cutting and I have been a resident of City of Port Phillip for 20 years. I am also the Founder of The Heart Gardening Project, a community initiative that brings humans and nature together through street gardening. We turn barren, undernourished pieces of public land into gardens of wriggling, buzzing beauty for everyone to enjoy (around 70 so far and counting!).

I am writing to let you know (if you didn’t know already!) that the City of Port Phillip’s (CoPP) new draft Nature Strip Guidelines (NSGs) have just been released for community feedback and, if there isn’t a strong community response to change them, these would mean the end of street gardening for the vast majority of residents in the City of Port Phillip.

There are so many issues with this document but the main two are that…
• Tree squares are not allowed to be planted in
• ‘Clearance areas’ are so enormous that only a few plants at the most can be planted in even the hugest of nature strips

Not only that, but CoPP declares that gardens which don’t adhere to the new guidelines are also subject to removal. This means that, again, the vast majority of existing street gardens, many of them decades old, would be subject to removal at council’s whim.

While there is a definite need for updated, clear and safe Nature Strip Guidelines in the City of Port Phillip, CoPP has demonstrated overblown, short-term thinking around the safety of council assets. These new NSGs effectively deny residents the many positives that can come from street gardening including community cohesion, the ability to contribute to the natural beauty of our city and also individually respond to climate change and declining urban biodiversity.

We need to act now and tell our Councillors and Council Officers that this is not good enough. We need these draft NSGs rewritten to be inclusive, researched properly and empowering. Basically, if you love street gardening, are appreciative of your local street gardener, enjoy walking around your local street gardens, think that street gardening is more beneficial than not for your community, think we need more beautiful gardens, believe that increasing biodiversity is important and/or think we need to do more to fight climate change then please do the following…

• Read council guidelines at
  https://haveyoursay.portphillip.vic.gov.au/nature-strip-guidelines 
• Sign the petition at
   https://www.change.org/keepourstreetgardensgrowing 
• Contact your local ward Councillors directly
• Get out and create a street garden!!
• Place the small sign below (or something similar!) in your front window

Thank you! Love Emma

For more info on street gardening:
www.theheartgardeningproject.org.au 

For lots of pics of street gardens: Instagram
@theheartgardeningproject 

Email The Heart Gardening Project at:
info@theheartgardeningproject.org.au