t was wonderful to return to the Council Chamber alongside my fellow councillors this month as we turn our focus towards a prosperous 2022 for our beautiful City.
It’s been a busy start to the year as we hosted our flagship event, St Kilda Festival. It was fantastic to see people safely gathering to enjoy live music and entertainment again with 50 bands showcased over six performance days.
We are proud to lead the charge to bring events and live music back to Melbourne after such a difficult time, and it is only natural for St Kilda to be first in line considering our long history as a home for live music and major events.
It was an honour to march through Fitzroy Street to take part in the annual Midsumma Pride March with our very own contingent, the Port Phillip Pride Squad.
Another successful Midsumma Festival saw 30 events hosted within our municipality, including our Pride flag raising ceremony, where we raised the Rainbow and Transgender flags at St Kilda Town Hall. The Rainbow flag flew high above our Town Halls in St Kilda, Port Melbourne and South Melbourne throughout the Midsumma Festival in a symbol of pride and inclusion.
Our Council has been, and will continue to be, a major supporter of the Midsumma Festival and all that it stands for in celebrating our LGBTIQA+ community.
Looking back over the summer period, our Summer Sessions programming has been a hit and we’ve received great feedback regarding the KIIS Ferris Wheel in Catani Gardens. We put forward these initiatives with the focus of getting people out and about in Port Phillip to reinvigorate our lively neighbourhoods and support our many traders.
As expected, the warmer weather brought more people to our City and our summer management program was well equipped to deal with larger crowds over a busy New Year’s period and Australia Day public holiday.
Thank you for helping play a part in a safe and successful summer period in Port Phillip.
In this month’s Divercity, you can learn more about our involvement in an e-scooter trial taking place across the Cities of Port Phillip, Melbourne and Yarra.
The use of these e-scooters comes with great responsibility as users are expected to obey Victoria’s Road Laws and I encourage a thorough inspection of the rules and regulations to ensure your e-scooter trip is taken with the utmost safety.
I trialled the new e-scooters first-hand to celebrate the opening of our new Garden City Bike Corridor in Port Melbourne and they are a nifty way to get around our City or just to get out and have some fun.
As usual, don’t hesitate to contact me with any feedback or ideas for our City.
Regards,
Cr Marcus Pearl
Mayor, City of Port Phillip
