Archive for April, 2008

Media Release: Enjoy a great shoot out at Karralyka!

Published by Alex Makin on Wednesday 30th of April, 2008

You’ll have to get in quickly to enjoy a great shoot out at Karralyka Theatre when Irving Berlin’s greatest stage musical, Annie Get Your Gun, comes to town.

Councillor Alex Makin said John Lidgerwood’s Music Theatre Company’s presentation of this much loved show is part of Maroondah’s annual Morning Music program.

“You’ll need to book for the afternoon session quickly though, as tickets for the morning performance are already sold out,” said Cr Makin.

Annie Oakley is the best shot around but it only takes one glance for her to fall head over heels for dashing shooting ace Frank Butler.

“This wonderful show is full of fun, colour and memorable songs including The Girl that I Marry, No Biz like Show Biz, Anything You Can Do, I got the sun in the morning, and many more,” said Cr Makin.

Annie Get Your Gun will be performed at the Karralyka Theatre on Tuesday 27 May at 11.00am and 2.00pm.

Individual tickets are $15.50. For groups of 10 or more tickets are $13.50 per person. Refreshments are included in the ticket price and are served one hour prior to each performance.

The Karralyka Centre is located on Mines Road, Ringwood East.

For more information or to make a booking contact the Karralyka Centre on 9879 2933, email karralyka@maroondah.vic.gov.au or visit www.karralyka.com.au

VEC Panel Hearing for the Maroondah Representation Review

Published by Alex Makin on Tuesday 29th of April, 2008

Tonight, the VEC held a public panel hearing as part of the process into Maroondah’s representation review, providing submitters with the opportunity to speak in support of their written submissions.

As part of the ten minute allocation for submitters, I elaborated on the issues raised within my written submission, including the fact that Maroondah’s current single member ward structure and any proposed alternatives unnecessarily divide our community. The fact that there are significant discrepancies between the number of candidates within each ward, such as eight in Eastfield compared to uncontested elections in Wyreena, demonstrates in part a diminishing interest in the current ward structure and a failure of these wards to adequately connect with the community.

Larger wards encompassing broader communities of interest, along socio-demographic, as well as geographic similarities, will also help ensure a whole of municipality approach towards issues. This will be of increasing importance as councils tackle significant issues such as climate change, accessibility and transport, which affect the entire municipality and not just a specific ward.

A new ward structure, that unites rather than divides our community and provides residents and ratepayers with clearly defined ward boundaries will provide a higher level of governance and democracy for the City of Maroondah.

The VEC is due to present its final recommendation on Monday the 19th of May.

Maroondah Journal: ‘No logging’ call takes root

Published by Alex Makin on Tuesday 29th of April, 2008

The Maroondah Journal has reported community concerns over the logging of water catchments and requests for Maroondah to join neighbouring councils, such as Knox, Yarra Range and Whitehorse in calling on the State Government to stop this practice.

Cr Alex Makin said logging was a major issue and there was sufficient evidence to backup residents’ concerns.

“Logging erodes the water ability of our water catchment to retain water. It is my intent to secure a motion whereby Maroondah would call on the State Government to stop logging our catchment areas.”

A report on this issue will be produced for the May council meeting, where if successful Maroondah would join the growing list of councils raising their voice on this issue. The logging of water catchments is environmentally and economically unsound, since it reduces Melbourne’s supply of water.

I trust that councillors within Maroondah will recognise the importance of this issue.

Consultative Workshop for the Maroondah Forum for People with Disabilities and Carers

Published by Alex Makin on Monday 28th of April, 2008

The Maroondah Forum for People with Disabilities and Carers, which currently meets on a quarterly basis, provides an opportunity for council and the community to discuss issues relating to accessibility. While the forum has been successful in creating dialogue and improving accessibility within Maroondah, it is timely to undertake a review to strengthen this forum and the level of community dialogue.

Today’s workshop included approximately 40 community members, with a mixture of occasional and regular participants at the forum, as well as new attendees. This strong attendance provided a range of different experiences with accessibility issues within Maroondah.

The ability for networking between individuals and groups, the information that is shared and the ability to provide faces and a contact point for organisations, were identified as positive aspects of the forum. As an example, the ongoing attendance by companies such as Invicta and Connex has enabled direct communication in regard to transport and this has delivered improvements for our community.

The two-way dialogue between council and the community and the opportunity to provide either verbal or written comments were also seen as strengths. This dialogue has been critical in providing council with first-hand experience of the accessibility within the municipality and a number of infrastructure related projects, such as realigning pedestrian crossings, accessible parking improvements and the regrading of footpaths have been actioned as a direct result of this feedback.

Unfortunately the quarterly frequency of the forums has meant that some of this momentum is lost due to the delays between each meeting and also makes it difficult for people to remember issues that they wanted to discuss. As a result there was strong interest in the idea to increase the frequency of these meetings so that they are held every two months. This would also provide the added advantage of providing some flexibility for alternating meeting times, such as providing an evening forum for people that are unable to make day-time events. The forum is currently held between 10 am and 12 pm on a Monday and this makes it difficult for people who work during the day or for students to attend. While not everyone is comfortable with evening meetings, a more frequent schedule would allow for alternating times to give more people the opportunity to attend.

The need for ongoing promotion of the forum was also discussed and there is a clear need to increase community awareness. Details of the forum should be prominently featured on the Maroondah City Council website and it should also be included within council’s publications as well as the local newspapers.

There was much discussion in regard to the role of the forum in regard to whether it should include a strategic focus, such as exploring policy and advocacy, as well as providing a greater degree of structure through a terms of reference. The current informal and open nature of the forum provides an opportunity for people to attend as many or as few of the forums as they wish. Likewise the inclusion of engineering and operational issues provides mechanisms to raise issues directly with council.

It is certainly important to discuss strategic issues, particularly around the area of advocacy, such as ensuring affordable housing for people with disabilities, where local government can fulfil a critical role in lobbying other levels of government. It is important that Maroondah provides the right balance to ensure that strategic, as well as operational issues are discussed.

In this regard there may be merit in the formation of an accessibility committee, with a more formalised structure that would involve Council and the community within these broader issues. This would also provide the opportunity for peak accessibility groups to be involved in the decision making process. In addition it would mean that the forum would remain available to discuss more localised and specific concerns so that informal interaction with the community would continue.

I certainly see merit with increasing the frequency of the forum meetings with alternating times to allow for a greater level of input and to ensure more frequent dialogue with the community. Likewise I also believe there is a need for a more formalised committee that operates alongside the forum so that we can cover a wider range of accessibility issues.

Maroondah’s forum for people with disabilities and carers is generally well regarded by the community, although there is obvious scope for improvement. The discussion generated from this workshop will assist council in planning the future of this forum to ensure that we improve the level of accessibility within Maroondah.

The 11th Mullum Mullum Festival

Published by Alex Makin on Sunday 27th of April, 2008

The Mullum Mullum Festival is a community event, supported by Maroondah, Manningham and Whitehorse Councils, which celebrates the ecological and cultural value of the Mullum Mullum Creek Valley and surrounding remnant bushland areas. The uniqueness of the Mullum Mullum Valley has been recognised since the 1920s and we are fortunate to have such unique flora and fauna so close to Maroondah and the eastern suburbs.

The festival, now in its 11th year, was officially launched this afternoon at Yarran Dheran by Rachael Lamont the Chief Ranger of Parks Victoria. The Welcome to Country was conducted by Annette Xiberras a Wurundjeri Elder, who spoke about the cultural heritage of the Mullum Mullum Valley and the serenity that is enjoyed through this unique bushland. Since the Mullum Mullum Valley will soon be managed by Parks Victoria, it was timely to have Rachael speak about the organisation’s vision for the bushland.

The festival includes a number of walks around the valley as well as discussions on topics such as weeds, indigenous heritage and the fauna and flora native to the area. While sections have suffered significant damage due to the construction of EastLink, we are fortunate that some areas have been receiving the necessary level of care to try and minimise the impact of this construction.

It is unfortunate that Melbourne’s valleys have generally been viewed as sites for freeways although we are fortunate that the Mullum remains mostly intact rather than befalling the same fate as the Gardiner or Koonung Valleys. Once lost, the uniqueness of such ecosystems can never be recreated.

This afternoon I participated in the Extinction in the Suburbs walk, which was hosted by Dr Sarah Bekessy. Sarah discussed the impact of unchecked urban expansion on biodiversity and ecosystems and highlighted the need for a planning approach that includes natural environment in its assessment. Such measures are long overdue in Victoria where a number of threatened species reside in designated growth areas.

The Mullum Mullum Festival continues on Saturday the 3rd and Sunday the 4th of May. For further details please visit home.vicnet.net.au/~mulfest.