Tag: culture

2010 Maroondah Festival

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The Maroondah Festival is one of the largest community events within Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, attracting approximately 30,000 attendees and featuring dedicated community, business, sustainability, fitness, teenagers and children.

The weather remained largely pleasant throughout the day, providing a contrast to the hot weather experienced in previous years. The new location at Town Park also provides additional shade and ensures that activities are closer together making the festival easier to attend.

As the Mayor I delivered the opening speech for the Maroondah Festival, welcoming community members and highlights the partners that assisted in delivering the event:

Alex at the opening of the 2010 Maroondah Festival.
Alex at the opening of the 2010 Maroondah Festival.

On behalf of the Maroondah City Council I would like to welcome everyone to the 2010 Maroondah Festival.

In the spirit of Reconciliation, we acknowledge that we are meeting on land for which the Wurundjeri people have been custodians for many centuries, and on land which the Indigenous Australians have performed age old ceremonies.

We, Maroondah City Council, accept, respect and have shared with the Wurundjeri people in their customs of welcome.

The Wurundjeri people support the coming together of all people, respecting their individuality to focus on a unified and cohesive nation.

This year marks the 21st anniversary of this wonderful community event and we invite you and your families enjoy the beautiful sunshine and take part in the huge array of activities available here today, including some fresh new initiatives and of course the old favourites.

I would especially like to extend a warm welcome to Ringwood Honda as the principal sponsor of the 2010 Maroondah Festival. Be sure to visit the Ringwood Honda stand next to the Information tent to collect your free Honda merchandise and check out the latest range of Honda vehicles on display. There will also be an opportunity to talk to the friendly staff from Ringwood Honda and enter the draw to win some fantastic prizes including a Honda lawn mower valued at over $800.

At the Festival today, over 150 local groups and businesses have come together to provide information on their networks, goods and services. With their continued support, the Maroondah Festival has grown to become the most well supported community Festival in Melbourne’s east.

I invite everyone to visit the Denso Australia Group – Community Expo today and learn more about the valuable work undertaken by our fantastic local community groups.

We are also fortunate that we have many businesses in our municipality who support the Maroondah Festival. I would like to thank the following businesses for their generous sponsorship at this year’s festival:

  • Ringwood Honda: The principal sponsor of the Maroondah Festival
  • Bankwest – sponsor of the Main Stage
  • Denso Australia Group – sponsor of the Community Expo
  • Maroondah Weekly – our media partner
  • Anaconda – sponsor of the Fun and Fitness Arena
  • Ventura – sponsor of the Park n Ride service
  • Jalna – sponsor of the Fun and Fitness Walk breakfast

An event the size of Maroondah Festival requires a lot of planning and hard work and I would especially like to extend a huge thank you to all of the volunteers and staff assembled here today. In particular I would like to acknowledge the assistance of St John Ambulance and Victoria Police, and I would also like to thank the staff of Maroondah City Council and Fruitbowl Productions.

I hope that you enjoy the rest of the day, visit the Festival Information tent to find out about the huge array of activities on offer and be sure to take advantage of the free sunscreen.

Thank you all for being part of this fantastic event and celebrating our wonderful Maroondah community.

I would now like to welcome to the stage, the Yarra Valley School band.

Media Release: Mayor Art Show highlights local talent

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The 2010 Maroondah Mayoral Art Show will be on display at the Maroondah Art Gallery from 11 November to 11 December.

Maroondah Mayor Councillor Alex Makin said the exhibition, now in its 14th year would feature works by some of Melbourne’s best known artists.

“To be featured in the exhibition each artist was asked to make a donation with all funds raised to be donated to the Bone Marrow Donor Institute – Croydon Branch to support further research into leukaemia,” Cr Makin said.

“It is great to be able to give our local artists an opportunity to share their works with the community, while also knowing that visiting the exhibition you are also helping to support a worthwhile cause,” Cr Makin said.

The Mayoral Art Show is sponsored by East Ringwood Bendigo Bank.

The exhibition will be officially opened by Maroondah Mayor Councillor Alex Makin at 6.30pm, Thursday 11 November.

The Mayoral Art Show is on at Maroondah Art Gallery, Maroondah Federation Estate, 32 Greenwood Ave, Ringwood. The gallery has extended its opening hours especially for the exhibition, and is now open Monday to Friday 10am to 4pm and Saturday 12 noon to 4pm.

For more information please contact the Team Leader Arts & Cultural Services, Susan Ryan on 9298 4536.

– ENDS –

Hey Hey It’s Monkami

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The Monkami Centre is based in Croydon and provides a range of services for people with intellectual disabilities, with the aim of developing employment and educational opportunities.

Monkami has a strong focus on community development and has established the Monkami Drama Group which holds an annual theatre performance to demonstrate the talents of its clients. The Monkami Drama Group is one example of the organisation’s community focus, which also includes a focus on artistic skills and volunteering opportunities.

This year’s performance was titled ‘Hey Hey It’s Monkami’ and followed the plot of performers auditioning for a part in Red Faces. As the Mayor of Maroondah, I provided a cameo appearance via a video sequence, in relation to Monkami’s suggestions. The Monkami performance is possible due to a partnership between Karralyka and the Ringwood Movie Makers, who have provided ongoing multimedia support including filming sequences to accompany the stage performance.

The annual Monkami theatre performance continues to grow in popularity each year, including a number of external performances to showcase the skills and talents of the performers. Tonight’s show was a tremendous success and Monkami is already planning for their 2011 theatre season.

2010 Chin New Year (Fang Er) Festival

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The City of Maroondah is home to a large number of migrants and refugees from Burma, with several ethnic groups settling into the municipality.

The Chin community, is one of the ethnic groups from Burma and this afternoon I attended their new year celebrations, known as Fang Er, which traditionally celebrated the harvest. The celebrations included singing, dancing and entertainment from members of the Chin community, as well as traditional rice cake which is part of the festivities.

It is great to see the Chin community embracing Maroondah and encouraging participation in their festivals.

Launch of Alarming Art at Monkami

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Monkami is a not-for-profit community organisation that provides services for people with an intellectual disability, including employment and educational opportunities for their clients.

As part of its development programs, Monkami has had a strong emphasis on the arts and recently secured a lease for the former Croydon Fire Station, which will be used to showcase artworks from Monkami’s clients.

This evening I was invited to launch Alarming Art, the new Monkami Centre gallery, located at 14A Croydon Road in Croydon. While plans for Alarming Art are still being developed, Monkami plans to host exhibitions for its clients.

The launch of Alarming Art is part of Monkami’s ongoing focus on inclusion, demonstrating that people with intellectual disabilities are able to contribute positively to the community. This has been evident through Monkami’s arts programs, the nursery and clients that volunteer to improve the ambience of the Croydon Main Street.

Alarming Art will further highlight the work of Monkami’s clients and enhance the organisation’s focus on the community. I congratulate Monkami on securing tenure at the former Croydon Fire Station and for developing Alarming Art.

Eastern Transport Coalition – State Candidates Forum at Maroondah

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The Eastern Transport Coalition is a council initiated advocacy group, covering Melbourne’s seven outer eastern Councils; Greater Dandenong, Knox, Manningham, Maroondah, Monash Whitehorse and the Shire of Yarra Ranges.

As part of its advocacy campaign, the Eastern Transport Coalition is holding a series of candidate forums, throughout each of the member councils. The evening was attended by representatives of each of the three major parties, the Australian Labor Party, the Victorian Liberal Party and the Victorian Greens.

I provided the introduction to tonight’s forum to highlight the current public transport deficiencies within Maroondah. The speech is available within this entry:

Welcome candidates and the community to the Maroondah City Council Eastern Transport Coalition Public Transport Forum.

Maroondah City Council, in the spirit of reconciliation, acknowledges that we are meeting on the land for which the Wurundjeri people have been custodians for many centuries, and on Land which the indigenous Australians have performed age old ceremonies.

We are fortunate tonight to have secured Mr Clay Lucas as our independent moderator. Clay may be well known to some of you as he is part of The Age’s city team having worked The Age and The Sunday Age since 2005 as a city reporter. This role sees Clay reporting on a range of topics across the transport sector, including roads, public transport, planning and development. In 2009 Clay won a Quill for transport reporting with Age investigative reporter Royce Millar.

Before I hand over to Clay to get the evening underway I just want to provide a quick overview of the public transport issues that Maroondah sees as important to the community and help set the context of public transport in the east.

Regional Perspective

The eastern region is an established area experiencing significant economic and population growth.
This growth is mainly occurring through infill and consolidation of existing residential, commercial and employment areas.

The network is struggling to keep up with demand and provide services that the community require to carry out their day to day activities as viable alternatives to the motor vehicle.

The Victorian Transport Plan – Does not deliver for the east

To keep pace with the population and economic growth the current public transport system needs to expand.

The Victorian Transport Plan does not adequately consider or respond to the needs of the East and greater investment is still required, if the eastern suburbs are to continue to be liveable and met the State’s land use and transport plans as outlined in Melbourne @ 5 million.

The high household car ownership in the City of Maroondah is evidence of the public transport systems inability to provide a service that allows our community to undertake their daily activities. The ETC and Maroondah City Council call on the government for the development of a long term regional public transport strategy for the Eastern region.

Ringwood Station Upgrade

Ringwood is identified as one of six Central Activity Districts which will offer CBD type services in suburban locations. In recent MTF public survey, Ringwood Station was voted as Melbourne’s second worse station, after Richmond.

The current Ringwood Station is difficult to access with steep ramps to station platforms that fail the State Government’s Disability Discrimination Act requirements.

The footpath access from each side of the station is not safe, particularly for people in wheel chairs and there is not direct wheel chair access to the car park which is located at the bottom of a steep stairway.
There has been no significant upgrade to the station in more than 50 years and it is desperately needing to be modernised.

For Ringwood Station to be truly accessible to all and permit convenient transferring between transport services, it is imperative that it is clean, comfortable, accessible and safe and secure.

Triplication for the Belgrave/Lilydale line

As Central Melbourne will continue to be a major location for employment, the arts, culture, sport and leisure, central Melbourne should be conveniently accessible by public transport for all Melbournians.
The demand on the Belgrave/Lilydale lines, with approximately 93,000 daily boardings, make these lines one of Melbourne’s most highly patronised rail corridors.

The patronage of both lines is reaching capacity with overcrowding a regular passenger experience. To facilitate more efficient and comfortable commuting for those passengers coming from beyond Ringwood Station, the triplication of the line between Box Hill and Ringwood is required.

Better Buses

Buses are the largest public transport option available to residents within Maroondah and the neighbouring municipalities. Bus patronage is growing, particularly on services with long operation and high frequency of service, i.e. the SmartBus Routes.

The recently conducted Metropolitan Bus Service Reviews was a step in the right direction with identifying inadequate service and generating regional specific solutions. However, very few of the recommendations have been implemented and they have only been small route extensions or minimal frequency and duration improvements.

Bus services in Maroondah remain poor with limited out of peak services and long wait times between services throughout most of the day. Improving bus services in coverage, service frequency and duration will provide real alternatives to the private vehicle and enable the community of Maroondah to have real choice in transport.

Conclusion

The provision of a more equitable, accessible public transport will reduce the detrimental effects of poor access to public transport in the eastern region, such as, social isolation, high car dependency, reduced financial freedom or the inability to access services.

A truly integrated and accessible transport network will also reduce the regions vulnerability to changes in the environment, such as climate change and peak oil.

I thank you for your attendance tonight and look forward to hearing how the candidates respond to your issues.

I’ll now hand you over to Clay to get the evening underway.

Delegates’ Report: Disability Services and Community Partnerships

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On the 3rd of September I had the pleasure of attending the Ringwood Spiders Trophy Presentation Evening, a football team for people with disabilities, which competes in the Football Integration Development Association (FIDA) league comprising of teams across Victoria.

The Trophy Presentation Evening provides an opportunity to reflect on the Spiders achievements throughout the year, including the formation of a second team and the continuation of their Junior Development Squad, which has seen new members over the past season. In addition, the Ringwood Spiders Cheerleader Squad continues to provide an opportunity for people unable to play football to still support and be a part of the team.

The Ringwood Spiders are eagerly awaiting the 2011 Football Season but have a range of activities planned over the summer months, including lawn bowls organised in partnership with the Ringwood Bowls Club. The Ringwood Bowls Club is one of the many organisations that have formed partnerships with the Ringwood Spiders and it was great to see the Trophy Presentation Evening held once again at the Bowls Club.

On the 9th of September I attended the Spring Formal of the Croydon Special Development School. The school specialises in education for people with disabilities while providing connections with the wider community. The Spring Formal demonstrated the strength of the school’s connections to the wider community, with several students from local high schools being partners to participants in the formal.

It was fantastic to see students from local high schools supporting students from the Croydon Special Development School and I commend each of them for their involvement in the Spring Formal.

On the 15th of September I attended the Eastern Volunteer Business Booster Breakfast, a new initiative of Eastern Volunteers designed to create mutually beneficial partnerships between the business and community sectors. The breakfast included the launch of Friends of EV, a new program which will create partnerships between Eastern Volunteers and the business community. It is worth noting that Eastern Volunteers is a stable organisation that has existed for 30 years, demonstrating its commitment to sustainable and positive outcomes for the community.

Lastly, on the 20th of September I participated in the filming of Monkami’s Drama Group, “Hey Hey It’s Monkami”, the fourth production from the Group. Hey Hey It’s Monkami, is the fourth performance of the group and will be performed on Thursday the 28th of September at the Karralyka Centre.

Filming for the Monkami Drama Production – Hey Hey Its Monkami

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Monkami is a not-for-profit disability service provider in Croydon, which provides educational, employment and lifestyle opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities.  Monkami has developed a strong arts based program to encourage confidence and expression with their participants, including the Monkami Drama Group, which is now in its fourth year of productions.

This afternoon I volunteered to be part of the filming for the Monkami Drama Groups, “Hey Hey Its Monkami”, the title and theme of this year’s production.  A scene takes place at the Council Chamber and will form part of the production that will be performed at the Karralyka Centre on the 28th of October.

Enjoying Planned Retirement – The Final Spotlighters Performance

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Enjoying Planned Retirement is a community group, based at Norwood Hall in Ringwood North, that provides a range of activities for seniors. One of these activities is Spotlighters, an annual musical performance, which is organised by members.

This afternoon I attended the final Spotlighers Performance, which featured a range of musical talents, including tap dancing, musical acts and solo singing performances. All aspects of the performance, including the stage and costumes, are made by members of EPR over the 20 years of Spotlighters Performers.

While this years marks the final performance for Spotlighters, Enjoying Planned Retirement will be providing further performance activities over 2011 and beyond.

Launch of the Independent Type Exhibition

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The Independent Type Exhibition celebrates Victoria’s literary culture and will be displayed at Croydon Library until Sunday the 3rd of October.

This evening I was invited to launch the exhibition, which covers Victoria’s literary evolution from traditional Indigenous storytelling through to colonial literature and contemporary writing. The exhibition consists of panels and multimedia presentations that cover Victoria’s literary history reinforcing Melbourne’s status as a City of Literature.

In addition, workshops are provided for young, emerging and experienced writers, as well as specific sessions on emerging mediums, including blogging and zines.

The speech delivered during the launch is available in this entry:

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