Thank you to the many individuals and community organisations that have shared their time over the past seven years. It has been an absolute honour to represent the Loughnan’s HIll Ward and the Mullum Wards in the City of Maroondah.
We accomplished a lot over these years, including new investment in community infrastructure, a focus on public transport advocacy and a Council that responds to needs in the community. During my time as Mayor I reversed twelve years of budget deficits and improved the accountability of Councils by encouraging debate and discussion during Council meetings.
I was the first elected Councillor to regularly maintain a blog, documenting my Council activities and to engage communities through social media. I provided a range of contact options to ensure that constituents were able to easily make contact with an elected representative.
After seven years I will not be renominating at the upcoming Council elections. I would like to thank the many people who have offered support and encouragement for providing the opportunity to respond to their concerns.
We have a great seven years together but it now time for me to focus on my career and other pursuits. I like the people of Loughnan’s Hill Ward and the Mullum Ward for the opportunity to serve as their elected representative.
On the 26th of January I attended the Maroondah Australia Day Celebrations at Ringwood Lake. The celebrations, which coincide with a citizenship ceremony and the awarding of Maroondah’s Citizen, Young Citizen and Event of the Year, were held at Ringwood Lake and provided an opportunity to welcome new citizens, as well as acknowledge the many people who undertake service to the community.
This morning a meeting was held to officially handover the alliance between the City of Melbourne and Central Activities District Councils to the newly elected Mayors. The meeting provided an opportunity to formally introduce the new mayors to the group and to discuss the activities that were undertaken over the past year.
The alliance has been officially endorsed by each participating Council and priorities include meeting with the new State Government to identify the transport, housing, employment and community priorities for each Central Activities District. I would like to thank the former Mayors of Frankston, Greater Dandenong, Whitehorse, Hume and Maribyrnong, as well as Robert Doyle, the Lord Mayor of Melbourne for their support of this alliance.
I am confident that the new Mayors, including Cr Tony DIb as the Mayor of Maroondah, will continue to support this alliance and ensure that all levels of government have a shared vision and implementation plan for Melbourne’s Central Activities Districts. A collective voice for Melbourne’s Central Activities Districts will help ensure that they become vibrant, accessible and sustainable urban centres.
One of the reforms undertaken during my year as Mayor was to extend delegate reports into attendance reports, to ensure that Councillors can confidently discuss the events and activities that they have undertaken. In addition, a new report, known as Ward Reports was also introduced which allows Councillors to discuss upcoming events.
On the 19th of November I attended Maroondah’s end of year function for crossing supervisors. The function provides an opportunity to thank crossing supervisors for the work they undertake in providing safety for students gaining access to and from schools. Several crossing supervisors are some of Maroondah’s longest serving employees and I would like to thank these dedicated members of staff for the service that they provide to the community.
On the 20th of November I attended the 10th anniversary of Maroondah Movement for Reconciliation. The group, which was formed in 2000 aimed to encourage reconciliation and promote an understanding and awareness of Indigenous culture. I would like to congratulate the group for its achievements, particularly in encouraging Council and the community to embrace Reconciliation.
On the 21st of November I attended the first annual general meeting of the Maroondah Inter-faith network. The network, which was established in November last year aims to encourage dialogue and understanding between faith based communities in Maroondah. The group has experienced a strong first year and I would like to thank the interim committee for their service and dedication, as well as congratulate the incoming committee, which is already planning events for the year ahead.
A meeting is scheduled for the 20th of December where this alliance will be introduced to the newly elected Mayors and priorities established for the next twelve months. This alliance will having growing significance to Council over future years as it will ensure that Maroondah will be also work cooperatively with these other Councils to ensure a cohesive approach to Melbourne’s Central Activities Districts.
The Maroondah Leader has reported on the newly formed alliance between Councils that include Central Activities Districts and the City of Melbourne. This alliance will ensure that Councils will be able to collectively advocate for the needs of these central activities districts, to ensure that they become vibrant, accessible and sustainable urban centres.
Former Maroondah mayor Alex Makin said the councils had identified common issues across the CADs: mainly the need for investment in transport interchanges and next-generation community facilities.
“With Melbourne quickly becoming a city of many cities, we want to ensure certainty for the respective CADs,” Cr Makin said.
The alliance will be focusing on three priorities, including transport, housing and employment opportunity for the Central Activities Districts and will be advocating for a shared vision between State and Federal Governments for funding to support the implementation of these urban centres. The alliance will continue to meet throughout 2011 and a meeting will be held on the 20th of December to officially hand over the group to the newly elected Mayors of each Council.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will be signed between City of Melbourne’s Lord Mayor, Robert Doyle, and Mayors from the State Government’s six designated Central Activities Districts (CADs) – Frankston, Maroondah, Greater Dandenong, Hume, Maribyrnong and Whitehorse – on Monday 22 November at 9.30am in the Frankston City Council Chambers to officially cement their unanimous commitment to seek State Government support and funding to create the most productive, liveable and sustainable city centres.
The MOU acknowledges that mutual benefit can be derived by these municipalities through measures of mutual support, collaboration and by providing a united voice and joint approach to lobbying.
Frankston City Council Mayor, Cr Christine Richards said these six metropolitan hubs have been selected to attract people, investment and jobs and it is pivotal they remain supported to achieve the objectives of the State Government’s Melbourne 2030 and Melbourne @ 5 million strategies.
“This is a historical political event – the joining of Mayors to achieve a mutually beneficial outcome. The CAD municipalities are ready, willing and able to face the challenges ahead together to make our CADs thriving metropolises. However, we cannot do so without a whole-of-government commitment to CAD planning,” Cr Richards said.
Maroondah City Council Mayor, Cr Alex Makin, said despite the CADs individual differences, synergies do exist between the municipal city centres.
“This alliance means we can work co-operatively to provide a united voice with more weight that will give greater strength to plans and solutions to state-wide issues. We need a State Government supported implementation plan to ensure our city centres can achieve their designated potential,” said Cr Makin.
The Mayors’ will further discuss how to best achieve the objectives set out in the State Government’s Planning Policy Framework. The Mayors’ are unanimous that at a minimum CADs must:
have a functioning transit interchange – to enable comfortable, quick and efficient journeys by buses and trains throughout each municipality – in some CADs substantial infrastructure funding is still required to make this vision a reality
create more local jobs – CADs need to expand their base of employers to create a greater range and number of local jobs available to local residents
create more affordable housing.
“This Memorandum of Understanding between the Central Activities District Mayors and the Mayor of the City of Melbourne will allow for increased co-operation between our municipalities and allow us to jointly advocate for our key priorities,” Cr Makin said.
“Our main priority at a state level is to secure a long term funding commitment for the CADs. With Melbourne quickly becoming a city of many cities, we want to ensure certainty for the respective CADs, as well as bolstering the opportunity for all levels of governments to provide more services across greater metropolitan Melbourne”, Cr. Makin concluded.
Maroondah has experiencing growing cultural diversity in recent years, including becoming home to a vibrant Sudanese community. This afternoon I was invited to a cultural festival organised by Maroondah’s Sudanese community featuring food, music and dance.
Maroondah’s Sudanese community should be congratulated for sharing their culture and heritage, as well as promoting understanding within Maroondah. I congratulate the Sudanese community for their ongoing engagement and interest in the wider Maroondah community.
It has been a great experience being involved with Maroondah’s Sudanese community and I welcome the growing cultural diversity within the municipality.
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.
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.
Radio Eastern is a community based organisation located at Wyreena Community Arts Centre, that broadcasts on 98.1 FM.
Each month Councillors are invited to participate in an on-air interview on 98.1 FM and this morning I discussed upcoming Council activities, as well as reflected on the year as Mayor. During the interview I highlighted the governance reforms that were undertaken this year, including the encouragement of debate and discussion in the Chamber and presentations through deputations to Council. This ensures that decisions are being made in an open and transparent nature and ensures that community groups and individuals can make formal presentations to Council.
In relation to upcoming events I discussed the the Maroondah Festival, which will be held on Sunday the 7th of November. The Festival is Maroondah’s largest event, featuring community organisations, interactive displays, music and stage performances, including dedicated areas for community, business, sustainability, fitness and a youth precinct.
I also reminded the community that nominations for Maroondah’s Australia Day Awards close on Friday the 19th of November. The Australia Day Awards provide an opportunity to recognize prominent Maroondah citizens and community events.
Details on the Maroondah Festival and the Australia Day Awards are available from the Council website at www.maroondah.vic.gov.au.
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.
