Tag: website

Speaking to the Rotary Club of Warrandyte Donvale

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Australia is home to a large number of Rotary Clubs, which are organised into geographically defined districts. The eastern and south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne are situated within Rotary District 9810, which extends from Port Philip Bay through to Dandenong Ranges and beyond.

This evening I spoke to the Rotary Club of Warrandyte Donvale, discussing my Council, Community and business background. I had been assisting the Club in the formation of their new website, designed to create a dynamic web presence for the Club.

The Rotary Club of Warrandyte Donvale has unveiled its website to coincide with the launch of its Art Show, a major project undertaken by the Club. The website has enabled the Club to easily maintain content on the site and to add new information as required.

In addition, the website enables an on-line registration process for artists entering the Art Show. This removes the need to manually enter data, reducing duplication, as well as preventing errors that can occur when manually typing data from forms.

Furthermore, the automation of the on-line system means that time provided by the Club’s volunteers can be utilised on other activities, rather than spending time manually entering data. Volunteers often have time constraints and it is important that their time is valued and utilised productively.

I commend the Rotary Club of Warrandyte Donvale for utilising the Internet to improve the operations of the Club and to promote their activities.

Media Release: Join in the Australia Day festivities

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Australia Day in Maroondah is again shaping as a fun-filled affair with a range of activities on offer for the entire family.

The action gets under way at 9.30am at Ringwood Lake Soundshell with a flag raising ceremony to mark the national day.

Councillor Alex Makin suggested residents to head on down and enjoy a free community barbecue and children’s activities including craft workshops, animal farm, jumping castle and face painting.

“There will also be live entertainment on offer with a performance by the Ringwood Folk Band,” Cr Makin said.

Cr Makin said the day also provided an opportunity to recognise some of our community’s most valued citizens.

“Australia Day is an opportunity for all of us to take pride in our citizenship and reflect on the meaning and importance of being Australian,” Cr Makin said.

“It will be a pleasure to recognise the contributions of Maroondah residents to the community during Council’s annual Australia Day awards,” Cr Makin said.

“The annual Australia Day awards will be presented to Maroondah’s Citizen of the Year, Young Citizen of the Year, and Community Event of the Year,” Cr Makin said.

Cr Makin said the day was about coming together as a nation to celebrate what’s great about Australia and being Australian.

“It’s the day to reflect on what we have achieved and what we can be proud of in Australia. It’s the day for us to recommit to making Australia an even better place for the future,” Cr Makin said.

“Each year Maroondah’s Australia Day celebrations draws a big crowd at Ringwood Lake. Council is again looking forward to welcoming the local community to celebrate what it is that makes them proud to be Australian,” Cr Makin said.

Event details:
9.30am: Flag raising ceremony
9.30am – 10.30am: Maroondah Australia Day Awards presentation and citizenship ceremony.
9.30am – 12.30pm: Family activities
11am – 12.30pm: Ringwood Folk Band perform

Getting there:

  • Via public transport: 10 minute walk from Ringwood Station or via bus route 670 which travels along Maroondah Highway. For further public transport information visit www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au or call 131 638.
  • Limited parking is available at Ringwood Lake, enter via Mt Dandenong Road. Melways 49 K8.
  • Accessible drop off zone on Maroondah Highway.

Media Release: Councillors show support for Ringwood Station petition

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Maroondah City Councillors have thrown their support behind the Ringwood Station Petition and are urging other members of the community to get behind the campaign.

All nine Maroondah Councillors have signed the petition which is calling on all state political parties to commit to an upgrade of Ringwood Station within the term of the next government.

Maroondah Mayor Alex Makin, who was the first signatory on the petition, thanked the community for their ongoing support of the campaign.

“There have been many community groups and individuals, who feel strongly about the station upgrade, circulating the petition around the region,” Cr Makin said.

“We appreciate the community support, but to make the signatures count, the petitions need to be returned to Council by Friday October 1,” Cr Makin said. “The petition will then be collated and presented to State Parliament in the final sitting week before the state election.”

“The more signatures and community support we can generate through the petition the stronger our voice is to ensure the funding commitment is made. So it’s not too late to sign the petition at one of Council’s service centres or on council’s website,’ Cr Makin said.

To sign the petition or find out more about the campaign:

Visit one of Council’s service centres:

City Offices Service Centre
Braeside Avenue, Ringwood

Eastland Service Centre
Level 2, Eastland Shopping Centre, Ringwood

Croydon Service Centre
Civic Square, Croydon

Go online to watch the video, to complete an online submission or to download a copy of the petition:
Maroondah Council website – www.maroondah.vic.gov.au
Maroondah Youth Services website www.maroondahyouthservices.com.au
Facebook – www.facebook.com/ringwoodstation

– ENDS –

Rotary Club of Ringwood – discussing the club website and introducing new members

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The Rotary Club of Ringwood is one of several service clubs located within the City of Maroondah, which aim to provide support to groups and individuals within the community. The Rotary Club of Ringwood has had a particular focus on assisting refugees and has supported a number of events celebrating Maroondah’s cultural diversity.

This evening I provided an information session about the Rotary Club of Ringwood website to assist committee members in the management of the site. Committee members and authorised members of the club are able to add new content to the site, including photographs and videos, to ensure that the site is continually maintained and up-to-date.

One of the challenges facing service clubs is the need to encourage ongoing participation and interest from the community. The website should assist the Rotary Club of Ringwood in recruiting new members and highlighting the work it undertakes on behalf of the Maroondah community.

Media Release: Ensuring a sustainable financial future for Maroondah

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Maroondah City Council’s Proposed Council Plan 2010-2014 and Proposed Budget 2010-2011 were formally adopted during Council’s Monday 28 June meeting. The documents highlight the key initiatives which underpin the planning and budget blueprints for the Maroondah community.

Mayor of Maroondah, Councillor Alex Makin, said the Council Plan set out a broad range of Council activities designed to assist Council and the community move towards the future, as identified in Maroondah 2025: A Community Planning Together.

“The Council Plan clearly details the range of strategies that will be adopted over the coming four years and outlines Council’s commitment to working in partnership with the community to foster quality and sustainable lifestyles,” Cr Makin said.

“There are eight themes within the Council Plan: community; economic development and employment; infrastructure; leisure and culture; natural environment; transport; urban design and development; governance and corporate support,” Cr Makin said.

“The 2010-2011 Budget outlines the provision of financial resources for the coming 12 months, and details how these resources will be applied to delivering the many services Council provides to the community,” Cr Makin said.

FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

“One of the key factors in this year’s Budget is providing the resources to bring forward the operational deficit that has existed in 12 out of the past 14 Council Budgets,” said Cr Makin.

“It is imperative that this Council draws a line in the sand to ensure that ongoing deficits are no longer acceptable. We must move our financial status into surplus as soon as possible to allow Council to be in the position to invest in community facilities and to meet our obligations now and into the future,” said Cr Makin.

“Council has determined that the operational surplus will now be brought forward to the 2012/13 financial year (three years earlier), commencing with the 2010/11 Budget,” said Cr Makin.

“The operating result for the 2010/11 year is planned at a $1.782 million deficit which halves that of the 09/10 Budget,” said Cr Makin.

“It is important to remember that rates and charges provide 63 per cent of Council’s operating revenue, with the remainder sourced from user charges, operating and capital grants and interest,” said Cr Makin.

“The cost of services delivered to the Maroondah community in 2010/2011 is expected to be $91 million, which is an increase of $6.2million over the 2009/2010 Budget,” said Cr Makin.

The Budget is based on a proposed general rate and charges increase of 9.8 per cent.

This increase is made up from:

CPI (taken from the December 2009 quarter)3%
Infrastructure Levy2.5%
New initiatives2.5%
Regional Aquatic & Leisure Centre in Ringwood1.1%
State Government imposed increase in Landfill Levy0.7%

For the average ratepayer living in a median priced house in Maroondah this represents a $98.10 increase in annual rates and charges, or $1.88 extra per week.

“Maroondah remains one of the lowest rating councils in Victoria, with figures released this week by the Municipal Association of Victoria indicating Maroondah has the 7th lowest (per capita) rates and charges of 71 Victorian Councils,” said Cr Makin.

“When further assessing these figures, the six lower rating Councils (per capita) are much larger in population than Maroondah, and therefore benefit from substantial economies of scale as well as other sources of income,” said Cr Makin.

“In addition, at an average rate of $549 per head, Maroondah has the lowest rating of all nine Victorian Councils of similar size (90,000 to 120,000 people),” said Cr Makin.

INVESTMENT IN INFRASTRUCTURE AND SERVICES

“Council’s Budget provides the resources to ensure we are able to sustainably provide over 120 services to the 105,000 members of our community, as well as providing resources for a number of new initiatives,” said Cr Makin.

These new initiatives include

  • $445,000 to provide ongoing maintenance on new capital works projects, such as the new Ringwood multi-purpose shared sports pavilion and all weather synthetic surface
  • An additional $126,000 in funding to Ringwood and Croydon libraries provides books and computer access for all members of the community, with over 1 million library books borrowed each year
  • An extra $150,000 to be spent on bushland clearance and fire prevention works in our bush reserves
  • Additional $250,000 to ensure powerline clearance of trees throughout the municipality
  • Investment of $50,000 to develop the Heathmont Structure Plan to identify and plan for residential and community needs around this transport hub and shopping precinct
  • Additional $50,000 on striking new signage throughout Maroondah identifying parks, reserves and buildings, includes pedestrian/cycling signage

LEISURE FACILITIES – MEETING THE COMMUNITY’S FUTURE NEEDS

“The allocation of funding in the 2010-2011 Budget (1.1% of rate increase) will be used to develop the design work and continue the community consultation for the proposed Regional Aquatic and Leisure Centre in Ringwood, which will replace the existing Ringwood Aquatic Centre,” said Cr Makin.

“It is important that Council looks to the future to ensure that we meet the expectations and needs of the Maroondah community. A new regional aquatic and leisure facility is an exciting project that will generate enormous community benefit, and ensure significant leisure and aquatic facilities for the Maroondah community into the next 50 years,” said Cr Makin.

“Maroondah is maintaining its position as a lower rating council in metropolitan Melbourne and returning the budget to surplus allows us to deliver exciting projects like the proposed Regional Aquatic and Leisure Centre in Ringwood,” said Cr Makin.

The 2010-2011 Budget and 2010-2014 Council Plan will be available for viewing on the Maroondah City Council website at www.maroondah.vic.gov.au

– ENDS –

June BizConnect Business Breakfast

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The BizConnect Business Breakfast is a Maroondah City Council initiative designed to connect local businesses and to share knowledge and skills. This morning’s speaker was from Destination Melbourne who discussed the growing $2.6 billion market generated through tourism opportunities from visiting friends and relatives.

The friends and relatives tourism market is the largest segment of visitors into Melbourne’s eastern suburbs and provides economic benefits for local businesses. While Maroondah may not be seen as a traditional tourist destination, it does have a strong component of tourism generated through friends and relatives and the speaker outlined the need for businesses to target this growing segment.

As the Mayor of Maroondah I had the pleasure of introducing the June BizConnect Business Breakfast and the speech I delivered is included within this post:

Continue reading “June BizConnect Business Breakfast”

Opening the Ringwood Telstra Business Centre

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This morning I was invited to officially open the Ringwood Telstra Business Centre, located on Heatherdale Road.  The introduction of the Telstra Business Centre reinforces the growing business confidence within Ringwood and provides further local employment opportunities within the municipality.

The launch included a presentation on the future of technology, which highlighted the rapid pace of technological advancement and an increasing emphasis on ‘cloud computing’, whereby data is stored externally in a secure environment.   Technology will continue to be an important part of any business and the Business Centre has a strong emphasis on technological solutions for small and medium enterprises.

Alex opening the Telstra Business Centre in Ringwood
Alex opening the Telstra Business Centre in Ringwood

Over the past five years, Ringwood has experienced a substantial expansion of commercial office space and this is expected to increase further into the future.  The increase in office space ensures that we are better able to provide local employment opportunities, and thus minimise travel costs and commuting time for employees.

The City of Maroondah hosts regular events for the business community, including workshops, seminars and breakfast meetings.  For further details please visit www.bizmaroondah.com.au.

Maroondah Leader: Going public

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One of my first acts as the Mayor of Maroondah was to refuse the mayoral car.

I have been undertaking my council duties utilising a range of transport options, including public transport and walking. I believe it is imperative that we continue to encourage the use of sustainable forms of transport.

The Maroondah Leader has reported the decision to refuse the mayoral car:

Maroondah’s new mayor has vowed to ditch the mayoral car and use public transport instead.

“I’ll be taking the train and the bus and we’re going to have the mayoral Metcard, or the mayoral Myki depending as to when they introduce it.” Cr Makin said. “Given that I am a resident in the centre an area where we are encouraging people to use sustainable forms of transport, I want to lead by example.”

The usage and provision of public transport is vital to transformation of Ringwood into a vibrant, accessible and sustainable urban centre. The usage of public transport must be encouraged to enhance the mobility of Maroondah, through mitigating traffic congestion and improving social inclusiveness.

Cr Makin said he had not driven for years but got around his ward and performed his council duties successfully using public transport and walking.

While the centres of Ringwood and Croydon are relatively well-served by public transport, there is a need for further improvements to bus services to provide an alternative to driving to stations, as well as more frequent rail services during off-peak times.

Maroondah’s first Generation X mayor, aged 29, said he would focus on the environment and social inclusion. He invited constituents to contact him on Twitter, Facebook, his website or the phone.

As a council it is imperative that we are open to input and provide a range of methods to encourage discussion with our community. The Internet provides new methods of encouraging community participation and we should be at the forefront of using these tools to encourage dialogue and discussion.

As the mayor I will be continuing to regularly update my blog, as well as posting updates on Facebook and Twitter. I encourage members of the community to contact me so that we can continue making a difference in Maroondah.

In his inaugural speech on December 2, Cr Makin said the recent burning of the Ringwood Miners’ Cottage should prompt a public discussion on values to create “a civic pride that collectively demonstrates that such malicious destruction will not be tolerated”.

As a municipality it is imperative that we discuss the values shared by our community and work to reduce apathy and encourage civic participation. Acts like the destruction of the Miners Cottage should not be tolerated or accepted by our community and we need to create pride within our community to prevent such acts from occurring.

Cr Makin named priorities as the central Ringwood redevelopment, more venues for community organisations and access for people with disabilities.

The redevelopment of Ringwood provides a once in a generational opportunity to ensure that we get things right for Ringwood and to create an inclusive, accessible and sustainable urban centre. Pivotal to this will be the creation of community space where we can ensure that organisations can meet the needs of our community.

I hope that over the course of the next year I and my council colleagues will be able to achieve these goals.

Please continue visiting my website or follow me on Facebook and Twitter to discuss your visions for the City of Maroondah.

Maroondah Journal: Residents have crucial role, says new mayor

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One of my priorities as the Mayor for the next twelve months is to encourage community participation. The Maroondah Journal has reported on these aims:

Maroondah’s new mayor has called on the community to become more involved in its own future. Cr Alex Makin, who was elected mayor at a special meeting last Wednesday, said that far too often residents waited until something directly impacted them to become involved.

The community has a critical role in helping shape the priorities of council through contacting their elected Councillors and attending council meetings. This ensures that council is accountable to the public and is reflecting the views of the wider community.

He said residents’ role was much broader and included the right and opportunity to hold the council accountable at all times.

“Some may think voting in council elections is the only way for them to participate, but civic responsibility can extend to being a vital presence when council conducts its business.”

Civic involvement will lead to a higher level of participation within our community and help convey a sense of values for the City of Maroondah.

He also called on the community to reflect on its values and to work to impart them on others to prevent “tragic” acts of vandalism, such as the burning down of the Ringwood Miners Cottage last month.

As a council we must focus on the long-term sustainability of Maroondah and our community. The decisions we will be making during this term of council, including the redevelopment of Council and our community facilities, will continue to be felt well into the future.

It was humbling to be in a position where I could help shape the future of the area where I have lived since he was two.
“We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to ensure we get things right with the transformation of Ringwood into a vibrant, sustainable and accessible urban centre.” Cr Makin said.

Please continue visiting my website or follow me on Facebook and Twitter to discuss your visions for the City of Maroondah.

Open Forum with Enjoying Planned Retirement

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This evening I was invited to speak at Enjoying Planned Retirement’s members meeting to discuss council and my long interest and involvement with one of Maroondah’s largest seniors based groups.

Enjoying Planned Retirement is based at Norwood Hall and shares its facilities with Ringwood U3A and the North Ringwood Senior Citizens. The Ringwood Arts Society and the Ringwood Historical Society are also located as tenants within the building.

Enjoying Planned Retirement provides a diverse range of activities, including bocce, table tennis, card games and day trips.

The open forum provided an opportunity to discuss the group and the hall, as well as the cooperative nature of EPR as it shares facilities with other groups.

I also discussed the plans for the redevelopment of Ringwood, including the ongoing need for advocacy in regard to Ringwood Station. While the current State Government funding is a positive step forward, further commitments are required to ensure an accessible and integrated transport interchange.

I also discussed the feasibility study into the relocation of North Ringwood Community House and the need for continued improvements to our community facilities.

While the transformation of Ringwood will deliver opportunities to provide a community heart for the centre of Ringwood, it is also important that other suburbs retain local facilities that meet community needs.

Enjoying Planned Retirement is an example of a group that meets community needs, through having many members involved in organising activities and participating within the club. This enables the group to hold a diverse of range of activities through sharing the organising and responsibility.

Enjoying Planned Retirement now has a website, for further information please visit www.enjoywithepr.org.au