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Kew Cottages Coalition Reg # A0044698H

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Planning in Victoria is having trouble staying on the rails...

Capital projects hit a brick wall

By Michael Bachelard
The Weekend Australian
July 10, 2004
IN the final months of construction on Melbourne's landmark Federation Square, the official in charge of the project had to go to the Commonwealth Bank every month to borrow cash to pay the bills.

"The bureaucrats up at the departments of Premier and Cabinet and Finance wanted to fart around and make up the arithmetic to see if the $6 or $7 million I wanted to pay was right. Or they were saying: 'We need time to think about this,"' recalls Dick Roennfeldt, the then director of the Government's Office of Major Projects..... (More)
 
 
 


CURRENT ANNOUNCEMENTS


The Land

July 2004

Community unrest with State and Federal Governments bungling of environmental and heritage issues continues to grow.

Point Nepean is viewed by many as a national watershed in heritage mismanagement. But the problems are not just confined to the National and State edifices and icons. Hazardous waste, water, windpower, and woodchip issues have all threatened to become a festering sore in a range rural Victorian communities, coastal areas, and old growth forests. (More..)

Meanwhile back in the suburbs of Melbourne more protests have erupted against the Bracks Government's "Melbourne 2030" strategy. What began in Kew, Camberwell, Carlton, and Parkville has now spread to every suburb concerned about Green Space, heritage, height limits, setbacks, and community character. (More..)

"Melbourne 2030" has  disenfranchised metroplitan councils, and frustrated voters with volumes of 'planning speak' and media double-talk, about activity centres, medium density units, and high-rise housing.

Up at Kew Cottages Yarra Valley Water responds to Heritage Victoria's polite request, and moves its new pipes from under the Algerian Oaks to what the Department of Sustainability and Environment calls a  "grassy area"...


 A year ago this DHS KRS sign said "People First" , but that claim has long been removed now that the first Cottages Accommodation Units in the background have been emptied of people, locked up, and closed off with cyclone security fencing of the type that was supposed to be protecting the trees...

DSE were right of course. It is certainly a grassy area. The only problem is that  someone must have moved a tree or two back up against the pipes when DSE weren't looking ... and none of the trees have any of the protective fencing that was so carefully detailed in the Government's glossy reports and "Tree Protection Guidelines" published  for this "Site of State Significance."(See: "KRS Background Overview Report, Supporting Amendment C53 to the Boroondara Planning Sceheme, Public Information, DSE/DHS 11th November 2003)

Heritage lies in the eye of the beholder....
Background - Heritage Holly-leafed Cherry, Algerian Oaks, and Elm trees  WITHOUT Protective Fencing
Foreground - Heritage Cast iron 30" Yan Yean Water Main WITH Protective Fencing

June 2004

23rd June 2004. Heritage Victoria undertakes a site inspection, and arranges with Yarra Valley Water for the new pipes to be moved "when plant is available."

22nd June 2004. Heritage Victoria responds quickly to KCC's request, but says it has only one tree expert on staff and that that person will not be able to undertake a site visit until the following day. In the meantime they start their investigation by contacting Yarra Valley Water, and all the Government agencies involved.

 

21st June 2004. Kew Cottages Coaltion calls on Heritage Victoria to

- investigate the proposed works as soon as possible,
- take whatever action is needed to immediately protect the trees  in question, and
- apply an interim protection order to the whole site without further delay.

21st June 2004. Unfortunately, Yarra Valley Water  weren't to know the Government had had a Conservation Study undertaken in 2003. Nor did they know that the Government had decided that these trees needed to be protected, and that to do that in the event of construction works, then "the appointed trees shall be fenced off with sturdy fencing.... (in order to) create an 'exclusion zone' beneath these trees. This fence will deter the entry of heavy equipment, vehicles, workers and/or the public into this Tree Protection Zone." (ibid,DHS/DSE Nov 2003.)


Unfortunately, Victoria, unlike NSW does not apparently even have a 'failsafe' system in place to make sure contractors 'dial before they dig', on such significant sites.


Tree Protection Zones for these trees are listed at 7m to 9m according to their canopy size.
 

Nor were Yarra Valley Water  to know that earlier this year, the National Trust had  added this Holly-leafed cherry tree "prunus Ilicia" to its register of significant trees. Perhaps Yarra Valley  hadn't asked, and perhaps no one at DHS or DSE had thought to tell them. Perhaps the Government bureaucracy had other things on its mind, like a major Kew land sale, and a project of "State Significance". Perhaps it had tenders to deal with, and with "revisions and decisions, which a minute would reverse..." Perhaps that's why the Government's own commissioned tree experts, John Patrick, had gone to such trouble in defining  the fencing and management practices for 173 significant  'Tree Protection Zones" (TPZ) that needed to be put in place at Kew Cottages. Perhaps Patricks knew the sorts of damage that a combination of modern day bureaucrats,  back-hoe's and bulldozers could do to these century old trees.

Tree No.172, on the Minister's list of significant trees drawn up by John Patrick was the Holly-leafed cherry tree "prunis lilicia". Tree No 172 had TPZ specified of 3 metres - the distance from the trunk (radius) in metres to allow for the protection of the tree."
"This area", said Patricks," should be appropriately fenced during the entire construction phase."


 

We won't harm Yarra: Thwaites
Melissa Fyfe
The Age
June 16, 2004
URL:http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/15/1087244916106.html
 
 

18th June 2004... ROYAL PARK HOSPITAL HERITAGE SAVED


The Heritage Council announced the good news that a decision
had been made to confirm the provisional determination that the Royal Park Hospital
be included on the State Heritage Register... (More..)

14th June 2004. Yarra Valley Water commences exploratory works near Kew Cottages as part of its plan to reline some of Victoria's oldest water mains. Two 30 inch mains run all the way to Kew from the Yan Yean Reservoir.

The Yarra Valley  Water works are a major project. It is now just over150 years since Governor La Trobe turned the first sod to start construction of Yan Yean.

The original pipes are as old as the Cottages themselves.  They cross the Yarra at the Fairfield pipe bridge, then up to Kew through the Willsmere and Cottages land, before splitting at Wills Street - one main south down Princess Street to Kew Junction, and one south-east towards Charles Street. As they approach Wills Street the pipes pass under the Main Avenue of Algerian Oaks and the Holly-leafed Cherry Tree recently nominated for the Victorian Heritage Register by the Kew Cottages Coalition.
 
 

17th June 20004.  Channel 7 News Reports GE Development Threatens Burnley Gardens (More..)

Thwaites steps in on Devilbend

By Martin Daly
The Age
June 13, 2004
URL: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/06/12/1086749942116.html
 
 

Off the plan: development chaos adds to Bracks' woes

"... Several developers have said if Melbourne 2030 can't work in Camberwell, it can't work anywhere... (More.)

Nicole Lindsay
Australian Financial Review
June 4, 2004
URL: http://www.afr.com/premium/articles/2004/06/03/1086203564883.html

May 2004


2nd May 2004. On Sunday 2 May a crowd of over 500 people led by PPL VIC member Camberwell Station Action Group plus supporting community groups from all over Melbourne protested over the planned destruction of Camberwell Station and over the blueprint for the destruction of our city "Melbourne 2030". (PPL More..)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

April 2004
 

Bracks' freeway folly will cost us dearly
By Kenneth Davidson
The Age
April 29, 2004
URL: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/28/1083103547962.html
 

The threat to Melbourne's green wedges
By Kenneth Davidson
The Age
April 15, 2004

URL: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/14/1081838789001.html

Green light for listing boosts city's gardens
By Martin Boulton
The Age
April 5, 2004

URL: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/04/1081017035959.html
 

1st April 2004
KCC Media Release asks,  "Is the Bracks' Government Kew Cottages Tender an April Fool's Day joke or a serious miscarriage of justice ?" (More..)
 

March 2004
 
 

31st March 2004.. The day before tenders close DHS responds by e-mail to a series of further questions about the Kew Cottages residents and current usage of the land. (More..)


However, when asked specifically :
 

Does DHS intend to remove some intellectually disabled residents from their
current homes on the site without their consent?


DHS appears to try and avoid admitting that the Goverment does now plan to try and move some residents off the land without their consent.

DHS  tries to re-assure potential developers by saying that:
 

- People are progressively moving from KRS to better accommodation.
Decisions about where each person will live are made following an extensive
consultation process and are subject to external scrutiny and review
including by the Intellectual Disability Review Panel and the Office of the
Public Advocate. People have identified up to three preferences and the DHS
is placing people according to their needs and attempting to meet their
preferences.
KEW RESIDENTIAL SERVICES (KRS) REDEVELOPMENT
ACCOMMODATION REPLACEMENT PROJECT
EOI E-2982  SITE DEVELOPER
DHS TRANSMITTAL 2 (More..)

24th March 2004.. 5 days after amending the E-2982 online tender documentation (19/3) and with just a week to run before tenders close on 1st April, DHS finally advises the respondents to its original advertisement (12/3) in...

KEW RESIDENTIAL SERVICES (KRS) REDEVELOPMENT
ACCOMMODATION REPLACEMENT PROJECT
EOI E-2982 - SITE DEVELOPER
DHS TRANSMITTAL 1 (More..)
19th March 2004.. Some Plans last longer than others..

A week is a long time in politics, as they say, and just 6 days after its initial advertisement in 'The Age'  the Victorian Government suddenly changes its plan on how best to sell the  Kew Cottages land.

Without any notification in the press, or any further explanation as to why the Government wants to move the goal posts,  DHS simply amends its online advertisement. (More..)

Now, instead of seeking only developers who would be prepared to purchase the site outright, DHS says that:

Developers should note that the Government is prepared to entertain a range of options for the sale and development of the site, which may include:

· Overall purchase on a staged or terms basis;
· An unincorporated joint venture between the State and the developer; or
· Other commercial arrangements that achieve an optimum return for Government whilst meeting the appropriate probity and fiscal guidelines.


Precisely how an "optimum return" for Government is to be measured, in the face of diverse and differently structured development plan proposals, however, is not explained.
 

12th March 2004.. In Search of a Kew Cottages Development Plan... (and a Developer...)

After three years of deliberations on how best to 'redevelop the century old institution formerly known as Kew Cottages, ' the Bracks  Government finally calls for expressions of interest from private developers.

The Department of Human Services (DHS) places advertisements  in the Tenders section of "The Age" newspaper, and online  calling for   "Expressions of Interest"  in the purchase of Kew Residential Services. (More..)

DHS says: "The successful Company or Consortia will purchase the 27-hectare KRS site for redevelopment as a planned, integrated and appropriately staged development, which meets the requirements for those residents leaving KRS and the requirements of the Planning Scheme Amendment." (More..)
 

February 2004

23rd February 2004.. Boroondara Council receives a report (1) on KRS and resolves:

2) Upon receipt of the (Kew Residential Services)  development plan, immediately write to land owners and occupiers who were originally notified of the exhibition of Council’s Amendment C38, advising them of the release of the development plan, and seeking comment within a 14 day period. In addition, Council promote awareness of the opportunity for comment via the Progress Leader.

3. Write to the State Government and advise that Council finds unacceptable

(i) the lack of State Government consultation; and

(ii) the insufficient time allowed for Council to consult with its community.

(More..)
 
 

15th February 2004.. PPL holds its first Public Forum at Melbourne Town Hall. (More..)

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

January 2004

22nd January 2004.. Kew Cottages Coalition lodges a submission with Heritage Victoria requesting a Heritage Register listing for Kew Cottages.
 

17th January 2004.. The first meeting of Protectors of Public Lands (PPL) Vic is held at the North Melbourne Town Hall.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

5th January 2004.. Kew Cottages Coalition writes to Mary Delahunty pointing out that one of the 300 year old red gums she had undertaken to protect in November as part of her C53 Planning Scheme Amendment was  seriously at risk of damage, and the protective fencing recommended by her own consultants had still not been erected.


The Minister does not reply, however, the following week work on the new fencing begins.
 
 


The People

June 2004
 
 

May 2004

The Kew Cottages Parents Association is unsuccessful in its request for a meeting with Steve Bracks.

The Premier's Chief of Staff, Tim Pallas, replies to KCPA on Bracks' behalf saying inter alia:

"On the matter of numbers remaining on site, the Government has made
its position clear. The figure of 100 has been accepted by a range of
stakeholders, including those who preferred a lower number. In light of
this, the Department is reluctant to revisit this issue.” (More..)
The Pallas letter does not make clear which  'stakeholders' the Premier has in mind, nor precisely who among the latter "preferred a lower number".

In the face of the Government's obdurate evasion the Parents Association responds:

The Association remains strongly of the view that, contrary to Mr Pallas’
advice, a range of accommodation options is not being offered to those moving
off site, and that the Department has not been responsive to catering to the
preferences of residents and families.

In addition, the Association continues to advocate for a significant increase in
the total number of KRS residents to live on the redeveloped site in recognition
of the real demand expressed by the residents and their families to remain on
site.

We remind the Government that the Parents’ Association withdrew from
Minister Garbutt’s Site Forum in frustration due to the absence of any
discussion of such significant issues as accommodation choice, numbers to
remain on site and the provision of vital services (medical, dental and day
programs).

The Association publishes a full response and twelve point list of objectives in its May Newsletter.
See http://kewcottages.alphalink.com.au/may04insert.pdf
 

2nd May 2004 Geoffrey Rush and Barry Humphries plus a few thousand supporters with red balloons walk up Bourke Road to Camberwell Station in order express Community outrage at yet another failed Bracks' Government election promise:

- "The Bracks Government will protect what you love about your neighbourhood" (Election Advert, Melbourne Times, 20/11/2002)

April 2004


Society
Letter to the Editor
The Age
April 30, 2004

It is hypocritical for Boroondara City Council to be opposing the presence of bats in parkland (The Age 29/4) while endorsing the sale of 27 hectares of publicly owned land - the Kew Cottages site - to a property developer.
Bill O'Connor, North Fitzroy
 
 

Back from the edge
The Age, A3 p.4
April 30, 2004
Many Victorians are falling though the cracks of our health care system but major efforts are being made to fill the gaps for one vulnerable group, writes Bettina Arndt.

...The story highlights one of the drawbacks of the 1980s shift away from housing people with disabilities in institutions to moving them out into the wider community. Not only are there young people who fall through the cracks, ending up in appalling circumstances, the responsibility for health care that was previously taken on by doctors and nurses within those institutions now rests with community-based GPs who do not have the training, experience or time to deal with some of the complicated problems of this group...


URL: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/29/1083224512783.html
 
 

MARCH 2004


Families ‘forced to lie’ for disabled aid
John Elder
The Sunday Age,
News p.8
March 21, 2004

Services for the disabled are on the point of disintegration, with more than 3000 Victorian families waiting for supported residential accommodation for their children, according to disability advocacy groups.

Despite a 50 per cent rise in State Government funding, the Service Needs Register - essentially a waiting list for accommodation - has virtually stalled, the groups say.

They say the register has become a joke because exhausted families, on the point of breaking down, need to "sell" their situation as one of crisis - which often means portraying their relationship with their disabled children as abusive or at risk of turning abusive - just to get an "urgent" ranking on the list.

"You have to humiliate yourself to get heard," says Jenni Sewell of PINARC, a Ballarat disability service agency with 500 people on its books.

"Many families aren't bothering to get on the Service Needs Register because there's no point. It's not moving," says Margaret Ryan of the Disability Network, a lobby group that last year staged monthly protests at Parliament House. "Most people have no idea how difficult it is for families to get help in Victoria. Services are spread so thinly. Literally hundreds of families are falling apart and thousands of people are living in despair."

Many of those in crisis are elderly people caring for their middle-aged children who require 24-hour support. They have no idea what will happen to those adult children after they die. "We have parents in their 60s and 70s caring for children in their 40s and early 50s. You're talking about grown children who need their nappies changed... who have no survival skills whatsoever," says Ms Sewell

The Disability Network statistics show that last December, 5070 disabled people were in supported shared accommodation - group homes supervised at all times - and 3193 were waiting for a place, 1178 listed as urgent. "So for every 10 beds already occupied, there are six people waiting for a vacancy,' ' says Ryan.

The Bracks Government has boosted funding for disability services by $270 million since 1999 including a pledge of $77 million over four years in last May's budget. "But there's only been 6 per cent increase in the number of people getting residential places - which translates to 281 additional beds," says Ms Ryan.

A representative of Community Services Minister Sherryl Garbutt said: "The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare estimates there will be a 50 per cent increase in the number of people with a severe or disability over the next 10 years. The Bracks Government recognises the increasing demands for disability services and we are taking action to address these pressures."

(More..)

(Photo..)
 
 

Letters
The Sunday Age
March 28 2004

Hope for the carers

Congratulations on John Elder's 'Families "forced to lie" for disabled aid' (21/3) about permanent accommodation for people with disabilities. As parents of an adult with an intellectual disability, we know how difficult it is to obtain accommodation facilities. We were fortunate to have our daughter placed about five years ago but only after years of struggle and hard work.

By publishing such articles, you give hope to desperate parents that something may be done to relieve their plight.
Carol and Jim Price,
Mornington

Congratulations to John Elder. That there are more than 3000 people on the waiting list for accommodation is reprehensible. If there has been a boost to funding of services, then where has the money gone?

One answer may be the enormous cost of taking people from their homes, as in the case of Kew Cottages, and relocating them in the community. Whether they want to go or not is not an issue; choice does not seem to be an option for those with a disability. This needless cost of housing those that already have beds is depriving the 3000 waiting for a bed.

What sort of a society ignores the needs of the more vulnerable members of the community?
Deborah Holmes
Avalon Centre Inc,
East Malvern
 
 
 

3rd March 2004..  Parity is the publication of the Council to Homeless Persons. The focus of their April 2003 Edition was "After Deinstitutionalisation". Extracts became  available online in March 2004.


The latter include an article, "The End of Institutions, Housing and Homelessness",  by the former Victorian Public Advocate, and now Associate Professor, Social Work, La Trobe University David Green.

Professor Green's article poses the argument that whilst funds have been transferred into community programs to supply the support that institutions previously provided, funds have not proportionately been transferred to supply the housing stock or accommodation capital. Green writes:
 

It is now clear that granting vulnerable people their freedom by closing institutions has not been the success that many of its advocates had hoped, and governments and experts had promised. The most significant change in the delivery of human services in the previous century has left this century with a new range of policy. service delivery and moral dilemmas. The consequences and costs of closing residential institutions have always been underestimated. And as with so many specific reforms in one arena of public policy, the complexity of the environment into which these reforms were projected was not understood. (More...)  Green, D 'The End of Institutions: Housing and Homelessness' in Parity April 2003 Volume 16
http://www.parity.infoxchange.net.au/group/noticeboard/items/20041227016b.shtml
 
 

FEBRUARY 2004

 

10th February 2004. Kew Cottages Parents Association passes a unanimous vote of no confidence in Minister Garbutt’s management of the Kew Cottages Redevelopment (More..)


The KCPA calls for a meeting with the Premier on key issues of the project - that was recently declared of “state significance” by the Bracks Government.

President, Ian Whalley says, “Surely a Labour Government should be sensitive to the needs of these most vulnerable members of the Victorian community and their families?  The Parents’ Association calls on the support of the Victorian community. ”
 

3rd February  2004.. Third  DHS KRS Site Forum Meeting.

It was noted that KCPA had withdrawn from this process, and that:

"  the Minister had confirmed the process for establishing the numbers on site and that this would not be revisited."(More..)


 

JANUARY 2004

 

31st January 2004.. Department of Human Services Advertises

Tender for: Evaluation: Quality of Life Outcomes following Kew Residential Service Redevelopment
Tender No: T/EMR01/04
(More..)

Comment: The DHS tender evaluation terms of reference sound strangely reminiscent of  a large bank bent on deflecting criticism for closing yet another a local branch. Rather than starting by asking the local residents how services could be improved, and  offering a reasonable range of choices, the bank  puts all its resources into evaluating the introduction of ATM machines for its customers. Read "customers" for "residents" and "ATM" for "CRU" in this tender document and you start to get the picture on why some  'large institutions' can often appear, no doubt despite the best of intentions, to be tarred with the same brush... (More..)
 
 

27th January 2004.. Second DHS KRS Site Forum Meeting. The Parents' Association finds that although some of its family members have lived at Kew for over 50 years it is still impossible to get straight answers from DHS -  even to simple questions  like:

The Parents Association reluctantly concludes it has no option but to withdraw from the forum in protest at the Minister's failure to provide residents with adequate and comprehensive consultation. (More..)

 

20th January 2004.. Department of Human Services convenes first KRS Site Forum. Despite the Minister's commitment to a Forum which will consult with the "KPA (Kew Parents Association) and other interested groups", the Parents' Association is surprised to find that  the only other "interested groups" invited to the Forum are in fact all Government funded organisations.    (More..)




 
 
 



The Press.

Metro Media....
 

Battle stations
James Button
The Age
April 28, 2004

Camberwell residents say it will destroy their suburb. The State Government says it is a modest proposal.
Either way, the dispute over plans to redevelop Camberwell station is proving a major test of the
Government's resolve to reshape Melbourne. James Button reports.

URL: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/27/1082831566692.html

State failed disabled children, report finds
By Sean Nicholls
Sydney Morning Herald
April 15, 2004

URL: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/14/1081838795398.html
 

Steve Bracks is starting to look like Jeff Kennett
Russel Savage
The Age
April 12, 2004

URL: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/11/1081621832394.html
 
 

Families 'forced' to lie' for disabled aid
John Elder
The Age
March 21, 2004
(More..)

If only the Premier had a grander vision for our city
Kenneth Davidson
The Age
March 11, 2004

URL: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/10/1078594427196.html
 
 

"Let my brother stay"
Kate Uebergang
Herald Sun
January 10, 2004
(Reprinted:  Kew Cottages Parents' Association Newsletter, February 2004)

 URL: http://kewcottages.alphalink.com.au/february04.pdf
 

Last Year
 

Note:
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Reg # A0044698H