Waterworks in Jetty Road - further update

For residents of Jetty Road, Saturdays are becoming like weekdays - full of the noise and traffic disruption associated with the excavation and construction works at Barwon Water's two pumping stations.

In a letter to residents (May 2010), Barwon Water Alliance, which is doing the work, gave assurances that 'Weekend or after hours work is not currently planned' and that they would 'notify nearby residents as early as possible' of any weekend work'. Nonetheless, excavation and construction work has happened on four of the six Saturdays since the project started (July 17 and 31; August 14 and 28); and residents received notice of just one (31 July) of those four occasions. The organisation has a specialist 'Community and Stakeholder Engagement' group, yet these broken assurances are anything but engaging.

Landowners fight a multi-million dollar drain; councillors seek 'fair and equitable outcome'

Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Association (DCSCA) officers were among more than twenty speakers at a City of Greater Geelong (CoGG) Submissions Panel hearing yesterday at City Hall.

CoGG established the Panel to review its proposal to levy a Special Charge on landowners in the Central Road area of Clifton Springs. CoGG wants to levy the Special Charge to recoup money it has committed to a new, $1.5 million drain to serve the area. CoGG has split the cost of the drain with Melbourne-based Pinnacle Holdings, which wishes to build a retirement village in Central Road.* The Panel consisted of Cllr. Jan Farrell (Chair) and Cllrs. Rod Macdonald and John Doull, whose two wards include the area in which the proposed Special Charge would be levied. The Panel was supported by three officers from CoGG's Engineering and Planning departments.

Cllr. Farrell welcomed us to the event and thanked us for attending. She assured us that anyone who wished to speak would be heard respectfully; and she encouraged people to feel relaxed and comfortable in what were, for many people, quite intimidating surroundings. Cllr. Farrell emphasized that the Panel had no power to take decisions about the proposed Special Charge. Its function is to recommend a course of action to the full council. Essentially, the Panel will recommend one of three broad options:
1. Levy the Special Charge in its present form
2. Levy an amended form of the Special Charge
3. Abandon the proposal.

If the Panel recommends either option '1' or '2', it will also recommend how the Special Charge should be administered - including when and how people will have to pay it. Cllr. Farrell described the proposed Special Charge as 'the most complex Special Charge scheme that I've seen in my five years of chairing these Submission Panels'; and Cllr. Doull assured us that 'What we (the Panel) want is an equitable and fair outcome from the process'.

Each person who spoke to the Panel faces bills of many thousands of dollars under the proposed Special Charge, which they described as 'criminal' and 'extortionate'. All speakers said that local landowners shouldn't have to pay the proposed Special Charge until they subdivide their land to sell it at a profit. In its original submission, DCSCA suggested that a possible way forward would be to place covenants on title deeds so that the Special Charge is payable only when the value added by the drain is realised. (While it won't be affected if CoGG levies the proposed Special Charge, DCSCA made a submission concerning the proposal and spoke to the Panel because it is a significant voice in the community.)

In discussions between Panel members and CoGG officers, it became apparent that if the proposed Special Charge is implemented, it would have different effects on different landowners in the area. Some landowners would have to pay the Special Charge only if they subdivide their land. Their properties have been rezoned recently (under planning Amendment C146) from 'Rural Living' to 'Residential 1'. This means that they can - if they wish - subdivide their land and sell it under a standard set of planning rules called a Section 173 Agreement. If they subdivide, they pay the Special Charge; if they don't subdivide, they don't pay the Special Charge. In contrast, the remaining properties in the area to be served by the drain are zoned 'Rural Living'. This means that their owners can't subdivide and sell their properties. Consequently, these landowners face a Special Charge of many thousands of dollars and can't subdivide and sell their land to pay the bills. Clearly, this situation is inequitable and the Panel will have to recommend how to resolve it.

Cllr. Farrell said that the Panel will take two to three months to prepare and submit its recommendations to the council; and that the council will then discuss the recommendations. Everyone who made a submission concerning the proposal will be notified in advance of the council meeting at which the recommendations will be discussed, so that they can attend if they wish.

Anyone can ask a question to the council in the 'Question Time' section of each council meeting. To do so, dowload the form from the relevant page of the CoGG website:
www.geelongcity.vic.gov.au/council/meetings/

* For the background to this issue, see three earlier articles on the blog: Landowners to pay for developer's drains? (April 1 2010); A 'Special Charge' for developer's drains: DCSCA submission (April 12 2010); and Chasing a 'phantom value' (May 2 2010). See also DCSCA meets Cllr. Rod Macdonald (3) (12 August 2010), DCSCA meets Cllr. Rod Macdonald (2) (7 May 2010) and DCSCA meets Cllr. John Doull (2) (21 April 2010).

DCSCA meets Cllr. John Doull (3)

On 12 August, DCSCA Committee members met Councillor John Doull at Geelong's City Hall. This was the third of a series of quarterly meetings that DCSCA has initiated with the two Councillors whose wards coincide with DCSCA's area - the other Councillor is Rod Macdonald, with whom we had our third quarterly meeting on 6 August.

Cllr. Doull had invited Mr. Paul Jamieson (CoGG's Manager of Community Development) to the meeting, because DCSCA had said at our last quarterly meeting with Cllr. Doull that we had received no reply to our letter to Mr. Jamieson in January about council's proposals for Drysdale Town Centre. Mr. Jamieson said that our letter had been replied to, that he didn't have a copy with him, but would send it to us.

On the broader topic of community consultation, we put to Mr. Jamieson the broader argument about council consultations that we have suggested already to Cllrs. Doull and Macdonald and to CoGG CEO Mr. Stephen Griffin. Our argument is that the council's consultation policy lacks any benchmarks of quality and any mechanisms through which to evaluate a particular consultation exercise; we want to improve this situation, rather than just criticise it, so we had drafted an alternative consultation policy for the council; and we see the draft alternative as a basis for discussions with councillors and officers, not as a definitive statement. We emphasised that our experiences of poor consultations were shared by other members of the Affiliation of Bellarine Community Associations (ABCA). Mr. Jamieson said that he had read our draft alternative policy with interest and that Mr. Griffin had invited him to attend his next meeting with the ABCA, at which council consultations would be discussed. Mr. Jamieson said also that he believed that Mr. Griffin had invited Mr. Lindsay Allen (CoGG's Manager of Corporate Strategy & Property Management) to that meeting.

We suggested to Cllr. Doull and to Mr. Jamieson that the council could improve its consultation processes without changing its policy, by explaining the goals, methods and timelines of a particular exercise to stakeholders. They agreed that it would be worth exploring the idea of some 'template' letters to stakeholders through which to do this. Everyone accepted that the council often has to meet statutory requirements in its consultations, but that within those requirements there can still be room for the council to explain the process, and enable and encourage people to participate in it.

We asked Cllr. Doull whether the selection panel for the post of Social Planner that the council is advertising currently will include a community representative. While this isn't normal practice, we suggested that since the focus of the job is as much on local communities as on the council, a perspective other than the council's would be helpful. Cllr. Doull disagreed, saying that it was managers' responsibility to judge people's suitability for a job; Mr. Jamieson agreed.

Next, we discussed the Submission Panel that the council has established to review its proposal to levy a 'Special Charge' on landowners in the Central Road area of Clifton Springs.* The council gave just three working days notice of the date when the Panel would meet, but pressure from DCSCA and others led to it being postponed for a month. We asked Cllr. Doull whether there was a policy concerning the amount of notice to be given of Panel hearings and he said that there was, but he didn't know the details.

We asked Cllr. Doull why DCSCA members and friends in the Springs Street area of Clifton Springs have received no response to their request to him and to Councillors Mitchell and Richards to discuss the Community Plan for Springs Street Reserve that they submitted on June 24.* Cllr. Doull said that councillors needed to be briefed by officers, so that they had a 'position' to put when meeting residents. He said that he had visited the site recently with Mr. Van Driel (CoGG's Manager, City Services) and that the two of them would discuss the site's future with CoGG CEO Mr. Stephen Griffin.We said that it might be more productive if a council 'position' was developed in partnership with local people, rather than presented to them as a finished product. Cllr. Doull disagreed. He also said of the Springs Street open space that, 'There's a commercial value that the council will want to realise.'; and he said that he would give us a definite date for that meeting to discuss the Community Plan that was submitted on June 24.

Finally, we brought Cllr. Doull up to date with recent DCSCA actions. First, DCSCA's suggestion that the council includes Clifton Springs in a trial of an electric car service in Geelong that it is negotiating currently with the USA-based Better Place Electric Vehicles. Cllr. Doull will visit a Better Place trial in Japan later this year. He applauded our initiative but said that it was too early to say whether a trial would happen in Geelong. He referred us to a report - Future-Proofing Geelong - that council had adopted at its meeting on 27 July 2010, because it contained several policies responding to global warming. Second, preparations for the Festival of Glass (February 2011). Third, DCSCA's next Public Meeting (22 September at 7.00 p.m. at SpringDale), which will consider how to generate local jobs and wealth in our community and will also be DCSCA's Annual General Meeting for 2010.

DCSCA's next quarterly meeting with Cllr. Doull will be on Thursday Novmber 11 at 10.00 a.m. at City Hall. This will be the first such meeting with DCSCA's new Committee as elected at the AGM.

Would you like us to discuss any issues with Cllr. Doull at that meeting? If so, please leave a comment below, e-mail DCSCA (dryclift@bigpond.com) or write to DCSCA at P.O. Box 581, Drysdale 3222.

* For the background to this issue, see three earlier articles on the blog: Landowners to pay for developer's drains? (April 1 2010); A 'Special Charge' for developer's drains: DCSCA submission (April 12 2010); and Chasing a 'phantom value' (May 2 2010).
* For the background to this issue, see the earlier article on the blog: 'Community Plan' authors await councillors' response (July 23 2010).

DCSCA meets Cllr. Rod Macdonald (3)

On 6 August, DCSCA Committee members met Councillor Rod Macdonald in Drysdale. This was the third of a series of quarterly meetings that DCSCA has initiated with the two Councillors whose wards coincide with DCSCA's area - the other is Councillor John Doull, with whom we will have our third quarterly meeting on 12 August.

First, we discussed the Submission Panel that the council has established to review its proposal to levy a 'Special Charge' on landowners in the Central Road area of Clifton Springs.* The council gave just three working days notice of the date when the Panel would meet, but pressure from DCSCA and others led to it being postponed for a month. We asked Cllr. Macdonald whether there was a policy concerning the amount of notice to be given of Panel hearings and he said that there was (10 - 14 days), but that it hadn't been adhered to in this case.

Next, we said that we had still not received a reply from CoGG's Manager of Community Development Mr. Paul Jamieson, to DCSCA's letter to him in January about CoGG proposals for Drysdale Town Centre. Cllr. Macdonald said that he had raised this with Paul Jamieson (as he said he would at our last quarterly meeting), but hasn't had a reply; so he'll contact Paul Jamieson again. On the broader topic of community consultation, we asked Cllr. Macdonald whether the selection panel for the post of Social Planner that the council is advertising currently will include a community representative. While this isn't normal practice, we suggested that since the focus of the job is as much on local communities as on the council, a perspective other than the council's would be helpful. Cllr. Macdonald disagreed, saying that it was mangers' job to judge people's suitability for a job.

We then spoke at length about the proposal to upgrade facilities at Lake Lorne in Drysdale, including building a walking track around it.* We said that the project - which DCSCA initiated in 2007 - has stalled. No money is allocated to it in the council's 2010/2011 budget and it looks like no work will be possible until July 2011 at the earliest; and we had suggestions for ways forward. Our discussion with Cllr. Macdonald on this issue was inconclusive, so DCSCA's new Committee (post-AGM) may return to it with detailed proposals at the next quarterly meeting with him.

Finally, we brought Cllr. Macdonald up to date with recent DCSCA actions. First, DCSCA's suggestion that the council includes Clifton Springs in a trial of an electric car service in Geelong that it is negotiating currently. Cllr. Macdonald isn't involved in the negotiations, but he applauded our initiative and hoped it was successsful. Second, preparations for the Festival of Glass (February 2011). Cllr. Macdonald remains very enthusiastic and supportive and, as he has done before, made some useful duggestions. Third, DCSCA's next Public Meeting (22 September at 7.00 p.m. at SpringDale), which will consider how to generate local jobs and wealth in our community and will also be DCSCA's Annual General Meeting for 2010. Cllr. Macdonald was interested in our focus on the local economy and wants to discuss it further.

DCSCA's next quarterly meeting with Cllr. Macdonald will be on Friday Novmber 5 at 10.00 a.m. (venue TBA). This will be the first such meeting with DCSCA's new Committee as elected at the AGM.

Would you like us to discuss any issues with Cllr. Macdonald at that meeting? If so, please leave a comment below, e-mail DCSCA (dryclift@bigpond.com) or write to DCSCA at P.O. Box 581, Drysdale 3222.

* For the background to this issue, see three earlier articles on the blog: Landowners to pay for developer's drains? (April 1 2010); A 'Special Charge' for developer's drains: DCSCA submission (April 12 2010); and Chasing a 'phantom value' (May 2 2010). We had discussed the 'Special Charge' itself in our last meeting with Cllr. Macdonald, who had agreed with DCSCA's suggestion that a possible way forward would be to place covenants on title deeds so that the Charge is payable only when the added value is realised.

* For the background to this issue, see three earlier articles on the blog, each entitled Lake Lorne Pathway: December 14 2009; January 8 2010; February 7 2010.

Bellarine electric cars?

DCSCA has asked the City of Greater Geelong to include Clifton Springs in a proposed trial of an electric car service in Geelong.

Council officers and Better Place Electric Vehicles are in negotiations about a trial of the latter’s electric car service in the City of Greater Geelong. DCSCA is very pleased to see CoGG Councillors and officers taking the lead on this initiative, which we support very strongly.

DCSCA believes that if a trial of electric cars does take place in Geelong, it should include not just the city centre (the obvious choice), but also at least one outlying area; and we believe that the Clifton Springs area is an ideal location for one of the battery switching stations that would be included in the trial.

DCSCA believes that the Geelong electric car trial should include the Clifton Springs area for four reasons:
1. An electric car service would alleviate the local environmental problems associated with heavy commuter traffic. Public transport between the Clifton Springs area and central Geelong is very poor. Consequently, increasing numbers of people are having to drive to work in Geelong or to Melbourne, or they’re having to drive to Geelong to catch a train to Melbourne. The same applies to commuters from elsewhere on the north Bellarine, all of whom have to drive through our area and then on to Geelong or Melbourne. The results are that local roads are approaching capacity in peak hours and that levels of harmful greenhouse gases from the vehicles are increasing steadily. The area is a designated growth zone, so the present problems will only increase, because the population will increase.

2. An electric car service would complement CoGG’s other ‘environmentally friendly’ policies in the area. These policies include CoGG’s current trial of solar-powered street lights in Clifton Springs; its policy of making the area more ‘walkable’, based on a consultant’s study last year; and its requirements for water- and energy-efficient designs in new housing in the area. Also, DCSCA has discussed with CoGG ward Councillors our proposal for a network of simple, public open spaces to complement the area’s more formal recreational infrastructure. An electric car service would be the ideal complement to local open spaces!

3. An electric car service would be a foundation of a local post-carbon economy. DCSCA believes that there is great potential for the Bellarine to become a ‘demonstration project’ or a ‘case study’ in developing a local post-carbon economy; and that as the current hub of the north Bellarine, the Clifton Springs area is the logical starting point of such a development. An electric car service in our area would be an important element of a local post-carbon economy and would demonstrate that CoGG is on top of the problem of peak oil. CoGG is rightly proud of its environmentally-friendly and -sustainable vision and design for Armstrong Creek; including the Clifton Springs area in a trial of an electric car service would show that Armstrong Creek is not a one-off but expresses a developing policy framework and approach.

4. An electric car service would complement the proposed second ferry service between the Bellarine and Melbourne. If a second ferry service is established (a big ‘if), it will generate new commuter traffic on the coast, including some of the vehicles that currently commute to Geelong. Electric cars would be ideal for the relatively short drive between people’s homes and the ferry port.

The proposal to trial an electric car service in the City of Greater Geelong is at an early stage, but that is an opportunity to contribute to any final plan. DCSCA has asked to discuss our proposal with Cllr. John Doull (holder of CoGG's Environment portfolio) and other Councillors who have expressed an interest in the trial.

Tourism associations seek DCSCA's help

Bellarine Tourism and Geelong Otway Tourism have asked DCSCA for help in 'refreshing' their websites. in particular, they'd like new and up-to-date content about Drysdale & Clifton Springs and the immediate surrounds.

Ms. Emma Keith - the Destination Bellarine Marketing Officer for these two tourism associations - has asked DCSCA for help and the DCSCA Committee has provided some feedback already, with more to come. Followers and readers of drycliftdays.blogspot may wish to participate, too. Ms. Keith is looking for content in the following broad areas:

• How should Drysdale & Clifton Springs be portrayed? (E.g. their past, present & future)
• What are the local attractions?
• Are there any features (e.g. physical, historical, cultural) that are unique to the area?
• What are the 'Must Do' activities, places, etc. in the area?
• Are there any special/unusual features 'off the tourist trail'?

Emma Keith's e-mail address is ek05535@geelongcity.vic.gov.au

The regional website is at www.visitbellarine.org
The local website is at www.visitdrysdale.com.au