Waive that Charge or it's 'wave goodbye'!

There is growing astonishment at City of Greater Geelong (CoGG) councillors' unanimous decision to compel residents of Drysdale's Central Road area to pay thousands of dollars each for a developer's drain.

The councillors' decision was reinforced by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Appeal Tribunal (VCAT), to which residents appealed - and lost. The residents have nowhere else to go. VCAT's decsion can be appealed in the Supreme Court, but this would be an extremely expensive undertaking - specially for this group of people, which includes many retirees on fixed incomes.

Many of the residents now fear that they will only be able to pay their 'contribution' to the cost of the drain by selling their homes and leaving the area.

Why pay for someone else's drain?
The drain will service a retirement village planned by Melbourne-based property developer Pinnacle Holdings, yet the council wants local households to contribute - via the 'Special Charge' scheme - between $2,000 and $250,000 each towards the cost. The residents have argued that since the drain will enable Pinnacle Holdings to build and profit from its retirement village, Pinnacle Holdings should pay for it. The council has responded that while the drain's primary purpose is to service the proposed retirement village, its presence will enable nearby residents to sub-divide and sell their properties at a profit - a 'special benefit' as the council calls it.

(For the background, see, 'VCAT to examine Council's "Special Charge" scheme' [January 13] and 'VCAT tells residents, "pay for developer's drain"!' [February 29] on this blog.)

Growing interest
The Geelong Advertiser ran a story about the issue ('Drysdale residents face million-dollar plumbing bill', by Shane Fowles) on Friday 2 March. The article said that VCAT Vice-President Michael Macnamara had made it clear that while the residents had no case in law, he had considerable sympathy for their position. It quoted Mr. Macnamara as follows:
'The overall tone of much of what was said on behalf of the ratepayers was that the council had in effect sold out to the developer and sold the applicant ratepayers down the river in the process. ... I see the force of what has been said in that respect and express my utmost sympathy for these ratepayers in their unhappy situation.'

The Advertiser article also said that Mr. Macnamara had said that he was 'inclined to think' that that the benefits of the proposed drain wasn't woth what the residents are being charged. In the Advertiser's online forum associated with its story on 2 March, most commentators expressed astonishment that an elected council could treat its citizens this way.

On the evening of March 2, Channel Nine News also ran an item about the VCAT decision and the 'Special Charge'. On Wednesday March 7, Channel 9's A Current Affair ran an item about the issue, interviewing several local people. The City of Greater Geelong was notable for its absence from the story. To see the ACA story, go to the 'Why live in Drysdale' blog: http://drysdale-victoria.blogspot.com.au/

Squeezing a Jetty Road bottleneck tighter

Construction work in Drysdale's Jetty Road is likely to expose cyclists and pedestrians - including children at the Clifton Springs Primary School - to increased traffic volumes at a dangerous bottleneck.

For almost six months, pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles in Jetty Road have had to contend with extensive and hazardous road works associated with the creation of new housing estates to the west. Storm water drains have been installed, a major new intersection is being created at Jetty Road's junction with Wyndham Street and a secondary intersection where Jetty Road crosses Griggs Creek.

This enormous construction effort will widen sections of Jetty Road considerably, enabling much more traffic to use it. However, it will leave untouched the narrow stretch of Jetty Road where it crosses Griggs Creek, making a dangerous bottleneck even more hazardous. Once the current road works are completed, this dangerous bottleneck will include on its western side a shared walking/cycling path just 1.5m wide. To its immediate north and south, that path is 2.5m wide. There will be no path at all on the eastern side of the bottleneck, increasing its danger still further.

What is a 'top priority'?
These developments fly in the face of the City of Greater Geelong's Cycle Strategy, which has among its top priorities the creation of cycle lanes along Jetty Road (Priority A: 10). When the DCSCA's Neil McGuinness asked Adam Farrimond (CoGG's Engineering Department) about this apparent contradiction, the reply was that cycle lanes will be created by, 'Improvements to line marking and signage’ and that cyclists who are uneasy at using the 1.5m path in the bottleneck, 'also have the alternative of using the on road path.'

In other words, if you're a cyclist who's worried about negotiating a 1.5m path shared with pedestrians, take your chances by cycling on the narrowest section of Jetty Road!

Bogged in their own hole!

Early this week in Drysdale's Ryan Court, City of Greater Geelong contractors and officers had to be rescued from holes of their own making!

The contractors were attempting to mow the site of an 'urban dam' - a two-feet deep, unfenced hole in the ground that was dug in March 2011 to catch storm water from a nearby housing estate. The hole soon filled with rainwater that failed to drain away as promised and that collected chemical foams and oil slicks. In July 2011, pressure from local residents and the Drysdale & Clifton Springs Community Assciation (DCSCA) led local ward councillor Rod Macdonald and council officers to promise that the dam would be filled-in and the site re-vegetated.

Nine months later, in November 2011, after continuing pressure on the council by residents and DCSCA, the 'urban dam' was filled-in. Residents and DCSCA received new assurances from council officers that the site - now a muddy slick - would be re-vegetated and steps taken to prevent vehicles from entering it.

Once again, nothing happened. Residents and DCSCA called on council officers continually to keep their word. and three months after the dam was filled-in, in late-February 2012, contractors arrived to prepare the site for revegetation. By this time, a thick mat of weeds had grown over the site and this, plus some recent rain, made mowing impossible. Indeed, the contractors became bogged on the site and had to be rescued by another, larger vehicle!

From dam to 'black hole'
The contractors became bogged because council officers became bogged-down around this issue. Having created the 'urban dam', officers then created a bureaucratic 'black hole' into which all the pleas, reminders and requests from Ryan Court residents and DCSCA disappeared, never to be seen again. There is a huge e-mail 'chain' between residents, DCSCA and council officers over this issue. To print it out would require more trees to be felled than are due to be planted on the site! Had the promise made by Cr. Macdonald and relevant council officers in July 2011 been kept, the job could have been completed immediately. Instead, a hole that two days to dig has taken twelve months to restore!

In those twelve months, one Ryan Court resident became a grandmother! Gracie Rose was born in July 2011, so she's now eight months old. A lot has happened to Gracie Rose in her first eight months - indeed, a lot more than has happened to the urban dam at Ryan Court! Council officers' latest assurance to Ryan Court residents is that tree-planting will happen 'next week' (i.e. the week beginning 4 March). Given residents' experience of previous assurances by council officers, Gracie Rose might just see a tree planted on her birthday!

For the full, nine-month story of the Ryan Court 'urban dam', see these earlier postings on this blog:
'Who you gonna call? Dam busters!" (1 August 2011)
'Busting "urban dams"' (17 August 2011)

'How many more sleeps for Gracie Rose?' (13 September 2011)
'Gracie Rose grows up, but urban dam remains unfilled' (11 October 2011)

'Combined celebrations for Gracie Rose! (22 November 2011)

VCAT tells residents, 'Pay for developer's drain'!

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) has just told residents of the Central Road area of Drysdale that they must pay the cost of a developer's drain.

DCSCA has been supporting Central Road residents who have been fighting a unanimous decision by City of Greater Geelong (CoGG) councillors to compel them to pay for a drain for a developer's proposed retirement village. The residents must pay a 'Special Charge', because the council asserts that they will gain a 'special benefit' from the drain, i.e. the potential to subdivide their property and sell it for a profit.

On February 6, the residents took their case to VCAT, which reserved its judgment on the issue. (See ‘Council’s “Special Charge” not cut and dried’ on drycliftdays 8 February)

VCAT has now decided in favour of the council, saying that the 'Special Charge' would stand unless residents could prove that they would gain NO ‘special benefit’ from the drain - showing that there would be little ‘special benefit’ was not enough. Further, the VCAT judge accepted that the proposed drain is a public health issue because the 2 words ‘public health’ were in the initial report to council. CoGG described the drain as a matter of public health only after residents pointed out that, according to local government law, a scheme can't proceed if a majority of residents oppose it ... unless it's a matter of public health!

In an article about the Central Road issue in the Independent (3 February), CoGG's Manager of City Services, Gary Van Dreel was reported as saying that CoGG would levy the 'Special Charge' only when properties were sold or developed; and local ward councillor Rod Macdonald was reported as saying that existing owners could defer the ‘Special Charge’ if their properties remained undeveloped. However, neither of them mentioned that owners who defer paying the ‘Special Charge’ will face an even higher bill, because CoGG will charge them compound interest on the outstanding amount - at 5% for the first five years and then at 9 to 10% thereafter. So CoGG’s ‘benevolence’ in allowing residents to defer payment is, in fact, a means of compelling residents to pay even more money, even though when they do so, CoGG will have long acquitted itself of the debt.

Elections to the council will happen later this year. It will be interesting to listen to sitting councillors as they defend their unanimous decision to compel pensioners and retirees in the Central Road area to pay thousand of dollars per household for a developer's drain.

Council's 'Special Charge' not cut and dried

On February 6 2012, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) reserved its judgment on whether the City of Greater Geelong (CoGG) can levy a 'Special Charge' of many thousands of dollars on residents from Central Road, Drysdale.

The residents had asked VCAT to examine a unanimous decision by CoGG councillors on January 26 2011 to compel residents in the Central Road area to pay $1,149,476 (77 per cent) towards the cost of a new drain to service a retirement village in the area. The retirement village is planned by Melbourne-based property developer Pinnacle Holdings, yet the council wants local landowners to contribute - via the 'Special Charge' scheme - between $2,000 and $250,000 towards the cost. Unless VCAT stops the proposal, just under half the households in the area will face a bill for more than $10,000 each.

The residents - many of them retirees on fixed incomes - have argued that since the drain will enable Pinnacle Living to build and profit from its retirement village, Pinnacle Living should pay for it. The council has responded that while the drain's primary purpose is to service the proposed retirement village, its presence will enable nearby residents to sub-divide and sell their properties at a profit - a 'special benefit' as the council calls it. From that perspective, the 'Special Charge' is a way to recoup the cost of the drain from the people who will gain a 'special benefit' (profit) from it. (For the background, see, 'VCAT to examine Council's "Special Charge" scheme' posted on January 13 on this blog.)

'Deferral' ... but at what cost?
In an article about the Central Road issue in the Independent (3 February), CoGG's Manager of City Services, Gary Van Dreel is reported as saying that the council would only levy the Special Charge when properties were sold or developed; and local ward councillor Rod Macdonald is reported as saying that existing owners could defer the Special Charge if their properties remained undeveloped. Neither of them mentioned a crucial point: if owners opt to defer payment of the Special Charge, CoGG will charge them interest on the outstanding amount.

However, Cr. Macdonald - who holds the council's Planning portfolio - is quoted as saying, 'It is the vendors' responsibility when they sell to come to an arrangement on the money that's due.' Such an 'arrangement' could rest on a vendor showing just how much 'special benefit' (if any) they gained from the drain's installation aand making a payment accordingly. This is a step forward from CoGG's current policy, which is to simply asserty that a property-owner will gain a 'special benefit' of thousands of dollars without providing any proof (e.g. assessments by independent real estate agents). Cr. Macdonald would appear to be offering a far more equitable version of CoGG's Special Charge scheme and, if this is the case, CoGG is to be applauded.

DCSCA has been assisting the Central road residents in their opposition to the proposed Special Charge and in light of Cr. Macdonald's satement, we shall read the VCAT decision with interest.

DCSCA meets Cr. Rod Macdonald (8)

On 3 February, DCSCA Committee members met Councillor Rod Macdonald in Drysdale. This was the latest of the quarterly meetings that DCSCA has initiated with the two City of Greater Geelong (CoGG) Councillors whose wards coincide with DCSCA's area - the other is Councillor John Doull.

Transport issues on the Bellarine
(i) Jetty Road. Cr. Macdonald said that Jake McMinn - CoGG's 'cycling supremo' - will work with DCSCA's Neil McGuinness concerning current and planned bike lanes on Jetty Road, especially in light of the current road works at the junction with Wyndham Street.

(ii) Drysdale High Street. VicRoads recognizes that the rail trail cycle/pedestrian crossing on the bend in Drysdale High Street is 'high risk' and are seeking the best way to make it safer. Next, we asked whether the traffic lights in Drysdale High Street could be fitted with a 'flashing amber' signal (like those in Ryrie Street) as a way to reduce traffic delays. Cr. Macdonald said that according to CoGG's City Services & VicRoads, the High Street lights have motion detection cameras fitted, so including 'flashing amber' wouldn't reduce traffic delays.

(iii) Drysdale bypass. Cr. Macdonald urged DCSCA to continue to press for a Drysdale bypass including, perhaps, forming a special sub-committee for the purpose. He offered to work with Council, state government and other organisations to have the bypass built sooner rather than later.

Open Spaces
(i) The foreshore. We told Cr. Macdonald that the Commonwealth government has given DCSCA funds (through its 'Caring for Country' grants programme) to revegetate the area around the new lookout and signage at The Dell. We said that DCSCA has called a meeting (including a site visit) of interested parties on 9 February to discuss how best to use the money. Cr. Macdonald believes that there are other government grants available for foreshore activities and will give us more information about these grants.

We expressed our concern that the groynes that were constructed at Clifton Springs to prevent continuing erosion of the cliffs appear to be having no effect. That section of the foreshore is in Cr. Doull's ward and we have raised our concerns with him. However, we raised the issue with Cr. Macdonald because the problem of erosion along the foreshore isn't limited to just one ward.

(ii) Lake Lorne. We raised the continuing absence of any work on the walking/cycling track around Lake Lorne, first raised by DCSCA many years ago. Cr. Macdonald said that in 2012, work will begin on Stage One (mostly fencing and general track alignment) and that work on Stage Two will begin in 2013.

(iii) Spring Street. We asked how to ensure that CoGG's 2012/2013 budget includes money for trees at Spring Street. Cr. Macdonald said that officers have put in a 'budget bid' of $15,000 for this project.

2012 Clean Up Australia Day (Sunday 4 March)
We said that we were looking at Lake Lorne and McLeod's Waterholes as target sites and that we will need a CoGG rubbish bin. More information will follow closer to the date.


DCSCA's next quarterly meeting with Cr. Macdonald will be on Friday 4 May 2012 at 9.30 am (to be confirmed). Any residents of the Drysdale/Clifton Springs area are welcome to ask DCSCA to raise any issue of concern with Cr. Macdonald.

Consult the locals? We don't have to!

Residents of Wyndham Street, Drysdale, were given a rude awakening this morning by chain saws and mulchers. Contractors were destroying trees on the corner of Wyndham Street and Jetty Road, as part of the work to enlarge the junction.

Local people have had no chance to comment on the work, because the council hasn’t published the plans. Those secret plans have already led contractors to divert Griggs Creek through a culvert under Wyndham Street, trapping fish, which then died and rotted. Local people could have told the council and its contractors that this would happen, but they were never consulted.

The TGM Group are consultant engineers managing the works, under the supervision of the City of Greater Geelong's engineering department. Nonetheless, neither the council nor TGM knew that the trees were being destroyed until residents contacted them this morning. Further, council engineers had reassured residents earlier that the trees' future had not been decided.

Three trees have been destroyed so far and the contractors have two more mature eucalypts in their sights. After talking with residents this morning, TGM has agreed to residents' suggestion that they call a meeting of local residents, explain what’s happening to their area and ask for their views. TGM has halted the tree clearance until that meeting, which will probably happen on Friday or perhaps next Monday.

Secret plans undermine democracy and citizenship
The failure to consult residents about the destruction of their trees is part of a much bigger failure of consultation across the whole project. The Wyndham Street/Jetty Road junction is being expanded significantly to accommodate the traffic coming out of the new housing estate on Jetty Road and is to have traffic lights in it. Wyndham Street will have three lanes of traffic instead of two, to match the three-lane road leading into and out of the Jetty Road estate.

Local residents have never been consulted about the expansion and the plans have been kept secret. When asked about this policy, council officers have said that they didn't publish the plans 'because we didn't need to'. Once again, that may be true in the strict legal sense, but if the council had any regard for democracy and the role of citizens in decisions affecting thir lives, they'd make an effort to involve us.