Merri & Edgars Creeks Parkland Group

Kate Lahey, The Age, February 18, 2009

A RARE slice of parkland in Melbourne’s north should be given to the public, not sold for profit as planned by state authorities, a federal Labor MP says.

Kelvin Thomson has written to a state inquiry saying VicRoads must be prevented from selling the “lungs” of Coburg — 10 hectares of land along Edgars Creek — because open space is more important than the profit from its sale.

VicRoads should ensure the parkland stays in public hands by giving it to Moreland Council — on the condition it is kept as open public space, Mr Thomson says.

The council has made a similar submission to the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council’s inquiry into metropolitan Crown land.

But VicRoads says it must sell the land at market value under State Government policy.

The roads authority has previously offered a direct sale to the council for about $10 million. Negotiations are continuing.

“Government policy requires that all surplus land is to be sold by public process at market value as assessed by the Valuer-General,” VicRoads director of property services Bernard Toulet said.

A Government spokesman confirmed the policy but declined to comment on Mr Thomson’s submission.

VicRoads bought the land in the 1970s for use as a freeway, but the plan has since been abandoned.

Some locals fear at least part of the land could be sold to developers.

In a written submission to the inquiry, Mr Thomson says Coburg is largely built up and needs all the parkland it can get.

“The land is the largest open space in Coburg and acts as lungs, pumping the oxygen throughout the veins of our community,” his submission says.

Councillor Jo Connellan said it would be “a nonsense” for ratepayers to have to buy the land, as the public had already paid for it once and the council could not afford the purchase.

“Public land is so precious, we shouldn’t sell it. If the agency who’s got it doesn’t need it, then put it back into the public land estate and reallocate it to a public purpose,” Cr Connellan said.

The council has allowed increased development in Moreland, including at large sites such as the former Kodak plant and Pentridge Prison.

Mr Thomson says Moreland’s population growth of 0.9 per cent over five years has put pressure on local infrastructure and the parkland’s value cannot be measured in monetary terms.

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This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/national/keep-coburgs-lungs-for-public-mp-20090217-8a9z.html

February 18th, 2009 | Category: media | Leave a comment

As mentioned in a recent update, Kelvin Thomson encouraged residents to make submissions to the VEAC review of Crown land, and advised of his own intent to do so.  Kelvin’s submission to the Metropolitan Land Inquiry titled; The Edgars Creek Parkland. The lungs of the Coburg Community, makes two recommendations along the lines of retaining the parkland as public open space on the proviso that Council is willing to maintain it as parkland into the future.

The submission is quite extensive, and goes through the ecological, environmental and social benefits of retaining the parkland as public open space.

Included in the submission is the ability for the parkland to play a role locally in combating climate change by retaining stores of carbon. For a long time governments at various levels have underestimated the importance of urban parkland’s such as the Edgars Creek in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The submission also illustrates the parkland ability to play a role in keeping the locally community fit and tackling obesity by providing open space for sport and recreational activity. It also addresses the population demand in the area. In the past population growth and development have come at the expense of open space. Kelvin outlines the need for future population and development policy to consider the provision of public open space.

February 16th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Interested in making a submission to the VEAC review of Crown land?  Don’t know where to start?  We’ve put together a few ideas you might like to include in addition to your personal experiences that make the park special to you.  The purpose of the review is to better understand the value the community places on the retention of the parkland in its current form.  We encourage everyone to make a submission.  If you’ve got some additional ideas for others to consider using in their submissions, please add a comment below.

mecpg_veacsubmissionideas [PDF]

January 16th, 2009 | Category: state government | Leave a comment

Great to find a letter in the mailbox today from Kelvin Thomson MP, advising he will be making a submission to VEAC’s investigation into Crown land, and encouraging local residents to ’secure the future liveability of our fine community’ to also make a submission.

Kelvin has consistently shown his support for this cause and hopefully his letter to residents will inspire even more evidence from the community that the best outcome for this parkland is for it to be gifted to Moreland Council free-of-charge and managed as public open space.  Thanks Kelvin!

January 8th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Comments (1)