Walk in the Park tomorrow
It’s looking like great weather forecast for our Walk in the Park at 10:30am tomorrow.
The Bureau of Meteorology is predicting a gorgeous sunny day with light winds, and a maximum temperature of 27 degrees.
Hope to see you there!
Don’t forget, with such a great day, you can follow up the Walk in the Park by attending another local community event right next door - Playtime in the Park. They’re having a sausage sizzle and live music entertainment so if you’re looking for a bite of lunch with friends when then Walk is over, it’s a good place to go!
MP wants park assurance
Simon Craig, Moreland Leader, 8th March 2010
Redevelopment of the former Kodak factory in Coburg North should be put on hold until the protection of neighbouring parkland has been secured, says Wills federal MP Kelvin Thomson.
Mr Thomson, in his submission to a public consultation over the Kodak site, said a decision to keep the 10ha Edgars and Merri Creeks Parkland as public open space must be in place before the redevelopment is allowed.
The State Government last year took over planning controls for the 27ha site, between Elizabeth St and Edgars Creek. Public submissions on a proposal to build at housing and shops closed on February 22.
Mr Thomson said the redevelopment plan “must not proceed” unless VicRoads handed over the parkland, bought in the 1970s for a now-abandoned planned freeway, to Moreland Council to maintain.
“If the worst-case scenario unfolds and VicRoads refuses to gift the land to the local community, the Kodak Redevelopment Plan makes no provision for alternative public space.” The parkland’s “environmental, ecological and recreational importance to the community of Coburg far outweighs any short-term profit the State Government may be able to derive from its sale”.
A taskforce set up to investigate the future of the parkland is expected to submit its report to Planning Minister Justin Madden soon. The minister will then decide its fate.
Give us our valley plea
Simon Craig, Moreland Leader, 22nd February 2010
A resident group fighting to keep Moreland’s largest open space off-limits to developers remains nervous about the site’s future.
VicRoads has owned the 10ha Merri Edgars Creeks parklands in Coburg North since 1970s, when it was bought for a now-abandoned planned freeway between Bell St and the Western Ring Rd. It at one stage put a $10 million price tag on the site, much of it floodprone.
Moreland Council and residents have for several years called for the land to be gifted to the council, which has spent about $2 million improving and maintaining it.
A pending report from a taskforce set up last year to investigate the matter could pave the way for a handover, said Travis Cox, a taskforce member and spokesman for Merri and Edgars Creek Parkland Group.
He said the report would need to convince Planning Minister Justin Madden that there were “exceptional circumstances” for gifting the land.
“We’ve been fighting this for three years and it seems like a no-brainer but there are concerns that this view is not fully shared,” Mr Cox said.
“It would be nice to not have to go through the entire state election cycle and not have an outcome.
“We are concerned that all this energy is put in and it just gets mothballed (by the minister).”
Mr Cox said concerns remained that sections around the edges of the site could be sold for housing, allowing VicRoads to recoup some costs.
The taskforce is chaired by Pascoe Vale state Labor MP Christine Campbell, and is made up of representatives from the council, the Department of Planning and Community Development, VicRoads, Friends of Merri Creek [NB: this is an error in the article - it's actually the Friends of Edgars Creek] and MECPG.
Its report for Mr Madden is expected to be finalised next month. Mr Cox described the Merri Edgars Creek parkland as a “green oasis” between major residential developments at Pentridge and Kodak.
“In light of the projected 27 per cent increase in the Coburg population between 2001 and 2021, losing this natural recreation area would be a travesty,” he said.
The council recently erected a banner on the parkland restating its support for keeping the parkland.
Mayor Stella Kariofyllidis said: “Council has maintained the land as parkland for many years and believes the land should remain as open space.”
The Merri and Edgars Creek Parkland Group is holding a rally in the park on Sunday, March 14, at 10:30am.
Walk In The Park 2010
Come one, come all to this year’s Walk In The Park on Sunday 14th March @ 10:30am to show your support for retention of this land as public open space for the entire community!
This year’s walk will be particularly important because just as the Minister is sitting down to read the recommendations of the taskforce, we need to remind him that any reference to “community benefit” actually means “mums, dads, kids, grandparents, dogs, walkers, golfers, cyclists, etc”. Everyone who uses the park has a face and it’s these faces we want the Minister to see, to make sure he understands there is massive community support for this parkland and we want to keep it in public hands forever!
A PDF flyer attached to this post has all the relevant details. Feel free to print off a couple and post them on a noticeboard at your workplace to get the word out. Tell your neighbours! Mention it at your next BBQ or dinner party! We’re aiming to get as many people as possible into the parkland for a photograph we will be providing to the Minister showing how much we love the park!
Hope to see you there!
Flyer for MECPG Walk In The Park 14th March 2010 [PDF, 116kB]