CORBA: Local Government Review 2015
A submission by the Coalition of Resident and Business Associations - Melbourne from December 2015. Melbourne is one of the fastest growing local government areas in Australia, and is central to the future prosperity of Victoria. The continuing influx of residents to the CoM is critical to maintaining the growth and prosperity of the CoM. However, the present governance arrangements of the CoM have failed to keep pace with this growth, which is leading to a gross distortion of governance in the CoM; whereby the overwhelming numerical superiority of residents is, effectively, gerrymandered to benefit non-resident and corporate voters. CoRBA’s
Review of Local Government (electoral) Act 2016
Many members of the NWMA Inc. have been concerned for a long time about the electoral structure and operational performance of the City of Melbourne. From the early 1990’s when the Kennett Government amalgamated Councils, through the Bracks reforms of the early 2000’s, there has been an ongoing campaign by the State Government to disenfranchise residents and small business from being properly represented on our Council. For nearly ten years the Association has been active through organisations such as CoRBA (Coalition of Residents and Business Associations – Melbourne) to change this gerrymander with remarkably little success. The Napthine Government to
Review of Proposed Local Government (Electoral) Regulations 2016
The NWMA has been one of the most prominent campaigners for the reform of the electoral system at the Melbourne City Council. Whilst the Victorian Government just loves the compliant Council and refuses to undertake any significant legislative change to restore democracy, the Local Government Minister has used her power to change the regulations. The Minister has now proposed some changes and here is the Minister’s discussion paper and our response for your information. [gview file="https://nwma.org.au/wp-content/uploads/LGregssubmission6may16.pdf"] [gview file="https://nwma.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Proposed-Local-Government-Electoral-Regulations-2016.pdf"][gview file="https://nwma.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Local-Government-Electoral-Regulations-2016-Proposed-Changes.pdf"] [gview file="https://nwma.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Local-Government-Electoral-Regulations-2016-Proposed-Changes.pdf"]
NWMA meet the Minister of Planning
The NWMA recently met with The Minister for Planning, The Hon. Richard Wynne MP. The discussion centered on several key issues the NWMA have been concerned about for many years. [gview file="https://nwma.org.au/wp-content/uploads/20150331-NWMA-Min-Meet.pdf"] [gview file="https://nwma.org.au/wp-content/uploads/20150331-att1-MSS-growth-framework.pdf"] [gview file="https://nwma.org.au/wp-content/uploads/20150331-att2-MSS-growth-framework.pdf"] [gview file="https://nwma.org.au/wp-content/uploads/20150331-att3-flyer.pdf"]
Association Reps Meet Planning Minister Advisors
On Friday November 4, Association Chair, Kevin Chamberlin, and Bill Cook met with influential members of the Planning Minister, Matthew Guy’s staff. They were Daniel Parsons, Ministerial Advisor and Adrian Salmon, Assistant Director, Statutory Approvals, Department of Planning and Community Development. The meeting covered issues that the Association has experienced in recent times about the operation of the planning scheme. These are covered in the following link Parsons3Nov11. The officials put forward Government policy, such as the promotion of the role of local government in the planning process. They appreciated the clarity of our position, which they agreed was different
VEC Review of City of Melbourne Wards and Councillor numbers
The electoral representation review (ERR) of Melbourne City Council will commence on Monday, 24 October. The review will consider the appropriate number of the councillors for the municipality and whether the City should be divided into wards. For more information click here: http://www.vec.vic.gov.au/reviews/Melbournerr.html Please read the attached document which gives you some background about this review, including: What will the Melbourne City Council Review cover. What is the electoral representation review process for Melbourne City Council. How to make a submission to the Melbourne City Council. Representation Review? We would like to canvass member's views about this review. If you
Woolworths development proposal – Canning St, Vaughan Terrace, Macaulay Road
A $110 million North Melbourne development proposed by supermarket giant Woolworths. [mappress mapid="4"] The plans include two residential towers of 16 and 10 storeys, a supermarket of over 4000 m2 and an attached bottle shop. Also include are 9 specialty shops and a restaurant and 645 car parking spaces, about evenly divided between the residents and the supermarket. The Association is very concerned about the precedent that this proposal establishes for this area of North Melbourne. Being over 25000 m2, it is to be decided by the the Minister of Planning. The Council will make a representation to the Minister
Agenda for June 2011 general meeting: Structure Plan briefing.
The Association has arranged for David Mayes and the Strategic Planning Team from the City of Melbourne to brief members and other interested residents on the contents of the two structure plans that affect our area. These are the City North Structure Plan and the Arden Macaulay Structure Plan. The meeting will be held at the Library at 7.30pm on June 21 with general business until 8.00pm when we can move into the larger upstairs library space for the briefing on the Structure Plans. There have been a number of briefings already held but the Association believes that the implications of
Win on Council Reform
After ten years of effort by both the NWMA and CoRBA to obtain a review of the structure and electoral processes of the City of Melbourne, we have at last achieved some success. The State Government has announced a VEC review of the City of Melbourne, particularly focussing on wards and voter numbers. This is a good first step toward looking at other important issues that affect the way the Council works and relates to its communities and stakeholders. We congratulate the Melbourne Leader on the support that it has provided to raise awareness of these issues around the performance
Rally At Zagame site.
On Saturday 20th November 2010, a crowd of over 80 attended the protest rally at 577 King Street, West Melbourne. It was great turnout and many attendees held placards to inform both the Zagame staff and the passing traffic of the issues relating to this ten storey high rise development located in a Design and Development Overlay zone that is supposed to be limited to four. Unfortunately, the media failed to arrive but some active discussion and questioning took place during the rally, reflecting the serious concern of those attending. Marchers pacing up and down in front of the car