1.

Meeting Details

Chair: Simon Harvey

Minute Taker: Fran Araneda / Simon Harvey

Location: Zoom Meeting

2.

Welcome

·       Special Guest: Nick Parissis (Police Liaison Officer)

·       Apologies: James McInnes, Rohan Leppart, Peter Giudice, Maritza Araneda, Sheila B.

·       Present: Simon H, Tony C, Fran A, David E, Geoff C, Therese F, Moira F, John W, Nikki G.

3.

House Keeping                                                             

Matters Arising

·       March minutes were confirmed.

·       Simon shared responses from Sally Capp’s office to some unanswered questions. The meeting thought the answers to key questions around the Arden-Macaulay Structure Plan, over-development, allocation of West Gate Tunnel remediation funds, were too general. Simon agreed to communicate further with the mayor’s office to get more specific answers to these questions.

·       In relation to the proposed closure of Elizabeth Street south of Fink Street, the Association recommended that Council conduct a 6 month trial to monitor traffic movements and potential impacts. The road closure will not be proceeding.

·       In relation to expanding our membership to include an organisational membership category, Simon reported that from looking at the constitution organisations could become ‘associate members’ but would have no voting rights. We resolved to admit organisations as ‘associate members’ on a case by case basis with a membership fee of $40.

Correspondence In/Out

·       Acknowledgement of KA submission in relation to 346-350 Macaulay Rd – a copy of which will be attached to these minutes.

·       Communication with town-hall in relation to refund of pre-paid booking of venue. We will be refunded the fee paid for April-June.

·       A letter from Rilke Muir about flooding in Bent St. was followed with a letter to the City Engineer on behalf of KA.

4.

General Business & Reports

Treasurer and Membership Secretary’s Report – Tony

See Treasurer’s Report (Excel doc in May folder).

Melbourne Metro Rail Project (“MMRP”) Report – Therese

The Metro Tunnel Western Portal Amendment Plan has been put up for public comment. We have until 22^nd May to comment. Therese, Geoff and Dennis Kennedy will put in a submission on behalf of the Kensington Association. The main reason to do this is the issues of parking in the South Kensington area. Parking spaces under the Amendment are being heavily reduced in Childers Street and this will have a flow on effect to surrounding streets. Also the project operations have resulted in flooding on Childers Street when it rains. Need to make sure that a legacy of flooding is not left for us all. Other smaller issues also need a look at, e.g. turning circle in Ormond Street. 

West Gate Tunnel Project – Fran

No new update. Next CLG meeting taking place on Thursday 21^st of May. A meeting has also been scheduled on Thursday 14^th of May with Friends of Moonee Ponds Creek to discuss landscaping and plant species.

Moonee Ponds Creek – John

In his monthly report John showed a series of current photos of the Creek. In particular he reported that Graffiti removal requests have gone from 5 business days to 20 business days this year. (See PowerPoint doc in May folder).

Kensington Community Network – Simon

The KCN has focussed on 3 working groups – Food Supply, Health and Well-being, and Technology.

·       Food supply – supply of fresh food from various gardens distributed at the Venny, Unison and KNH.

·       Technology – over 100 requests for technological support, hardware for ‘work from home’ and support for student study. Help obtained via a message on KA Newsletter.

·       Health and WB – translation of messages about rules to community.  Phone calls to older residents. Conversation network. Close co-operation with food supply.

ALSO ….

·       Kensington Community Festival cancelled for this year.

·       KA raised with the mayor issue about waste emergency in the Housing Estate.

·       KNH has received $15000 for a community repair hub.

Tony suggested Kensington Neighbourhood House could well help with locating the hub. Simon to pass on the suggestion.

PCCC (Therese) – Visiting speaker: Nick Parissis (Police Community Liaison Officer)

Nick shared a comprehensive description of his work in the north-west of Melbourne, which captures Kensington, Carlton, North Melbourne and Parkville and is largely intelligence led (i.e. it relies on people reporting crimes to create ‘heat maps’ to track activity and inform patrols).

Family violence has become a bigger issue in the last couple of months.

Commenting on youth crime he said that there was a number of repeat offenders rather than any expansion of offending, and the strategy had been to steer offenders towards employment as opposed to immediately going to sanctions.

In responding to a question about Kensington ‘hot spots’ Nick said there had been some issues in relation to traffic and safety around the Metro Tunnel work site and thefts. He reminded members not to leave valuables in cars and remain alert to suspicious activity.

Nick agreed that there was a need for more police numbers to do the tasks required for an increasingly populated and complex area of the city.

Nick shared his feelings of satisfaction with his work, particularly helping young people, and that he would not move on from his position, even if it meant promotion.

Members thanked Nick for sharing his perspective on his role in the force.

5.

Other Business

·       National Storage: Simon reported on his audit of KA materials in storage, with view to looking for alternative options to save approx. $1000 per year. There was discussion about the pros and cons of emptying the store and farming out the contents to members. It was decided that this was not a wise move, and Tony volunteered to seek out more compact alternatives together with farming out some of the larger items.

·       Development proposal 346-350 Macaulay Rd: The meeting had a broad ranging discussion around the recent activity and Future Melbourne Committee consideration of this proposal, particularly in relation to strategies for monitoring and opposing unsatisfactory applications. John suggested the most useful tactic would be to emphasise the population repercussions of over development. In general the meeting agreed to oppose any issue that contravened DDO60 guidelines. Simon offered to convene further consultation with John and others to look at strategies going forward.

·       Bruce St development: In lieu of consideration of the Bruce St proposal at the FMC on 19^th May, Simon offered to liaise with Nikki in relation to any further action/letter/presentation in relation to this development.

·       Younghusband development: Has been suspended as a result of Covid-19. IIG are maintaining their support for the project, but it won’t be proceeding until the financial implications of Covid-19 are known. This is a sad development for the community because of the iconic and innovative nature of the project.

6.

Next Meeting: Monday 1^st of June, 7:30-9:30pm, via Zoom.