Kensington Association Annual General Meeting – September 5^th 2022

Chairperson’s Report

Warmest greetings to everyone – meeting in person is always a pleasure, but these days seems quite a luxury somehow!

The last two years have not been easy for any organisation, particularly volunteer organisations like KA. Thanks to all who have kept KA ticking over. I’m still not sure whether we have ‘survived’ a pandemic or just that we are learning to live with it.

Ongoing projects

Metro Rail Project:- we can fortunately begin to see the end of this project. Thanks again to all those who have kept the information flowing so that KA can pull keep ‘pulling strings’. Thanks in particular to Therese Fitzgerald, Denis Kennedy who have kept us up to date with what was happening around various issues surrounding the work site.  Looking back at my reports, in April I noted that an upgrade to Kensington South Station had been costed by the Parliamentary Budget office, and it would take $6.6 million to upgrade South Kensington Station. This would upgrade South Kensington Station by extending the train platforms and upgrading the station to be Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) compliant. This is clearly an issue for the upcoming State election. Thanks to Ellen Sandell for her long term advocacy for improvements to the station.

Moonee Ponds Creek:- Once again thanks to John Widmer who has continued to report on the Creek (MPC) developments. Thanks also to Cr Rohan Leppert who has the improvement to the Creek environs firmly on his radar. The Friends of Moonee Ponds Creek are doing some sterling work further upstream, with a Federal promise of funding to remove some of the concrete channel. We still live in hope that the change to the Kensington stretch will come to fruition.

Public Open Space:- at the last AGM I reported that CoM had acquired land to create open space in Chelmsford St. We hope this might dovetail in nicely with what happens in stage 3 of the Younghusband redevelopment. Also, as I said last year, we hope its location might catalyse further work on the Creek.

Kensington Community Network:- As chairperson I have continued to attend the KCN meetings. The KCN (chaired by Rebecca Smith (KNH) and has continued to be a vital hub of connection, action and advocacy in the community.

Westgate Tunnel Project:- Again, thanks to Fran Araneda who (despite her mothering responsibilities has managed to keep tabs on the liaison group for this project.

Kensington Recreation Centre Development:- Most recently there has been some controversy around asbestos in the soil around the site, but I understand that construction is still expected to be completed in 2023.

Kensington Association News

The Kensington Association website: the website has continued to develop. We have more recently made progress with the help of two volunteers – Maggie Scott and Gaurav Kushwaha. I’m sure they will help us further improve our communication with the community.

Support from CoM: We continue to have support from the City of Melbourne, both monetarily with the yearly grant, but also having Melanie Del Monaco as our dedicated Neighbourhood Partner. Thanks to Melanie for all the great liaison work she is doing in the community. The conversation in relation to Liveability continues, thanks to a lot of behind the scenes work by Stephen Alomas.

Community News and Activity

We are in contact with the new owners of the Younghusband Building who have revamped plans in relation to all stages of the project. The jury is still out on how this will pan out over time, in particular the tenants that the new consortium might attract to the building.

The Association has continued to have a column in the Flem/Ken News, and the North West City News. Thanks to the editors and proprietors of these papers.

Community Actions and Representations

Macaulay Structure Plan:- As I understand it, the Macaulay Structure Plan has gone through the Amendment process. A big thank-you to Cr Rohan Leppert for shepherding this through. It would seem that there is some cause for optimism in relation to some extra open space, and new built form regulations, and possible community infrastructure. We wait to see how this pans out in practice.

Developments around Macaulay Road – My concern about the number and size of developments on sites between the two railway lines has not changed from a year ago. The latest development to go onto the drawing board – the middle of the three blocks on the north side of road – has the consortium ‘Greystar’ as the developer. We have had consultation with Greystar and I have recently loaded their plans (not yet advertised) onto the KA website for members to scrutinise.

Thankyou

Finally, again, very sincere thanks to all committee members of the Association and stalwart participators for support during the year. Thanks especially to Tony Ceddia for his wonderful commitment over 4+ years to the task of Treasurer and Membership Secretary. Thanks also to Cr Rohan Leppert whose advocacy and support has been invaluable.

Simon Harvey (Chairperson) – 2021-22