1.

Meeting Details

Acting Chair: Simon Harvey

Minute Taker: Maritza Araneda

Location: Zoom 7:30pm

2.

House Keeping

·       Welcomed: Simon opened the meeting and acknowledged the traditional owners of the land and paid his respects to the elders past, present and emerging

·       2021 AGM (4^th October) meeting minutes were tabled. David and Therese endorsed the minutes as being a true reflection of what was discussed.

·       Correspondence In: nothing of significance.

·       Correspondence Out: nothing of significance. Just responses to comments/ questions on email.

3.

General Business & Reports

Treasurer’s Report

·      Tony tabled the financial statements and noted no significant transactions (inflows or outflows) for the month.

·      Inflows of $130 for membership renewals, $208 refund in relation to use of the Kensington Town Hall and a donation of $55. Outflows of $532, comprised primarily of public liability insurance of $511.

Report was received and confirmed by Therese and Geoff

As is usual practice at the AGM, all other matters and standing reports were carried over to the next month.

Chairperson’s Report – Simon H

Simon tabled his report for the year. Full report will be posted on the website. A summary is as follows:

·      Simon welcomed all attendees.

·      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.

·      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. Thanks to Ellen Sandell for her long-term advocacy for improvements to the south Kensington 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.

·      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.

·      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 has managed to keep tabs on the liaison group for this project.

·      Kensington Association News: The Kensington Association website has continued to develop. We have more recently made progress with the help of two volunteers – Maggie Scott and Gaurav Kushwaha.

·      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.

·      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.

·      Macaulay Structure Plan: A big thank-you to Cr Rohan Leppert for his relentless support and advocacy for the community. 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.

·      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.

4.

Election of Officers, Steering Committee and Advisors

·      Liz took over as Chair and declared all positions vacant.

·      Nominations received and persons elected:

–       Chairperson – Simon Harvey was nominated to the position of Chair and was endorsed by David and Therese. No other nominations received. Simon accepted the nomination and was elected unanimously.

–       Secretary – Simon nominated Maritza Araneda to the position of Secretary, and endorsed by Niki and David. No other nominations received. Simon accepted the nomination and was elected unanimously.

–       Treasurer –No nominations were received. This will be carried to future meetings to understand if there are any other candidates.

–       Vice Chair – David Ettershank nominated for the role. He was endorsed by Simon H and Moira and was elected unanimously.

5.

Matters from the meeting floor

–       Meet the candidates event – in light of the November 22^nd election, members discussed the merits of holding another event. It was agreed that this was a valuable event for the community and we would continue to hold. A provisional date of 27^th October was agreed.

Action: Tony to confirm availability of Kensington Town Hall and a separate sub-committee to be established to organise the event.

6.

Next meeting

·       Next meeting will be held on 3 October 2022 at Kensington Town Hall