City of Port Phillip Elections 2024

The 2024 Victorian local council election will be held in October, by postal ballot. The Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) will send ballot packs with instructions to all enrolled voters in Port Phillip in early October.

The current Ward structure was changed by the Victorian Government after the last election in favour of one Councillor per Ward. Many BCNA members will now be in the new Port Melbourne Ward. This Ward is bounded by Todd Road, Williamstown Road, a section of Bay Street, Liardet Street, Pickles Street and along the foreshore.

Click/tap here to see a map showing the new City of Port Phillip Ward structure.

  

Further details for Port Phillip can be found on the Victorian Electoral Commission’s website.

The key dates for this year’s election are:

• Candidate nominations open on Monday, 9 September
• Candidate nominations, statements, photo, and questionnaire close at 12 noon on 17 September
• Ballot papers mailed out with candidate statements from 7th October
• Voting closes at 6 pm on Friday, 25th October
• All postal votes must be received by 12 noon on Friday 1 November
• Results to be declared by 15 November

The BCNA plans to contact candidates standing for the Port Melbourne Ward to seek their views on local issues. We will publicise their responses on this site.

New Cruise Ship Season

This year’s cruise ship season commences with the arrival of the Diamond Princess at Station Pier on Sunday 29th September.

Ports Victoria reports that there are bookings of around 100 ships in 2024/25, compared to 128 last year. Last year’s travel is thought to have been boosted by post COVID-19 travel.

Maintenance work on Station Pier has taken place in the off-season. This has included pile maintenance and building repairs, painting, corrosion protection, electrical and other works as explained here. Painting of the Gate House has been completed and the ramp in the freight yard has been demolished.

State Housing Target for the City of Port Phillip

In June 2024, the State Government released draft local government housing targets as part of statewide plans to reach 2.24 million new houses by 2051. Comments on the draft are expected by 30th August 2024. The targets are explained here.

The draft target for the City of Port Phillip (CoPP) is 56,000 new dwellings by 2051.

The draft target and CoPP’s response to the State Government was discussed at a Council meeting on 7 August. Council officers believe the city has enough existing capacity (without rezoning) to accommodate up to 59,000 new dwellings across the municipality if every site is developed to its full potential. Crucially, this potential includes Fishermans Bend which requires the provision of transport infrastructure promised by the Victorian Government but which has yet to materialise. Population growth in established residential areas also strains existing infrastructure - the State Government’s draft target does not include plans for the provision of updated or additional infrastructure. More details can be found in this CoPP paper.

The CoPP resolved to respond to the State Government seeking details about the methodology to determine housing targets, stressing the importance of State Government provision of infrastructure in Fishermans Bend and for updated and additional infrastructure in established areas.

Volunteers Needed for Around the Bay Bike Ride

The BCNA has received a request from the Bicycle Network for volunteers to help run this year’s ride. The ride takes place on Sunday 6th October (click here for details).

Specifically, the organisers are looking for volunteers to help as Route Marshals (job explained here). Marshals are required for 12 locations from the start site at Albert Park Lake and must have a valid Working With Children Check (WWCC) which is free (click here to apply). As the WCCC cards can take a few weeks to arrive the organisers will accept proof in the form of a confirmation email after applying.

This spreadsheet provides location details where Route Marshals are required as well as start and finish times. Ideally, two volunteers per location are required. The shift times vary slightly by location but most fall between 5am and late morning.

If you are interested, please contact the BCNA at secretary@beaconcove.org.au providing name, phone and email address and the location you would prefer. Please respond by cob Friday 7 September.

City of Port Phillip’s Housing Strategy

At last week’s Council meeting, the City of Port Phillip approved a new housing strategy. A draft strategy for comment was released earlier this year and was explained here.

The completed housing strategy is designed to help direct and manage housing growth over a 15-year period, ensuring a range of housing opportunities are available across the municipality. It will also identify suitable locations for housing growth and change.

At the meeting, Council officers reported that community feedback on the draft strategy emphasised the need to direct housing to areas that can accommodate growth, a desire to preserve valued neighbourhood character, a balance of heritage and character with the need for new housing, an emphasis on sustainable housing and good design, and overall support for the introduction of an affordable housing target.

The completed Port Phillip Housing Strategy can be accessed here. The council’s agenda paper and supporting documents to the strategy can be accessed here.

New housing will be directed to areas close to services, jobs, public transport, and activity centres. Bay Street is considered a Major Activity Centre and Centre Avenue (around the shops in Garden City) is considered a Local Activity Centre.

The strategy respects areas that have planning overlays, such as the Neighbourhood Character Overlay, which applies to the low-rise homes in Beacon Cove. Nevertheless, change is expected close by. Affected areas include buildings on either side of Bay Street near Beach Street, small areas in Graham Street and Williamstown Road and in Centre Avenue in Garden City. Some incremental change is expected around the towers in Beach Street, Station Pier, and to the older non-Mirvac built homes in the block bounded by Morley, Little Swallow and Swallow Street. All these changes are depicted in a map of Port Melbourne on page 65 in the Housing Strategy. It is shown here.

Station Pier Berth Sweeping

The Port of Melbourne is conducting maintenance dredging at Station Pier over the next few weeks. This will involve ‘sweeping’ of the berth pockets on either side of the pier and will be undertaken by a tug. The work will be intermittent because the vessel will be working across several locations in the port of Melbourne.

Queries or feedback should be directed to the Port of Melbourne on telephone 1300 857 662 or email port.dredge@portofmelbourne.com.

Barak Beacon Redevelopment Approved

The Premier and the Minister for Housing have approved Housing Victoria’s plans for 408 dwellings on the Barak Road site as explained here.

The BCNA welcomes the redevelopment which will have a mix of social, affordable and market housing but is disappointed that there has been no recognition of the need to improve access to public transport, green space, and local roads to cope with the expected increase of about eight hundred residents.

The BCNA is hoping that there will be close cooperation with Homes Victoria during the build phase to improve street access, retain green space, and prevent parking spillover to local streets. Click here for further details.

Record Membership

Thank you to members who have renewed their memberships, and to new members who have joined the BCNA in 2023/24.

Membership continues to grow and reached 478 on 30 June 2024, a new record for the BCNA.

The BCNA continues to be active on your behalf in protecting and enhancing the amenity of the area. Feedback received from local and state authorities is that our input is well regarded, being described as organised, sensible, practical, and engaged. Our last newsletter as well as posts to this website explain the issues we are involved with on your behalf.

Barak Beacon Update

The BCNA continues to engage with Nina Taylor MP, Member for Albert Park, about community concerns with the proposed development. Our concerns are about the massive increase in residences, but without any change in public transport, roads and parking (see our news item of 8 March 2024). The amenity of nearby residents will be diminished.

The BCNA received an email from Homes Victoria last Friday which indicates that Homes Victoria remains committed to develop 408 residences.

Savings on Non-recyclable Waste Charges

Your annual council rates include a charge for waste collection. However, you may not be aware that there are 3 sizes of waste bins available to households, with the size written on the side of the bin. The standard size allocated to houses as part of your rates is 120 litres. However, it may be that you have inherited a larger bin if you moved into the area. In that case, be aware of the following charges or rebates if you vary your bin size.

There is an annual garbage bin surcharge of $255 for properties that are provided with a 240-litre bin for non-recyclable waste. This extra charge will be added to your rates. If you want to go smaller, an 80-litre waste bin is also available and will result in an annual rebate of $82 for properties that take up this small waste bin. It’s simple to change your bins, just Make a Request on the Request a Service part of Council's website. They will deliver the desired bin size on an agreed day and collect the old one.