New Mayor - Cr Marcus Pearl

Congratulations to Gateway Ward representative, Cr Marcus Pearl who was elected mayor of the City of Port Phillip during the week. Cr Tim Baxter was elected deputy mayor.

1-7 Waterfront Place Update

VCAT arranged a compulsory meeting last Friday, 5th November, between the developer, the City of Port Phillip, and other parties. Such meetings are scheduled to find a resolution as explained earlier.

Unfortunately, there was no resolution. This means it will proceed to a Hearing from 23-25th March 2022, if an agreement has not been reached earlier.

AGM Reminder

The AGM for the BCNA is being held this Thursday, 11th November at 6.30 pm.

Financial members have been sent details with a Zoom link for this meeting. If you have not received the papers, contact treasurer@beaconcove.org.au.

We believe this AGM is something not to be missed. We are very pleased to have three speakers with authority across various aspects of Port Phillip life. The Hon. Martin Foley, MP will provide an update on local state issues. Minister Foley has been especially prominent in recent months as the Minister for Health. Our Guest Speaker from the City of Port Phillip is the Mayor, Louise Crawford. And Inspector Helen Chugg, Victoria Police’s Local Area Commander for Port Phillip, has accepted an invitation to speak about anti hoon programs and policing in general. Please join the Zoom meeting to hear about current issues and have your questions answered.

Safety Concerns with Shared Paths

The BCNA supports the upgrade of the Garden City shared path to improve connections for bike riders and make Beacon Road and Swallow Street safer for all users. Our earlier item included a map showing the route.

The Garden City shared path is used by parents taking children to and from the Port Melbourne Primary School. It is particularly dangerous where pedestrians join the central path from Beacon Vista and Edina Close, as the warning signs that pedestrians are joining a shared path are poor. Garden City Reserve is a dog off leash area, so the scope for accidents with dogs and cyclists is high.

We continue to have concerns for the safety of pedestrians and cyclists using all shared paths in Beacon Cove. There have already been accidents and ‘near misses’ and we think this will become greater as more cyclists use these paths.

The BCNA has discussed our concerns with Gateway Ward councillors. Unfortunately, no improvements are in immediate prospect. The City of Port Phillip (Council) officers are proposing that Council’s Transport Safety team will monitor use of the Garden City shared path once the upgrade has been completed.  We hope they monitor the other shared paths as well.

Police Anti-Hoon Programs for Summer

Since an earlier update, BCNA representatives met Acting Inspector Glen Finlay and Port Phillip district officers to discuss anti hoon programs for the summer months.

Victoria Police propose a similar program to that used last summer at Station Pier. That is, the use of a mobile CCTV unit, a tactical camera, electronic sign, and increased patrols. These measures are important and led to a sharp decline in incidents. However, they need to be complemented by State and Council initiated measures.

Police explained that several councils have introduced anti hoon Local Laws (two examples) and that they (the Police) are proposing to discuss the introduction of similar Local Laws with the City of Port Phillip and the City of Stonnington. The BCNA has contacted Gateway Ward Councillors and asked that they support the introduction of a comparable Local Law in the City of Port Phillip.

It is important to report hoon driving and vehicle noise. If incidents are not reported and recorded, the Police do not know about them. If you witness hoon driving and vehicle noise, Victoria Police recommend:

• Call 000 immediately if dangerous driving is occurring. Do not be fobbed off by the operator if you are told “we already know about it”. Insist on your report being taken.
• Report incidents to Crime Stoppers at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au as this helps police to target repeat offenders and to focus on specific locations. If safe to do so, film video of incident and upload to Crime Stoppers.

BCNA Annual General Meeting (AGM)

The BCNA’s AGM this year is a Zoom Meeting. It will be held on Thursday 11th November 2021 at 6.30pm.

Reports plus a link for the Zoom meeting have been sent to financial members. If you did not receive the reports, it may be because you are unfinancial, or that you have changed your contact details. Please contact the Treasurer (treasurer@beaconcove.org.au) to check.

The Mayor, Louise Crawford, has accepted our invitation to be the Guest Speaker. The Hon. Martin Foley, MP has been invited to provide a brief report on local issues.  A police representative from the Port Phillip police district has been invited to provide a report about anti-hoon programs.

Plans for 103 Beach Street (Foodstore Site)

Since our last update, the developers have finalised plans to submit to the City of Port Phillip (Council). The proposal is for an ‘up market’ five-level building comprising twenty-two apartments, a supermarket and café/bar on the ground floor, and two levels of basement parking.

The entrance to the supermarket will be from the car park on the north side. Height will increase to eighteen metres. There is no change to the footprint of the building. There is little change in overshadowing of the public realm at the September equinox (from the previously approved plans) but more at the June solstice.

The developer expects to submit plans to Council very soon. The plans will be advertised before being considered by Council. Ideally, the developer would like to commence construction early in January 2022. The construction phase is expected to take 18 months.

The BCNA welcomes development at this site. We would like the proposed tram line duplication to occur at the same time as construction, thereby minimising disruption to the community. The BCNA will work with the developer and Yarra Trams to promote this. The BCNA would also like to see more car parking spaces provided on the north side of the building. We will discuss this with Council.

The owners have undertaken to monitor and remove graffiti at the site when COVID restrictions allow.

City of Port Phillip Commits to Anti-Hoon Measures

Since our last update, the City of Port Phillip (Council) met on 15th September and considered a staff report on anti hoon measures. The report recommended continued work by Council officers, police, and the Department of Transport to prevent anti-social behaviour; the reduction of speed limits, physical barriers and the review of existing signs and parking restrictions in certain streets; and that Council officers advocate for the development and use of noise camera technology by police and the State Department of Transport and to report back to Council. These measures were agreed. Surprisingly, there was no recommendation that the City of Port Phillip acquire a mobile CCTV camera but continue to rely on borrowing the City of Stonnington’s unit.

The BCNA contacted Gateway Ward Councillors Marcus Pearl, Heather Cunsolo, and Peter Martin ahead of the meeting and asked that they support Council acquiring a unit. Thanks to their efforts, Council agreed that a detailed report should come to Council in October for the purchase or hire of a mobile CCTV unit.

The BCNA thanks Councillors Pearl, Cunsolo and Martin for their support on this issue.

1-7 Waterfront Place Developer Appeals to VCAT

The developer of the site at 1-7 Waterfront Place has decided to appeal the City of Port Phillip's (CoPP) decision regarding the site to VCAT.

The CoPP approved the developer’s plans at a Planning Committee meeting on 24 June, but with amendments to minimise overshadowing of the bike path at the winter solstice as explained here. The implications of CoPP's amendments mean that there would be a reduction in height from 10-storeys as explained here, and this is not acceptable to the developer.

Details of the appeal are explained here.

VCAT has scheduled a compulsory meeting between the CoPP and the developer for 5 November 2021. If there is no resolution at this meeting, there will be a hearing from 23-25 March 2022.

BCNA Annual General Meeting (AGM)

This year’s BCNA AGM will be held on Thursday 11 November 2021. It will be held either at the Trugo Club in Garden City Reserve, or by Zoom. We will confirm arrangements closer to the date. It will commence at 6.30 pm.

Reports and the annual Financial Statement for the BCNA will be presented. The election of office bearers will occur. The Guest Speaker will be Inspector Helen Chugg, the Local Area Commander for Port Phillip Police Service Area. The BCNA has been working with Inspector Chugg to develop anti-hoon programs for the area.

The Hon. Martin Foley, MP has been invited to provide a brief report on local issues.

Financial members will be sent the agenda and papers in early October along with details about the venue.