Community Meeting 14th August 2018

AUG 29, 2018 — 

Report on the Community Meeting
called by
The Hills Common Alliance on Tuesday 14th August 
2018 in the Olinda Hall.

The meeting was attended by approx 60 people from both the local community and further afield. Included were Councillor Noel Cliff, from the Shire of Yarra Ranges, some members of the Press and a Student Journalist, who recorded proceedings.

Brendan Byatt, Resident of Sassafras, Chaired the meeting.
He opened the meeting at 7.45 pm with a general introduction to some of the issues involved in the recently proposed plan by Parks Vic to construct an AFL sized oval over the former top three fairways of the now closed, Olinda Golf Course.
Brendan stressed the importance of all speakers being heard uninterrupted and hoped that all who wished, would be able to give their different perspectives at Question time.

The first speaker was Ms Jenny Oxer, Spokesperson for “The Hills Common Alliance” and resident of Kalorama. She described the different groups of people who are currently using the Crown land in question, in an unprescribed, but environmentally friendly manner.
The needs of these groups she said were illustrated by the rapidly growing number of users, currently estimated to be up to 30,000 visits a year, even though the land is unadvertised and no facilities are currently being provided.

The second Speaker was Mrs Betty Marsdon, President of "The Save The Dandenongs League” and Resident of Kallista. Betty spoke of the relevance of the Regional Strategy Plan (RSP) and her concerns that the current proposal by Parks Vic did not the achieve the objectives of this Plan to protect the area from inappropriate development. Betty also said that although Parks Vic had claimed that there had been adequate community consultation, the advisory committee convened had representation from the sporting lobby, business
interests and the CFA, but wider community interests and
environmental interests were not represented.

The third speaker was Jerermy Francis, Owner of Cloude Hill, Olinda and Resident of Olinda.
Jeremy expressed his concerns regarding the design of the current proposal. The impact that the construction
of an oval of the proposed size and location would have negative effects on many aspects of the environment. The required major removal of much of the ridge of the mountain in that area, along with the loss of a
beautiful meadow land and its trees indicated that the design was poor.
Another major point made by Jeremy was that it was a well-established fact that people will not generally walk downhill for recreational purposes. Most of the gardens managed by Parks Vic in the Dandenong Ranges, experience this difficulty, with visitors often choosing to remain at the top of each one. The proposed plan would require walkers to initially walk downhill if the oval, previously planned as “a Green”, was unavailable to them.

The meeting was then opened to the floor.
A vigorous discussion ensued, initially led by the football lobby and then by those not in favour of the newly planned oval. 
Feelings ran high on both sides. Issues raised were around the subject of need, with a clear conflict of interests and perspective occurring. 
The view that there had been a lack of community consultation was repeatedly expressed by several of the speakers.

Immediately prior to closure of the meeting, Jenny Oxer informed the gathering that The Alliance would consider taking the issue to VCAT if necessary. She pointed out that the Objectors Amendment of 2015 to The Current Planning Environment Act of 1987 allowed for VCAT to now legally consider the wish of the majority in the community. Although the amendment was too late for Tecoma concerning the building of a Macdonald’s Restaurant, when 92% of the local community was opposed to its construction, it was not too late for the objectors to the current plan for the oval on the former Olinda Golf Course.

The meeting was closed by Brendan Byatt at 9.30pm.

Jenny Oxer
Spokesperson, The Hills Common Alliance 
https://www.facebook.com/theoldolindagolfcourse
29/08/18