Our 4 questions emailed to Candidates:
1.“Bayside has a rich history and heritage, of which the Bayside community is proud to celebrate and possess. Historic buildings, landscapes, places and objects all contribute to Bayside’s liveability, character and community cohesion. Protecting and celebrating these places is therefore a vital function of Council.” Bayside Council Officer, Ordinary Council meeting April 23rd, 2024.
Do you agree with this statement?
Yes, No, Comment:
2. Have you read Local Government’s Role in Heritage Protection an introduction for Councillors (10-page easy read with flow charts)? https://www.mav.asn.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/32151/Local-Governments-Role-In-Heritage-Protection-An-Introduction-for-Councillors.pdf
Yes, No, Comment:
3. Concerned by the lack of progress by the Council on heritage protection, more than 1000 Bayside residents signed a petition to Council asking for progression of The Bayside Heritage Action Plan.
In response to this petition the Bayside Council Officer’s report to the Councilors was debated at the Council meeting on Tuesday 18th of June 2024
The minutes record the following resolution.
That Council:
1.notes the options available to undertake future heritage studies
2.undertakes a review of the heritage action plan, including recommendations for the progress of the Interwar Heritage Study and any Gap analysis
3.receives a report at the March 2025 Council Meeting.
If elected to Council, would you champion Neighbourhood Character and Heritage?
Yes, No, Comment:
4. Given that Heritage protection does not preclude development, renovation and thoughtful densification, how would you champion heritage protection in the face of pressure from the Victorian Government to increase density around the SRL and our many Activity Centres?
Please comment:
Please scroll down to find your Ward.
Boyd Ward Candidates responses to Heritage and Neighbourhood Character Questionnaire prepared by Bayside Heritage Group
David Williams - Candidate for Boyd Ward
- Yes
- No Comment: Does not download
- Yes. The work currently in progress should be continued.
- Thoughtful consultation and consideration will inform decisions in the best interests of the whole community.
Fiona Stitfold - Candidate for Boyd Ward
1. Yes
Comment: Heritage provides context for us as a society, is part of our culture, protects the amenity and character of our neighbourhoods and protects the environment.
2. Yes
Comment: A clear overview addressing misconceptions and outlining council's role in the various areas related to heritage.
3. Yes
Comment: There are many reasons to champion Neighbourhood Character and Heritage. Looking after what we have and marrying it to change demonstrates an understanding of the bigger picture. Heritage has intrinsic value contributing to heritage focused events, heritage overlays and prioritising people through public space design, capitalising on the attractiveness and authenticity within the area for tourism; and the objectives to ‘cultivate a deep connection and identity of place within the community it serves; as well as enhancing ‘the natural, cultural and heritage assets of Bayside while respecting the diverse interests of all stakeholders.
The gardens in our heritage properties are important open spaces in our urban areas and contribute to protecting biodiversity.
Reducing emissions must take account of the building sector. The Australian Climate Change Authority [1] “found that if Australia’s built environment sector reaches zero carbon emissions for the operation of residential and commercial buildings by 2050, it could contribute 28% to the country’s 2030 emissions reduction target and save up to AU$20 billion”. The Australian Bureau of Statistics found that when embodied emissions are taken into account, construction is the fourth largest indirect emitting sector behind manufacturing, electricity, gas, water, waste services, and transport. But adaptive reuse of buildings saves about 40% of embedded carbon when compared with demolishing and rebuilding, and there are many examples across Melbourne of this happening, protecting buildings and the stories that go with them [2].
The Integrated Water Management Plan notes that the increase in impervious surfaces alters the natural water flow and by protecting our heritage gardens and public spaces we can improve water quality and management.
We know, as written in the discussion paper, Heritage People, Place by the City of Melbourne, that: Heritage … “is at the heart of community identity … It is an essential part of the present we live in and the future we will build. It is passed on to us and it is the inheritance we pass on to future generations. Places are considered significant because of people’s relationship with them. This relationship is at the heart of heritage conservation." 1 The_Carbon_Footprint_of_Australias_Construction_S.pdf
2 Kate Jones, Transforming History, Domain April 26-27, 2024
4. The vision for the Moorabbin Activity Centre includes: "Moorabbin Activity Centre will be a revitalised, green and family-friendly place to live, work and visit, with a thriving local community....Moorabbin will be a community hub with leafy tree-lined streets and pocket parks. Better and more accessible community services and open spaces will create a better quality of life for existing and future residents."
The Victorian Planning Authority's vision gels with the significant number of reasons, outlined above, to protect heritage, and contribute to good urban planning. I will continue to advocate, seek meetings with Ministers, work with and connect community groups, work with neighbouring councils and promote sensitive, orderly and proper planning.
Faiza Nouman - Candidate for Boyd Ward
1.Yes
Comment: I wholeheartedly agree with this statement. Preserving Bayside's heritage is key to maintaining the unique character of our community. It also strengthens our identity and offers future generations the opportunity to appreciate the historical significance of our region. I believe that heritage protection must be a priority for the Council, with ongoing efforts to maintain, protect, and celebrate these valuable assets.
2.Yes
Comment: I found this document insightful and agree with the need for Councillors to take an active role in heritage protection. It provides practical guidance on the responsibilities and actions required to safeguard heritage, and I fully support initiatives that ensure our local heritage is protected while balancing modern development needs.
3.Yes
Comment: Absolutely. Protecting our neighbourhood's unique character is essential to preserving what makes Bayside a special place to live. I support the progression of The Bayside Heritage Action Plan and would advocate for more resources to expedite studies like the Interwar Heritage Study. I believe in working collaboratively with the community to ensure that heritage protection is at the forefront of Council decisions.
4.I believe heritage protection and development can coexist. Thoughtful planning and development should prioritize heritage preservation while allowing for growth and modernization in line with community needs. I would advocate for clear guidelines that protect heritage sites from overdevelopment and ensure that new projects respect the architectural and cultural history of our neighborhoods. At the same time, I recognize the importance of densification and would push for innovative, sustainable development solutions that enhance livability without compromising our heritage.
Kylie McIntosh - Candidate for Boyd
1.Yes absolutely
2.Yes
Comment: Among other things, this document highlights that of all the heritage places in Victoria, councils are responsible for the protection of 90% of these, emphasising the importance of council's role here!
3.Yes.
Comment: Acting to retain Bayside's unique character is one of my priorities stated during my election campaign, which has been informed by conversations with local residents on the matter over a number of years. While it is generally understood that change is inevitable, particularly in the context of our growing population, I believe it does not have to mean the loss of much loved and valued local heritage buildings, precincts, trees, nature reserves, parks and gardens.
4.Comment: This is likely to be particularly challenging in the face of both population pressures and as noted in your question, increasing state government pressure. A starting point for ensuring heritage protection is having a clear and current heritage action plan (as per Q3) to support these efforts in addition to ongoing activities to recognise and celebrate our heritage assets and as such raising awareness of the importance of this to the broader community. In talking to Bayside residents about their concerns and priorities, it is clear that inappropriate urban development and the risk of losing Bayside's unique character, which stems in large part from its history and heritage assets is a commonly held concern. As these pressures are statewide, it will also be important to maintain an awareness of challenges and successes in other municipalities which may help to inform local efforts.
To summarise: (1) listen to community, (2) have a current heritage action plan in place, (3) ensure ongoing activities to celebrate & raise awareness of local heritage assets, (4) ongoing learning from local and other councils' experiences to help inform ongoing improvement efforts, including robust pushback as appropriate.
Responses were not received from the following candidates for Boyd Ward:
Jane Proskurnya
Nicholas Healy
Christine Barca responded: Thank you for your email and understanding. It is indeed a busy time.
Castlefield Ward Candidates responses to Heritage and Neighbourhood Character Questionnaire prepared by Bayside Heritage Group
Penelope Hansen - Candidate for Castlefield Ward
1.Yes, Bayside has beautiful heritage homes and buildings. I lived ia a Victorian for over thirty years in Brighton, which I absolutely loved. These buildings must be protected.
2.No, I have not read the Heritage Document.
3.Yes to 3. I would champion this. We need to protect our history in our beautiful bayside location. Bayside is unique because of these.
4.In response to 4, I think we need a balance between mainaining our heritage buildings and development. Strict restrictions must apply to proposed developments. I am concerned to that our ageing infrastructure cannot cope with over development. Drainage is a perfect example. Finally, we need to preserve our green spaces at all costs.
Tim Wood - Candidate for Castlefield
1.Yes
2.Yes
3.Yes
4.I think there are key strategies that apply - obviously community engagement, integrated planning, I promote adaptive reuse , collaboration with government, and improved monitoring and reporting with regular assessments and transparency.
Elli Murray - Candidate for Castlefield
1.Yes, I agree
2.Yes
3.Yes
4.We need to ensure that heritage protection overlays need to be in place for houses of significance eg Edwardian houses. We need to advocate for measured development that doesn’t lead to over-densification in any one area.
Toni Armstrong - Candidate for Castlefield
1. Totally agree in preserving our heritage. I have just returned from a holiday in Scotland and Ireland and I revelled in how they preserved the buildings from their local history. When I returned to Australia, I felt sad that so many of our buildings have been raized. Admittedly our local history does not go back beyond the 1850's, I still think we have a responsibility to our future generations that we try our hardest to preserve our heritage buildings and assets.
2. Yes, I have.
3. I will need to bring myself up to speed with the petition and minutes. But if I can help with championing neighbourhood character and heritage, then I am in.
4. I have lived most of my life in Bayside (since age 7) and I am absolutely not in favour of high density living/projects. I would love to preserve the village feel of our beautiful bayside, and at the council level I am 100% in favour of preserving our heritage. Even though I know that the state government has priorities we have to abide by - but if possible I will fight any desecration of our history and overdevelopment.
Hamish Hughes - Candidate for Castlefield
1.Yes
2.Yes
3.Yes. Further, in relation to questions 3, I would push Council to go beyond what is, to me, the unhealthy habit of simply resolving to receive a report, but instead drive a vote on any recommendations received in said report. To my mind, there is nothing more wasteful of council resources and disrespectful of community voices than to engage in the box-ticking exercise of generating a report without taking action. In particular, I think that looking for neighbourhoods that are suitable for broad overlays, rather than focusing necessarily on individual properties, will be important.
4. On question 4, I am strongly opposed to the state government's continued power grab around development and densification. While I am not a knee-jerk opponent to additional development in Bayside, I believe that the onus needs to be on developers to demonstrate:
a) That the development contributes to (or at least doesn't actively detract from) the unique character of Bayside neighbourhoods;
b) That the proposed development is fit for purpose for the needs of the community and the people who want to live there, rather than simply the most profitable option for the developer. To my mind, a perfect example of failure on this front is the Hampton Quarter, which has produced mostly tiny apartments not suitable for families, most of which appear to have been sold offshore as property investments, which has led to a poorly populated development, while also imposing significant amenity costs on the surrounding area;
c) That adequate infrastructure is being provided (by the developer, the council, and the state government) to cope with the population influx. It is all well and good for Spring Street to propose massive population increases, but without adding significant infrastructure to cope (not only transport, but also schools, community centres, water & sewage, etc.) all they are doing is reducing the amenity of the existing residents in order to generate more stamp duty revenues for the state coffers.
Colleen Harkin responded: I'd be happy to have a conversation with you about this. Im interested to hear your thoughts and share some 'thought bubbles' I have about ensuring neigborhood character is maintained. We will arrange a time to speak with Colleen.
No response was received from the following Candidates:
Kevin Howard
Karen Clements
James Catlin
Richard Campbell
Amanda McSweeny
Anne Fitzgerald
Jarrod Kanizay
Bella Irlich
Robyn Buccheri
Bleazby Ward Candidates responses to Heritage and Neighbourhood Character Questionnaire prepared by Bayside Heritage Group
Jensen Galvin - Candidate for Bleazby Ward
1.Yes. Comment: One of the reasons I love Bayside so much is our fanastic neighbourhood character, greatly contributed to by our historic buildings, landscapes, places and facilities. We in Bayside and the Bleazby Ward are rich with history.
2.Yes
3.Yes. Comment: Overdevelopment is rife in our community. Alongside it, is irresponsbile development, wherein our neighbourhoods are not consulted before developements are undertaken. Our neighbourhoods in Bayside should be protected - thus, I am campaigning on a platform of stopping irresponsbile development, assisting us in protecting the neighbourhood character and heritage in our beautiful council.
4.The current actions of the Victorian Government are deplorable in an area of such heritage and character. We must lobby the State Government's Local Council Minister and Planning Minister to ensure our Bayside voice is heard. Additionaly, we can implement construction site standards to make it harder for large developers to destroy our footpaths, roads and flora/fauna whilst also tearing apart our community's heritage and character. We need to make it more difficult for developers in Bayside - in doing so, we may impact upon our community's deterioration at the hands of the State Government.
Lyn Maver - Candidate for Bleazby Ward
1.Yes I definitely agree. I love our rich history and charming streets of Heritage Historic buildings, and I would strongly advocate to protect them.
2.Yes I have read it and would do my utmost to follow it.
3.Yes – I wasn’t at that meeting but understand your concerns and would have to familiarise myself with this action plan.
4.Obviously the Government has real concerns about the lack of housing available, so some sort of compromise will need to be met where we as Bayside Council need to protect our wonderful Heritage Houses as top priority.
John Rundell - Candidate for Bleazby Ward
1.Yes, subject to my comment below.
At the time of initial classification, heritage properties can be subject to a loss in value of up to 1/3 upon being classified as heritage. An owner should have the right to support or reject a Council imposed initial heritage classification. In the alternate, compensation should be provided for the significant loss in value.
2.Yes, subject to my comment below.
The document is equivocal on the potential adverse impact on value loss upon initial classification and the additional planning obligations for renovations etc. It avoids addressing owners concerns about any adverse impact and loss of value of their home being given heritage classification.
3.Yes, subject to my comment below.
Comment: Yes, for those properties of outstanding character I would advocate strongly. Ther are some properties that have been classified that Id doubt their significant heritage value. Owners should be part of the consultation process and have the right of veto unless a one-off unique property that is clearly worthy of heritage classification
4.Each application needs to be reviewed on its merits. The Council is at risk of losing planning approval to the state Government. To be against every development and renovation or densification application risks losing any ability of the Bayside Council to influence sympathetic development.
Lily Andrews - Candidate for Bleazby Ward
1. As a lifetime resident of Bayside, I wholeheartedly agree with the statement about the importance of protecting and celebrating our area's rich history and heritage. Bayside's unique character is deeply rooted in its historic buildings, landscapes, places, and objects, which collectively contribute to the community's sense of identity and pride.
Over the years, I've witnessed firsthand the changes in our community, and this has only reinforced my belief that there is indeed a lot to protect and be proud of. The historic elements of Bayside are not just relics of the past; they are living testaments to our community's journey and evolution. They provide a tangible link to our shared history, helping us understand where we've come from and informing our path forward.
These heritage assets contribute significantly to Bayside's liveability and character. Whether it's the charming Victorian-era buildings, the picturesque coastal landscapes, or the various historical landmarks scattered throughout our suburbs, each element adds depth and richness to our urban fabric. They create a unique sense of place that sets Bayside apart from other areas and fosters a strong sense of community among residents.
Moreover, our historical places and objects serve as powerful educational tools. They offer opportunities for both long-time residents and newcomers to learn about the area's past, fostering a deeper appreciation for our community's heritage. This shared knowledge and appreciation contribute to community cohesion, as we collectively value and take pride in our local history.
I've seen how the preservation of our heritage has positively impacted our community. It has not only maintained the aesthetic appeal of our neighborhoods but has also contributed to the area's economic vitality by attracting visitors and enhancing property values. Furthermore, the adaptive reuse of historic buildings has shown how we can respect our past while meeting present needs, demonstrating that heritage conservation and progress can go hand in hand.
Given these benefits, I strongly support the Council's commitment to protecting and celebrating our heritage. It's crucial that we continue to preserve these irreplaceable assets for future generations. By doing so, we ensure that the unique character and identity of Bayside endure, allowing future residents to experience the same sense of pride and connection to the place that we enjoy today.
In conclusion, as someone who has seen Bayside evolve over time, I can attest to the immense value of our historical heritage. It's not just about preserving old buildings or objects; it's about maintaining the soul of our community. The Council's focus on this vital function is commendable and essential for ensuring that Bayside remains a liveable, characterful, and cohesive community for years to come.
2. Yes, I have read & agree with it
3. Yes Certainly
If elected to Council, I would absolutely champion Neighborhood Character and Heritage. Our community's rich history and unique character are integral to what makes Bayside special, and I'm committed to preserving and celebrating these aspects. The recent petition signed by over 1000 residents calling for progression of the Bayside Heritage Action Plan clearly demonstrates how deeply our community values its heritage. This level of engagement is inspiring and aligns perfectly with my own passion for protecting our local identity.
As a councilor, I would prioritize the review of the Heritage Action Plan, ensuring it comprehensively addresses our community's concerns. I would push for the timely completion of the Interwar Heritage Study and any necessary Gap analysis, recognizing their crucial role in identifying and protecting significant heritage assets that might otherwise be overlooked.
I believe in taking a proactive approach to heritage protection, advocating for increased resources and funding for these initiatives. This could include exploring the potential for additional heritage overlays where appropriate and working to streamline the process for heritage assessments and protections. By doing so, we can act swiftly to safeguard at-risk properties and precincts.
Community engagement would be at the heart of my approach. I would ensure that residents' voices are heard in heritage-related decisions through regular forums and consultations. Additionally, I would promote education and awareness programs about our local heritage, fostering a sense of pride and stewardship among residents.
Importantly, I recognize that protecting our heritage isn't at odds with progress. Instead, it enhances our community's livability, boosts property values, and contributes to the unique character that makes Bayside such a desirable place to live. I would work to find innovative ways to balance heritage preservation with the need for urban development, ensuring that new projects respect and enhance our neighborhood character.
By championing Neighborhood Character and Heritage on the Council, I would strive to ensure that Bayside remains a vibrant, historically rich community that honors its past while looking to the future. Our heritage is not just about preserving old buildings; it's about maintaining the soul of our community and ensuring that future generations can experience and appreciate the rich history that makes Bayside special. If elected, I promise to be a strong, persistent voice for heritage protection, working tirelessly to preserve the unique character of our beloved Bayside for current and future generations.
4. To address the pressure from the Victorian Government for densification around the Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) and activity centers, I would advocate for a nuanced approach. This would involve working closely with urban planners and heritage experts to identify areas where increased density can be accommodated without compromising significant heritage assets.
I would push for the creation of detailed precinct plans that clearly define protected heritage areas and zones where sympathetic development can occur. These plans would guide developers on how to integrate new buildings with existing heritage streetscapes, ensuring that any new construction respects and enhances the local character.
Additionally, I would promote adaptive reuse of heritage buildings where possible, demonstrating that historic structures can be repurposed to meet modern needs while preserving their cultural significance. This approach can often satisfy both heritage protection goals and the need for increased housing or commercial space.
By taking this balanced approach, we can protect Bayside's unique character and heritage while also meeting the broader urban planning objectives set by the state government. The key is to ensure that development is thoughtful, well-planned, and respects the heritage values that make our community special.
Responses were not received from the following Candidates for Bleazby Ward.
Robert Irlich
Jerry Soldartos
Tony Fischett