Hi Folks

WE'VE REACHED 100 SIGNATURES! WAY TO GO!

Let's keep going--please share with your friends and family and urge them to help. This is a David and Goliath moment!

Keep in mind, while I'll send your e-signatures to the Planning Minister, the only REAL objections that will count are your individual submissions through their engage.vic.gov.au site. This petition is a great way for us to get the word out, so please share it, but the most important thing is to lodge your objection at ENGAGE VIC. And by all means, CALL Steve Dimopoulos' and Sonya Kilkenny's offices to tell them you object.

This is ultimately a political decision. We are not asking for donations, although Change.org makes that a little bit unclear. Donations go to them, not to us. We just need your support to get the word out.

Please go to the Engage Vic site, search "Talbot Quarry" and it'll take you to C178. Then scroll down and 'Start Survey'. When I submit this petition on 4 June, it will NOT show your addresses or your email addresses (Change.org protects that information). It will only show the names and suburbs of those who signed. So the Minister will notice the number but won't count them as actual objections. The petition DOES make it possible for me to reach out, so it's very valuable. 

In your submission, you can talk about worries about LFG migration, structure collapse, quicksand, amenity, vibration, etc. You can also complain that despite the complexity of the site, the community was only given five weeks to offer our feedback. Council is furious about that part! They haven't had time to look at it either.

OTHER NEWS:

I have an interview with The Age tomorrow about this. Monash Council is very much opposed to C178, so that's great for us! Have a look on the COM website if you're curious and read the Officers' report. One of the things that is very bad in C178, is that if it goes forward there are no restrictions on height of structures. And, Monash won't be in a position to guide the development plan or to protect us from any of it. Also, we won't be able to take them to VCAT to object, as we've already done about five times. 

I can tell you with reasonable confidence, having read all the engineering reports, they are very likely to put 6-storey buildings next to Talbot Park and along Huntingdale Road because Zones 1 and 2 are the most contaminated and pose the most geotechnical risks.

There was specific mention of 'overshadowing' of existing properties, including Talbot Park, in Council's objection (which you can read on their site). At the recent community consultation session with the developer, when I asked the question whether the big structures would have to be built over the most contaminated areas at the recent community consultation, they did not answer the question (I know that they need the height to expel the landfill gas due to inversion layers). In fact, the lead engineer spoke for less than a minute in total. The tall bits will not likely be in the centre of the site, as they said, but rather at sections facing current residential housing. 

The site poses no risk whatsoever as it currently sits. There are ducks, frogs, birds of prey and foxes living back there. When they start digging in it, or build on it, that's when the trouble could start and we might have another Brookland Greens Estate or Opal Towers on our hands. If things went in that direction, we have the support of the attorneys for the Brookland Greens lawsuit, offering a significant layer of protection. But we can stop them now and avoid all of it!

Monash Council will vote on it tomorrow, and I suspect they will vote to reject. Feel free to write your councillors tomorrow and urge them to vote to reject C178.

If this goes forward, Monash (and we) will have no recourse what, where and how they build it. AND, Monash will be responsible for monitoring landfill gas migration and geotechnical issues for 36 years, which it simply doesn't have the expertise to do! The developer only has to look after it for 5, but Council and residents will have to foot the bill for any failures.

Let's go folks! If you'd be happy to help letter drop, please email oldquarrysite@gmail.com.

Thanks!

Curt