This week the issues will be the upcoming Banco public meeting and whether or not Council's alternative plan for the area cuts the mustard. Also the Youth Services Advisory Committee meet for the second time on Friday. A bubbling issue is child care and the need for Council to get serious about boosting access to it in our area. There will be more pressure from SP and other groups on this in the weeks ahead...

Meetings this week include Finance Comm on Tuesday night, Planning and Community Development on Tues night (both at Richmond Town Hall) and on Wednesday night at 7pm at Napier St Youth Center, the SP public meeting on public transport in Yarra. All welcome.

SP Councillor stall this Saturday from noon outside Safeways, Smith St, Collingwood...

From the Socialist Party Councillor at Yarra City Council, Stephen Jolly



Comrades and Yarra Residents,

The first Council meeting of 2005 was held on Tuesday with a packed gallery and media present. It was the “the most exciting Council meeting in 10 years” according to one onlooker.



The motion on public transport (see below) that 5 of the elected 9 Councillors signed up for before the November election was lost 5-4 after a lively debate. All the public submissions on the night and from the Councillors of the Green Party and Socialist Party spoke strongly of the need to take on the car, oil and road industries by practically supporting those groups in our area actively fighting for public transport and against the road fetish of the State Government.



The motion was opposed by the ALP (Mayor Kay Meadow, Paul D’Agostino and Annabel Barbour), the right-wing independent Jackie Fristacky and the pro-ALP independent Judy Morton. They spoke of the need to, at best, concentrate on lobbying in contradiction to activism, and of fiscal responsibility – as if we don’t have a responsibility to stop our city being choked to death by roads and cars.



Meadows and D’Agostino – reflecting the scare campaign of the ALP and their friends in the bureaucracy undertaken in the weeks before the Council meeting – even argued that the motion would lead to job losses. They had organized a letter from their mates in the Australian Service Union leadership to back their claim.



I pointed out the hypocrisy of these neo-liberals on Council reinventing themselves as defenders of the working class. “Hell will freeze over before those supporting this motion will agree to job losses (in Council’s transport department etc)” I pointed out. I said I believed the ASU would be better off spending their time fighting for better EBA outcomes (the last EBA at Yarra City Council moved workers from a 35 to a 38 hour week and the first pay rise was for 2%!). It was left to me to end the phone monitoring of Council staff in the weeks after I was elected – where were the ASU leaders? Instead they write pathetic letters for their political mates.



The saddest part of the this tense debate was when Annabel Barbour ignored her pre-election promise to support an even more hardline version of the motion and swung in behind the party line. 11 days earlier she had been read the riot act by the ALP State Member of Parliament, Richard Wynne (and Meadows and D’Agostino) in his office and unfortunately caved in. Ironically, rather than strengthening her position inside the party, she weakened it.



On the Banco development for Smith St, Council has knocked back the proposal. We do not believe that two 11 storey towers, a supermarket complex, 150 units and a carpark for cosmopolitan Smith St is what the area needs. We need child care centers, neighbourhood houses and libraries to match the increased housing in the area. This development has none of these social services.



In March Council will call a massive public meeting to allow residents to discuss the development and decide what they want to do about it. Banco will now go to the State Government’s unelected VCAT body to get approval for the project. Council has asked the State Planning Minister to “call it in”, bypassing VCAT. Growing community opposition to the project will place increased pressure on the State Government.



We in the Socialist Party have pledged to do all it takes to stop any project that the local community rejects. Union work bans and community picket lines are all possible options.



Another area of contention is proposed development of the Hat Factory in Abbotsford, a heritage listed industrial site that Burbank want to turn into apartments. For technical reasons the Council has the final say on this and the developer cannot run off to the State Government or VCAT. Therefore we want to get a good outcome for area with provision for affordable housing, sourcing of local labour by the builder, and no retreat on height or parking restrictions to benefit the developer.



On youth service, we have had some big progress. Yesterday the Youth Services Committee that I Chair met for the first time and discussed a draft new youth policy that amongst other things proposes a big improvement in Council’s Vacation Care programme and much improved youth services in terms of spaces, personnel and projects. Equally importantly it proposes a cultural shift towards a youth participation approach to service delivery. Watch this space for more details.



Everyday I am taking up the day-to-day concerns of residents on issues from dodgy development, to small businesses no longer getting recycling (how ironic that businesses have to call on a Socialist Councillor for help!), car parking issues, support for sports clubs in the area and much, much more. It is these bread and butter issues that many people judge the Socialist Party on and we must deliver two or three times better than the bigger, pro-capitalist parties. So far the feedback from residents and community groups has been positive, but we have a lot more hard work to do.



The other regular event is the weekly Councillor stall outside Safeway in Smith St, Collingwood every Saturday from 12 noon to 1.30pm. This is becoming increasingly well visited by residents who want to talk to me about Council issues, and indeed issues as diverse as Iraq, socialism and the drug trade. We have information on the Banco development on the stall as well as the usual SP literature and paper.



Every month I will send out this newsletter. Soon our web page (socialistpartyaustralia.org) will have a blog on our Council work. Please keep in touch. Those of you more interested in our ideas and activities should consider joining the party, you can contact us via our web page. Alternatively you can make a financial donation for our current campaign to employ a fulltime organizer for the party in Melbourne.



Any local resident with issues of concern or questions are strongly encouraged to contact me on the phone or email or come down any Saturday to the Smith St stall.



Comradely Greetings

Stephen Jolly, SP Councillor for Langridge Ward, City of Yarra



Appendix

Tranport Motion moved at Tuesday’s Council meeting



For: Cllrs Jolly (SP), and Maltzhan, Farrar and Sekron (Green)



Against: Cllrs Meadows, D’Agostino and Barbour (ALP), Fristacky and Morton (Independents)



Motion on transport policy

1. Background: urgent need for Yarra action on transport

(a) The number one environmental problem in Yarra is the huge, and growing, volume of traffic on our roads. The importance of this issue to residents and businesses in the City of Yarra is clearly demonstrated through the intense controversies that repeatedly surround Council processes designed to ameliorate the negative impacts of this traffic, and was recognised in the resolution on Integrated Transport adopted at Council’s December 2004 meeting.

(b) Traffic growth is underpinned by the steady expansion of the freeway system and the neglect of alternative transport modes.

(c) These transport policies, which adversely affect Yarra, are not inevitable consequences of Melbourne’s urban form or the intrinsic nature of the car. Practical alternative policies exist and have been proved successful in cities that are similar to Melbourne. Current policies are the result of technical and budget choices that can be changed. The need for this change is urgent, but will not be achieved without significant improvement in the plans and practices of the State government and its transport agencies.

(d) Comparisons with other cities show that, with consistent application of appropriate policies and budget allocations, significant reductions in the volume of car traffic in the City of Yarra can be achieved by stabilising the growth in travel and by increasing the share of travel by modes other than the car in Melbourne as a whole. Achieving this ‘mode shift’ must be the fundamental aim of transport policy in Yarra and metropolitan Melbourne.



2. Transport strategy

Because of the urgency of the current transport situation, Council resolves to develop a transport policy strategy for Yarra that is pro-active in promoting changes to Melbourne’s transport policies. The aim of the strategy is to achieve the ‘mode shift’ necessary to reduce traffic in Yarra and improve the local environment for residents.



The strategy will build on the report requested in the motion on Integrated Transport adopted at Council’s December 2004 meeting, and further position Yarra to:

(a) undertake actions within the City’s direct control to improve conditions for pedestrians, cyclists and public transport;

(b) lobby governments and service providers for improvements to public transport services in Yarra;

(c) advocate for changes to metropolitan transport policies to shift priority and funding from road construction to public transport, walking and cycling. This includes a moratorium on building freeways in Melbourne that contribute to increasing traffic through our municipality; and the establishment of public planning processes to permit expansion, improvement and integration of a multi-modal public transport system offering ‘go anywhere, anytime’ convenience;

(d) work with other councils and organisations to establish an anti-freeway coalition;

(e) change the City’s administrative structure and work programs necessary to achieve the above.



3. Council action

Acting on the above, and in particular responding to the traffic threat posed by the Mitcham-Frankston Freeway, will be of the highest priority for the Council, and will have primary call on council resources. Council expects that up to 1 per cent of its annual expenditure will be allocated to acting on Council’s transport strategy.



Actions required to achieve this are set out below:

(a) Council hereby establishes a Transport Policy Committee (TPC), comprised of seven members as follows:

(i) Councillors Barbara, Jolly and Maltzahn;

(ii) three additional members selected by the Councillor members of the Committee. These must be either individuals with experience in advocating for the policies outlined above, or representatives of organisations with such experience;

(iii) the CEO (or delegate) as a non-voting member.

(b) The terms of reference for this committee will be to:

(i) develop Yarra’s transport policy strategy by September 2005;

(ii) provide advice on Yarra’s capacity to implement the strategy and any necessary changes

(iii) engage with residents, businesses, other relevant organisations, municipal peak bodies and other tiers of government in the formation of the strategy and its action plans.

(c) The TPC will liaise with other relevant committees as necessary.

(d) The TPC is a special committee under sections 86 and 88 of the Local Government Act 1989 and shall report monthly to Council pursuant to section 86(5) of the Local Government Act 1989.

(e) Council resolves that pending delivery of the strategy, the TPC may make recommendations to Council on interim measures that may include financial assistance to community groups for work consistent with the aims of the strategy.



4. Review of Transport Policy Committee

The role, terms of reference and membership of the Transport Policy Committee shall be reviewed by Council at its first meeting in 2006, or at such later date as Council shall determine.



Moved: Cr. Maltzahn

Seconded: Cr. Jolly