There are two good articles in today's Yarra Leader.

Page 3 on the TAB about to be opened on the corner of Smith and Stanley Streets.

Page 1 + 3 on the Victoria Park walls saga

The militant Electrial Trades Union today donated 2000 stamps to the Kids in Kouncil campaign to help them build for their action at the upcoming Yarra Council meeting on Tuesday 14th June. Once again the organised working class come to the aid of genuine community campaigns. It would be great to see other groups like the Green Party helping out too....

The SP (City branch) has called a public meeting on the Shapelle Corby affair for this Tuesday, May 31st, 7pm, Trades Hall, cnr Lygon + Victoria Sts, Carlton South. I will be the speaker.

Comrades

It is vital you come to the next Council meeting.

1. The child care action, see previous email. There will be a large media presence, not just from the two local papers. Already there are a huge number of children and parents/carers who have rsvp'ed for the night.

2. Other community groups are attending with their issues with Council, including those Abbotsford residents concerned about the future of Victoria Park.

3. The proposed official 2005/06 budget will be presented. Residents are then given until the next Council meeting in July to discuss and debate the budget. If it is anything like previous budgets, you can be guaranteed that there will be the mother of all debates on the budget.

Don't miss this meeting.

The Socialist Party is fully supporting the upcoming massive child care protest at Yarra City Council, for Tuesday 14th June. We support Council action to fix the problem instead of the fake, hollow warm and fuzzy noises we get from the right-wing Greens and the neo-liberal line from the ALP.

Read this leaflet from the campaign:

Who Cares about Child Care?

Kids in Kouncil Childcare Campaign

In the City of Yarra there is a childcare crisis

On June 14th the newly formed Kids in Kouncil Childcare Campaign will arrive at the Yarra City Council meeting at 7.10pm

Simply, we will ask our council to care about childcare and provide access to childcare places for all residents in Yarra.

We need you

Mums, Dads, babies, kids, grandparents and about-to-be-parents to attend the...

Kids in Kouncil childcare campaign

7.10pm start time

for only 30 minutes

Richmond Town Hall

333 Bridge Rd, Richmond

Tuesday 14 June 2005

Kids should be instructed that the usual restrictions on bad behaviour will not apply. Our kids voices need to be heard. This action will take only half an hour of our time.

It is an easy, quick and extremely effective way to ask our Council to care about childcare and provide new places. Circulate this notice through any e-lists and tell all your friends. Your presence will make a difference. Bring your kids and their voice.

If you care about childcare, join other concerned parents in the City of Yarra.

Show you care about childcare

‘Inner city revolt’, by Ellen Whinnett,

Herald Sun, 25 May 05



A COUNCILLOR wants the State Government to intervene in a planning dispute in Collingwood.



Stephen Jolly says the community will protest at developer Banco's plans to build a large flat and office complex in Smith St.



Cr Jolly said new plans Banco tendered to Yarra Council last week failed to ease community concerns.



"The first plans were totally outrageous; these plans are only outrageous," he said.



The dispute has been raging for two years.



Banco has appealed to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal against the council's decision to knock back the original planning permit application.



Banco has lodged amended plans, but Cr Jolly says the proposal for 157 flats, more office space and a supermarket was inappropriate.



"It will spew out extra cars and people into Collingwood without giving anything back to the community -- no childcare centre, no library," Cr Jolly said.



He called on Planning Minister Rob Hulls to intervene, saying he could bring both parties to the negotiating table.



"There will be development on this site," Cr Jolly said. "We are not a bunch of crazed anti-development councillors."



"Banco can either go to VCAT and bully this development in over the community's heads or they can negotiate it.



"If they don't negotiate, there will be picket lines in Smith St, there will be resistance."



Banco director Mario Lo Giudice said the new plans reflected the company's consultation with the community and the council last September.



He said it was inappropriate to discuss the issue because it was before the tribunal.



More than 1500 people objected to the original Banco application, saying it was out of step with the area.



A spokeswoman for Mr Hulls, Melissa Arch, said the minister had met councillors, including Cr Jolly, and it was agreed the council would develop an interim structure plan for the area.



She said the structure plan was the basis for any decisions on the site.



Herald and Weekly Times

Dear Comrades and Supporters,

I am finding it increasingly impossible to properly take up all the important concerns of residents: Victoria Park, Banco, child care, Noone St laneway, footpath trading, liquor licences, workers' rights etc.

Really - to do the job of Councillor properly - it should be fulltime. I believe Councillors who do the job properly actually have more power and responsibilities that State MPs, at least backbenchers.

The Socialist Party is currently raising the money to employ a fulltime organiser based in Melbourne, with much of their responsibilities being to support my role as Councillor. This will make my role as SP Councillor much more productivity and effective.

We still need to raise $4000 to get to our target to take on the organiser, Anthony Main, (who is currently a shop steward in the metal industry).

I am appealing to you directly, as a subscriber to this email list, to consider either a donation to this $4000 appeal or a regular donation to support the wages.


Yours in anticipation,

Stephen Jolly

Comrades

Anyone interested in how we would run the Council when we get a majority, should read "Liverpool: A city that dared to fight". It is the story, written by two central figures, of the Militant (now SP)-led Liverpool City Council, the fifth biggest in the UK, during the 1980s. (Then we were a group fighting for socialism inside the Labour Parties and Social Democratic parties of the world (including the ALP here), by the 1990s with the exodus of workers and youth from these parties and as their leaders dragged them to the right, we began independent work as standalone parties).

In the years we ran Liverpool Council, we built more homes than all the other Labour Councils added up together - plus leisure centers and the creation of over 500 jobs.

Only after Thatcher defeated the miners in 1985 was she able to defeat Liverpool, with the crucial help of the rightwing Labour and union leaders, who were embarrassed about the popularity of our ideas and actions. There is a pale echo of that today in the unholy alliance of ASU leaders, ALP and rightwing Green Councillors, and Council management, all competing as to who hates SP the most.

Get a deeper understanding of why SP is coming from in its Council work by reading this book.

Click here

Comrades,

Last Tuesday's Council meeting saw up to 100 local residents attend in another example of the growing grassroots democracy coming back to Richmond Town Hall after years of Kennettism and the aftereffects of Kennettism.

A small taste of the bigger mobilisation to come in the June meeting came with 4 children and four adults attending on the child care crisis, especially for 0-3 year olds. They asked questions during public question time about Yarra's response to this crisis, using the Port Philip Council's recent serious cash injection (under community pressure) as a model to follow.

Next month many more children and parents and carers will attend to keep up the pressure to spend on child care in this years budget.

Other residents attended on the issue of Victoria Park issue, concerned with the changes to the Master Plan that mean that only some of the perimeter wall will come down. They were also angry at the consultation around the issue, as many locals were not told about the changes. A motion was passed to support the revised Master Plan, with the exeption of the Ryder Stand which would require more community consultation. One resident questioned the secret negotiations between Collingwood Football Club management and our CEO and Mayor. Like me, they feel, the public pressure on Collingwood is what will ultimately lead to them coming up with a decent offer.

Council voted to keep Fitzroy Pool open all year, a great victory for local activism. The three main blows reigned on Yarra by the Kennett (closure of Fitzroy High, Richmond Secondary College and Fitzroy Pool) were all ultimately defeated - what a great example of the strength of community mobilisation in our area!

I lost a vote 7-2 (with Green Cllr Kathleen Maltzahn voting with me) over Friday's VCAT hearing on Banco. I wanted Council to instruct our lawyers to argue against Banco being allowed to submit alternative plans. The decision under review on Friday was Council's decision to reject Banco's original plans. If they come up with new plans, they in effect have agreed that we were right to block their original plans and ipso facto there is no case to review! Unfortunately the ALP and rightwing Green Councillors saw it differently.

This weeks Melbourne Times had three great letters from CAG, Paul Mees, and a group of Greeves St, Fitzroy residents support my position in the recent controversy over the Cheese Grater and Planning Department. I am told the Mayor and possibly the Planning Dept management are planning on replying to these letters in next weeks paper. This is great to see, open debate and discussion around serious issues. This is what the public want, I believe.

The budget is being discussed amongst Councillors as we speak. Soon a draft will be out for public consideration and debate. My choice is to vote for the budget, attempt to amend it and then vote for it, or pose an alternative. This will depend on what the majority on Council come up with. Watch this space.

Council admitted to have over 200 contractors in a report I commissioned on the level of OHS law and EBA compliance from contractors. This must be addressed in the future.

The footpath trading and liquor licencing issues were discussed again on Tuesday, at this I am not really sure as to whether a majority of Councillors will listen to residents and get change implemented in terms of new stronger laws and better compliance policed by Council. This will come clear over the next few weeks.

There is much movement in the Hoddle St area over getting better Vic Roads action on safety barriers. I met with the State member and local residents last night on the issue, with another meeting in one week. I am confident there will be a good result for residents.

No action from the State Dept of Human Services in terms of cleaning up and redesigning Noone St laneway in Clifton Hill. Residents are getting very angry and I can smell a public protest in the air if no action is taken soon.

The same goes for another issue on Council that will be either solved or escalated in the next few days.

The Smith St stall is continuing well, every Saturday from 12 noon outside Safeways in Smith St. Come down for a chat and coffee with me and my comrades any Saturday.

Here 'tis:





STORM THE CHAMBERS CHILDCARE CAMPAIGN





On June 14 the newly formed Storm the Chambers Childcare Campaign will arrive at the Yarra City Council meeting at 7.30pm with the 600 odd children currently languishing on childcare waiting lists in the municipality of Yarra.





WE NEED YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN





Currently the Yarra More Childcare Group are taking pledges from mothers and fathers who will bring their (and anyone else's children) to the JUNE 14 Yarra Council meeting, Richmond Town Hall, Bridge Road at 7.15pm. The children should be instructed that the usual restrictions on bad behavior will not apply. They need only be there for half an hour.





This action will have maximum impact and take only 1/2 hour of our time. It is an easy, quick and extremely effective way to make our point.





It can be made by Storm the Chambers mothers and fathers at their local council meetings, all over the country.





Circulate this notice through any lists that include mothers and fathers, tell all your friends










Dr Liz Conor

Postdoctoral Fellow

Department of English

University of Melbourne

Dear Editor



Steve Jolly should be congratulated, not condemned, for speaking out

about the appalling way Yarra council allowed a planning permit

extension for the "cheese grater" development.



Here we had an unpopular development that was fought bitterly by the

community and council, but approved by the unelected members of VCAT.

The developer was given two years to start work on the project, but

failed to do so. Yarra should have refused to grant an extension of

time, but instead did so without consulting anyone.



The question we should be asking is not why Cr. Jolly spoke out about

this appalling affair, but why the other Yarra councillors have not

yet done so. Councillors are there to represent the community, not

the bureaucracy.



Yours sincerely,



Paul Mees

At the April 2005 Yarra City Council meeting, I asked a ‘Question without Notice’ of the Acting Director of Planning, Jane Homewood, as to why a two year extension had been given to Ashlyn Enterprises for their Cheese Grater development in Fitzroy.



This extension had been approved without any consultation with Councillors or residents. The reason given by senior officers in the next few days was that the lack of consultation was regrettable, but because some demolition had occurred on site previously, the developer had four years to complete the work and therefore, in fact, had not really needed the extension. This was the position put by Council management to the Melbourne Times (MT, April 20th).



(Two years ago there had been a big community campaign to stop this development, followed by community outrage at VCAT for its approval of the development over the heads of Council and local residents. However, as the development was so ugly and unpopular, by the time the two year permit ran out this year, no development had taken place, and an extension was sought from Council.)



In the following weeks MT (20th April) under a headline “Red faces over cheese grater mistake”, I was (accurately) reported as saying: “If that’s true, it shows the laws are absolutely ludicrous and need to be changed”.



It has since emerged that in fact the demolition in no way absolved the developer from the need for an extension after their two years ran out.



I continued in MT: “It’s getting very close to the stage where radical action will have to be taken in relation to the planning department unless they do something very soon. There’s a crisis in confidence in the department. I want to see immediate improvement.



“Why does it take councillors acting like Sherlock Holmes to work out a secret extension given to the developer of the cheese grater? We’re expected to represent community interest, not to be Sherlock Holmes.”



The MT continued: “Cr Jolly said it highlighted the need to have structure plans across Yarra in place ‘so we didn’t have these bush-fires’.”



One Green Party Councillor later said they had been approached some of their rank and file asking why it was SP and not Green Councillors seeking improvements in the direction of planning at Yarra Council! Dr Paul Mees, Lecturer in Transport and Land Use Planning at Melbourne University wrote: “Steve Jolly should be congratulated, not condemned, for speaking out about the appalling way Yarra council allowed a planning permit extension for the "cheese grater" development.”



Yet this voicing of community concerns by me was translated in a letter to Yarra’s CEO, Lydia Wilson, from Australian Services Union Branch Secretary, Darrell Cochraine, to be: “’mud’ being thrown at (Council staff) for Cr Jolly’s own political purposes.” He also commented that: “public criticism of staff by any Councillor is clearly not productive as it affects the morale of staff.” This of course would be true if it occurred.



My job is to voice community concerns on Council. Many in the community believe there is a culture in City of Yarra (not just the planning department) that is harsh on residents and soft on developers and businesses generally.



We are no longer in the Jeff Kennett-era where the bureaucracy was supreme and not subjected to public scrutiny. No department is above criticism of the public and elected Councillors. I made a strong criticism of the Planning Department’s decision in MT and on Council and make no apology for it.



However I never attacked individual staff and never would – this can be seen clearly if people actually look at what I said to MT. In fact I am the only Councillor to raise pro-worker issues on Council such as the casualisation of the workforce at Yarra; ensuring contractors have EBAs and stick to industry work calender (I have report commissioned on this coming up at this Tuesday’s Council meeting); and even stopping the illegal phone message monitoring staff that had been in place.



If SP ran the Council we would change the political direction of the planning department, but not a single worker would be sacked. No other party represented on Council will give such a commitment to Council staff.



The ASU State leadership are wasting time on being dragged into political debates on Council (as they also did last December when they tried to suggest a better transport policy would lead to job cuts!), especially at a time when they have three members in the building regulation unit being witch-hunted by Yarra Council management.



These workers have been treated appalling by Council bosses, and are on stress leave, with one (who has given a decade of loyal service to Yarra) suffering a heart attack without as much as receiving a Get Well card from management. There has been nothing in the way of industrial action or even effective legal action from the ASU State leadership to defend these workers. Why not put even 10% of the energy they put into attacking me, into defending their members at Yarra? The reality is if the ASU leaders refuse to effectively defend their members, Council management will still face other action to defend these workers’ jobs.



I believe a union that signed away the 35-hour week for a 38-hour week in the last EBA for some Yarra staff and negotiated a tiny pay rise should be more self-reflective of its own performance. Speaking as a fulltime shop steward in Australia’s most militant and effective union, the CFMEU (construction division), I know many in similar unions share my views of the ASU leadership and feel sorry for its under-supported members.



Not surprisingly, SP’s political opponents on Council took advantage of the situation with their comments in MT (4th May). Cllr D’Agostino has the right to say what he wants to the newspapers, but I find it hypocritical that someone who doesn’t get out of bed in the morning without doing a cost benefit analysis tries to reinvent himself as a workers’ champion.



The central issue in all this that must not be lost is the need for the direction of planning in Yarra to be more in tune with the views of local residents. This central issue must and will continue to be discussed.