Welcome to this month’s video message.
Really interesting location this time, we’re at Transpacific Clean Away’s site in Victory Rd Clarinda.
We’re going to be talking about what Kingston Council is doing with our Green Wedge Plan, and where we are today is a focal part of that.
You’ll all be aware that over the past few years we’ve been developing a plan in accordance with the cessation of landfill activity in this area. It’s a big operation that has served the city and the broader community well over a long period of time but the operation of these sites is drawing to a close.
So the question has been – what do we do with them after that?
And it’s important that everyone understands the practical message and the practicalities of rehabilitiating sites that were used as landfill.
They take time, there are processes that can take up to 30 years to complete.
What’s going to happen in the first instance is that once these sites are full – and you’ll be able to see around me we’re standing on a site from which you can get a view of the DandenongRanges and Port Phillip Bay – once this site is complete and it’s properly capped there will be a series of tracks and trails through here.
I’ve been fortunate to be joined today by Olga Ghiri, Transpacific Clean Away Stakeholder and Community Relations Manager. Thanks for joining us Olga.
Olga: Thank-you Mayor. It’s a pleasure to be here.
Well I thought I would start by providing the community with some context on how we got to be here today. Most people wouldn’t realise that a landfill was once a quarry and quarrying activities date back to the 1890s here in Clayton. So a void has been left at the site from previous quarrying activities and then it’s filled a vital community service as a waste facility such as landfills.
Mayor Gledhill: Olga we hear about these sites needing to be capped. Can you just explain to us what that is.
Olga: Sure, it is a highly complex engineered process, but to keep it very simple it’s a way of covering the landfill – once it’s filled – with layers that will protect it in the long-term and make it usable for the community to use as a park, as a golf course, as a grassed area.
We are planning on a major rehabilitation process for this area. So the residents will have, as the Mayor has just pointed out, 360 degree views around to the bay and an area where they can have a walk along the picnic trails. This is a great opportunity to give something back to the community, which is what we’re pleased to be doing.
Mayor Gledhill: If I can just add Olga, the position Council has adopted on this is that we’re going to do this as well as it can be done. It’s going to be done properly. It’s got to be sustainable.
This is something that in 100 years people are going to be looking back at this site. I think it’s worth people understanding that in areas of Melbourne that we don’t association with the waste industry – Camberwell Junction used to be a tip site, Albert Park was a tip site. I think Princes Park up in Caulfield was a tip site.
Now over a period of time these sites are rehabilitated and then they become a fantastic community asset. It’s just the time, and just be assured that the process that we’ve adopted, and Transpacific are really keen to be a part of and are supporting us in any way they can, is going to result in a sustainable and really useful outcome for the Kingston community.
Well Olga I really appreciate you taking the time to speak with us today. It’s important that residents are kept as well informed as possible. So thank-you very much for your time.
Kingston Draft Budget
I wanted to talk a little today about the Budget. Council and Council officers have been working on what is our most important document of the year for a number of months now, with what we think is a very good package. There’s something in it, we think, for everybody with a modest rate rise of 4.25% and important capital works programs like Mordialloc Lifesaving Club, Ben Kavanagh Reserve, a hub at Carrum, maternal and child health services, early learning up in Westall and various road and drainage programs that are just essential to the function of the city.
Some important dates to remember around this Budget for your own participation.
On the 6th of May there will be a Budget Information Session at Council’s Cheltenham offices.
Submissions which you may wish to make on the Budget close on the 27th of May.
And the Budget will be adopted in early June.
Volunteers Week
I want to close by mentioning Volunteers Week. It commences on May 11th. Without volunteers, Kingston just wouldn’t work. People at football clubs, at lifesaving clubs, at the CFA, people who help at the library, meals on wheels – the list just goes on and on and on.
They are only officially recognised once a year, they do it all year round. There are people who have been volunteering one way or another for 40 and 50 years.
And they still look forward to that activity but it’s important that we recognise them. The City of Kingston runs a couple of volunteer recognition events.
But just remember during that week if you’ve got a neighbor or a family member or anyone you know who does take the time to volunteer in a particular area, even if it’s in an area you don’t have anything to do with, it’s a really good opportunity to say thanks and to recognise what they do.
Because, as I said, without them all the things we want to do simply wouldn’t happen.
Well I hope you’ve gotten something out of this month’s video message.
Again thank-you to Olga and Transpacific Clean Away for having us here. Remember, if you want to, make a submission to the Budget – don’t delay it, don’t put it off. And you can always contact your ward Councillors, or me, if you want to discuss the Budget further.
As I said before it’s your Budget so make the most of the opportunity.
Thanks very much.