| December 2008 |
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Minutes of the 1 December 2008 meeting of the Kensington Association - End of Year Celebration On Monday a groups of stalwarts and loyalists enjoyed the End of Year Celebration. Association Chair, Richard Reilly, listed our major achievements for 2008: "I’d like to list the following achievements of the Kensington Association in 2008. This is not exhaustive, but we think it is very important to acknowledge the activities we’ve been working on during 2008. What follows are edited highlights of our year – ranging from the very large, like the Hands off Holland Park rally to getting a sign straightened in Kensington Banks: ° Organized community rally “Hands Off Holland Park” in June attended by over 600 residents – Hands Off Holland Park team, led by Tony Dare ° Secured television coverage of the rally on 3 channels, and several follow-up segments on ABC TV. – Cathy Sage ° Kensington Association submission to Eddington report review committee – Richard Reilly, Kaz Redding ° Rallied residents to attend the MCC Planning meeting that discussed the Eddington report, with the result that the committee passed a resolution opposing the East-West tunnel proposal. - Hands Off Holland Park team ° Many meetings with state and federal politicians, local councillors from both MCC and MVCC – Steering Committee ° Monitored and objected to proposed development along Hobsons Road – Chris Thorn ° Participated in the transition Committee between MVCC and MCC overseeing the reunification of Kensington – David Ettershank ° 1 July 2008 – The date marking the official reunification of Kensington under the City of Melbourne, the culmination of the Association campaign which lasted several years. ° Elected 3 new members to the Steering Committee – Justin Mansfield, Matt Hammond, Liam Cox ° Responsibility for Association website was taken over by Cory Boardman. ° Assisted local residents and MCC to resolve successfully the issue of dying trees in Bellair Street and restore the streetscape – David Ettershank ° Worked with Holy Rosary School to ensure Gower Street school crossing continued to be a supervised crossing – David Ettershank ° Continued work on the Kensington Estate-Holland Park area traffic management plan – David Ettershank, Geoff Cox ° Continued vigilance on traffic issues § Tennyson-Childers Streets § Eastwood-Chelmsford-Elizabeth Streets ° Participated in North Melbourne Recreation Reserve development committee – Clive Gartner ° Letter-boxed Kensington on several occasions, resulting in large turn-outs to rallies – Teams organised by Tony Dare ° City of Melbourne Community Service Grants – we’ve again been successful and received a grant of $5000 for 2009 – Tony Dare ° Elm Leaf Beetle liaison with MCC – Clive Gartner ° Liaison with Victorian Police – Community Liaison Officer – Therese Fitzgerald ° Participation in the Police Community Consultative Committee – Therese Fitzgerald ° Questionnaire sent to all candidates for City of Melbourne elections, and detailed analysis made public via the Kensington Association website – Justin Mansfield, Michelle Vickers, David Ettershank ° Organized the "Meet the Candidates" public meeting leading up to the November City of Melbourne Council elections - David Ettershank, Tony Dare, Michelle Vickers ° Organized 'Holland Park Alive!' family fun event, supported with a grant from the City of Melbourne – Cory Boardman, David Ettershank, Kate Kennedy ° Progressed 2 projects funded by our 2008 City of Melbourne Community Resources Grant: "Kensington Stories" by students of Holy Rosary School, coordinated by Marg Bergin and advised by the Association's history and heritage expert, Sheila Byard, and "Green Kensington" by students of Kensington Primary School coordinated by Mark Ryan. Association coordinator: Tony Dare. Samples of work in progress are on display tonight. "Thank you to Sister Kerry for allowing us the use of Holy Rosary premises for meetings, rallies and parties! "On behalf of the Kensington Association Steering Committee, I’d like to thank you all for your membership, interest, drive, advice, input and shoe leather. It's great that a number of members this year really contributed in a range of issues that previously haven’t. This makes a huge difference to the running of the Association and the workload of the steering committee. "Thank you to the Steering Committee members for your passion and commitment to their local community and interest in community issues. You put in many, many hours of work for the Association out of your own generosity. "Thank you to all residents who rallied to our calls to arms. The numbers have made a huge difference to the impact of our campaigns. "We look forward to a busy 2009 – with the Government response to the Eddington Report due out soon, I think we’ll get a busy year! Enjoy the evening and see you all in the New Year." |