Minutes of the meeting of the Kensington Association held 6 April 2009
 
Apologies: Paul Devereux, Michelle Vickers, Therese Fitzgerald.
 
1.  City of Melbourne Services
Phil Coyne, our Community Connections Officer at the City of Melbourne, attended the meeting and addressed some current concerns:
Firstly, with regards to maintenance issues, an audit of the former Moonee Valley section of Kensington has now been completed and work will be progressed on the basis of risk and availability of equipment.  He made it plain that Council is proposing a significant allocation for roadwork and footpaths.  He noted that Parsons, Collett and Pridham Streets have already been repaved as part of the renewal program, and more maintenance and renewal will be done in the forthcoming financial years.   Road markings have been renewed in the vicinity of the Rankins Road-Eastwood Street roundabout.
Secondly, there was a discussion about a preliminary concept drawing for a redesign of the Rankins-Eastwood-Macaulay roundabout and intersection.  An unofficial poll by a resident had found that affected residents opposed the concept.  Mr Coyne said that the concept had simply been a preliminary idea and had no status within Council. He said it has now been shelved and was now dead.  He advised that if any significant changes to traffic management were proposed for this or any other area of Kensington, Council will utilize its normal processes to consult and involve stakeholders. 
He tabled a letter covering the above topics.
 
2.  City of Melbourne Councillor Dr Cathy Oke
Newly-elected Greens Councillor Cathy Oke attended the meeting and was given the opportunity to outline her key interests and aspirations for Kensington and the broader City of Melbourne.  She will be chairing the Council’s “Eco-city” committee and has a keen interest in working on facilitating the retrofitting of CBD buildings to work towards carbon neutrality.  She stated that the green waste issue in Kensington is being looked at and solutions are being sought.  She also discussed possibilities to upgrade sporting facilities in J.J. Holland Park and stated her keenness to find the fund to restore the Kensington Town Hall.
 

3.  Flemington Association
We welcomed Sharon Rayner, Secretary of the Flemington Association, who talked about things they are working on at present.
The key issue is the City of Moonee Valley’s structure plan for Racecourse Road and business development in that vicinity.
 
4.  Kensington Community Noticeboard
The Chair reported that the Association and MECU had not been able to come to an agreement over the future of the Community Noticeboard.  MECU has maintained its view that minutes of Kensington Association meetings and notices about community campaigns cannot be posted, as they are political in nature and thus not acceptable to MECU. 
In view of this, it was resolved that the Association look for an alternate site to locate the Kensington Community Noticeboard.