Minutes of the meeting of the Kensington Association 7 September 2009

Apologies: Matthew Hammond, Paul Devereux, Michelle Vickers, Hedley Moffat, Chris Moffat, Mary Wynne, Sharon Inkster

Agenda Item 1 – Upgrading Holland Park Soccer Pitch
A number of interested residents and Melbourne City Council (MCC) administration staff attended the meeting to hear of plans to upgrade the Holland Park soccer pitch by converting to a synthetic surface.
MCC Director, Design and Urban Development, Rob Adams addressed the meeting on the current state of Holland Park and in particular the playing surface of the soccer pitch, and why his department recommended that a synthetic surface be laid.
By way of background, the first Holland Park masterplan was completed in 1998 with a revision 2 years ago.  Enhancements to the Holland Park precinct have included: the “KensingTAN” track around the park, a rebuild of the Venny, upgrading of the community centre including the new gym and a major expansion of the childcare centre.
Rob indicated that the proposal for a synthetic surface on the soccer pitch was being recommended for a number of reasons, including:
•    The current high level of usage of the soccer pitch, and the resulting wear and tear of the surface
•    The lack of water from drought and/or climate change
•    Projected increases in demand for use of the facility
Of major concern regarding the proposal was that it necessitates the removal of a number of mature elm trees at the southern end of the pitch. While their proposed removal is unfortunate, they will be replaced with over 180 other trees, including natives and exotics, in the context of removing the central car park.
Money has been set aside in the MCC budget to contribute to this proposed upgrade, and Rob sought the meeting’s agreement to endorse this proposal.
Questions were raised regarding the ability to harvest water, the permeability of the base of the proposed surface and how dog poo and broken glass will affect the surface. Mr Graeme Porteos, Manager Recreation Services from the MCC was in a position to answer questions. The proposed surface will be to AFL/Cricket Australia standards. The issue of reflective heat was raised – the local sporting clubs do have a heat policy to ensure child safety. The primary purpose of the pitch will be to have a year round training facility, ie. Matches in the heat of the day won’t be scheduled on this surface, so heat shouldn’t be a major issue.
Trees – the actual composition of the replacement trees has yet to be decided, but will be a mixture of natives and exotics. They won’t be well established, as the MCC arborist says that trees that are too well established at the time of planting take longer to really get going than do trees that are less well established. These ones seem to grow at a much faster rate and establish themselves more quickly. Removed trees will be harvested with their timber being reused as much as possible. There are also BBQs planned on the site.
There was clearly the view in the meeting that while everyone would prefer a grass surface and retaining the elms, the reality of life in 2009 meant that a synthetic surface was a more practical way to proceed.
Questions were raised about the overuse of MCC facilities by sporting clubs that are outside the MCC area. Graham Porteos said that overuse is not unique to the MCC facilities and in fact clubs requested 620 hours of use of MCC ovals this year but only 350 hours were granted. There were no pre-seasons done on these ovals.
A resolution was put to the meeting that the KA commends the proposal to the MCC and the Victorian Government. This was adopted unanimously.

Agenda Item 2 – Becton developments
Prior to this meeting, Executive members David Ettershank and Matt Hammond met with the Minister for Housing, the Hon Dick Wynne and his adviser, Paul Erickson to discuss the latest developments on the Becton site.
As you may recall, the Kensington Association withdrew from the Redevelopment Consultative Committee recently due to continuing frustration with the opaqueness of the process and a series of outrageous decisions. The Kensington Association is in favour of reasonable housing density, but we have lost faith in the process of consultation.
On the last remaining block in Derby Street, Becton is proposing to build 218 apartments over six stories, as opposed to 56 apartments over 2 stories. This is already one of the highest density precincts in Victoria with car parking and traffic in such a small area still a real concern. This is clearly a ridiculous overdevelopment that the KA is implacably opposed to.
The Minister has said that he will look further into this project upon his return from East Timor in a few weeks.
The KA has established a sub-committee to address this issue further. A public meeting is being called for Tuesday 13 October 2009 at 7.30pm in the Kensington Community Centre (Altona Street).
A resolution was put to the meeting that the KA continues to negotiate with the Minister on this issue but that the public meeting continue to be organised in the meantime with a view to mounting a campaign of direct action. The resolution was adopted unanimously.

Agenda Item 3 – Maintenance works
Burns MacGibbon gave a detailed rundown of the upcoming maintenance works proposed for Kensington. He prepared and gave to the meeting a range of diagrams outlining the proposed road works and footpath work.  It is expected that all proposed works will be completed by March/April 2010.  Please refer to the KA website for this interesting information.

Agenda Item 4 – PCCC
There is an upcoming Police Community Consultative Committee meeting that Therese Fitgerald will attend. If there are any issues you’d like to raise, please contact the website and we’ll ensure they are.

Agenda Item 5 – KCCC Grand Opening Party
A reminder to all who might be interested that the expanded centre of the Kensington Community Children’s Cooperative will be officially opened by MCC Councillor Jennifer Kanis on Sunday 13 September, 11.00am to 1.00pm
Help everyone celebrate the opening of the beautiful new rooms with celebratory champagne & cake. Bring along a rug and your own picnic lunch. RSVP: Essential! By 4th September (don’t worry if you’re late) via email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Agenda Item 6 – MCC Community Grant
Tony Dare informed the meeting that the KA has been successful in obtaining a communications grant to the value of $5,000. We will again use this money to enable us to communicate with members about things that affect Kensington, including the revamp of the Kensington Services Directory.

A resolution was unanimously passed that the KA expresses it thanks to the City of Melbourne for its continued support to us as an organisation to enable great communication with members.

The meeting also expressed its appreciation to Tony for his great work in preparing the submission to the City of Melbourne.

Agenda Item 7 – Racecourse Road Restructure Plan
Burns informed the meeting of proposed changes to the northern side of Racecourse Road as part of the Moonee Valley Structure Plan for the area. He will report back to the meeting next month, but will invite Moonee Valley City Council planning officers to the next meeting to discuss these proposals.

Agenda Item 8 – Other Business
The meeting noted that Michelle Vickers, now erstwhile secretary of the KA has resigned her position as she and her family are moving to Vietnam. We wish Michelle and Adam all the best and thank her for her contribution to the KA.
Nominations are being sought for the position, which will be considered at the next meeting