Food For Sale

Blueberry Time Again
The season was late this year, but our little Warbie plants have kicked on and are now in full production.

If you want fresh, pesticide-free, long lasting, healthy, delivered blueberries just contact Anne-Marie or Rowan on 0438 822508 or info@horeten.com.au to place an order.

We have plenty in the fridge right now! Season will last for only 2 more weeks.

Prices have dropped since last year as we are producing more now....
$5 for 150g  (normal punnets are 125g)
$10 for 300g
$15 for 500g

Darebin Council Elections and the Rucker Candidate Scorecard

Here come the Darebin Council elections, and not a moment too soon! In the wake of all the dodgy business with two of our three current Rucker councillors (Steven Tsitas and Oliver Walsh, not standing this election), it's more important than ever that we elect councillors committed to open, informed, ethical and responsible governance of local affairs as our representatives.

As with the last Council election, there are a group of "dummy" candidates channelling votes through to a lead candidate - Ash Verma appears to be a key recipient of these.

The Darebin Community Network have mapped preferences and consulted Rucker candidates on their key platforms for change in Darebin, in addition to extensive background checks on past performance and behaviour. This has been brought together into a super-helpful scorecard, provided below for your reference. Read it carefully, compare against the postal voting packs you'll receive next week in the mail, and be sure to vote for a candidate with integrity - State government is eyeing a compromised Darebin with great concern, and we urgently need people we can trust with our City's future if we are going to keep local affairs in local hands.

Drawing it out on Merri Creek Park Land

Feels like we're going nowhere fast on the future of the VicTrack land at Merri Creek - promising progress made towards establishing a peppercorn lease back in May has given way to the offer of a $500,000 sale, or a five-year lease at a nominal $300 a year.

While the $500,000 sticker price for the transfer of a piece of public land is pretty outrageous, we would hope Council can negotiate a mutually-satisfactory outcome with VicTrack. A long-term lease (five years? Seriously?!) seems sensible, we don't want to be back to square one in five years' time. This disrespects everybody's time and efforts in seeking resolution.

Cr Tsitas' label of 'dud land' is pretty harsh, even in the context of development. The proposed sale/lease affects not just this visible corner site, but also the bushland along the bridge and Merri Creek. As a gateway site to Darebin, we need to celebrate the land, and can do so much better than a liberal scattering of utility hydrants, eroding soils and a decrepit, non-functioning, drinking fountain memorial to a Northcote Councillor c. 1932. Could we bring this long-neglected site back to life with some restorative landscaping and amenity, please?

Darebin Council will be holding an election shortly, and we seek Councillors who will work productively with the State and help us set a progressive agenda for our local open space.

See recent developments in the 10 August 2016 edition of the Northcote Leader , reproduced here to keep the link active:

COUNCIL KNOCKS BACK PARK SALE OFFER - Harrison Tippet 

THE FATE of a hectare of land owned by VicTrack and used as a public park for decades is still up in the air. 

Darebin councillors last week voted to refuse offers to purchase the land at the banks of the Merri Creek for $500,000 or to lease it for five years at $300 a year. 

Councillors instead voted to continue advocating for the land – at the intersection of St Georges Rd and Merri Parade – to be permanently protected at no cost to the council. “This land is owned by Victorian taxpayers, and as a result why should the community pay twice for something that they already own?” Cr Gaetano Greco said. “As Darebin residents we already own this land via the State Government.” 

Cr Angela Villella labelled the sale of the land a “money grab” by VicTrack. 

Councillors in January voted to ask that the land be made a Crown Reserve, and that the council be made a Committee of Management for the site, allowing it to maintain the parkland without buying it. 

Community members fear the site could be sold for development if not protected. Merri Community Group convener Mike Flattley said the council and VicTrack needed to come to a compromise to protect the land without drawing out the process. “I support that we shouldn’t be spending an enormous amount of the City of Darebin’s budget on the transfer of land,” Mr Flattley said. 

“I think we need to look at something like a 90 to 100 year lease arrangement. A small lease, like the nominal amount of $300 a year, might be a way of keeping everybody happy as long as we’re looking at a longer timescale so we’re not wasting everyone’s time again in five years.” 

Cr Steven Tsitas rubbished suggestions the land could be sold to developers, claiming no developer could build on the “dud land”.

Green Light for Rushall Reserve Bike Path

Looks like the bike path is going ahead - see the City of Yarra's page at http://yarraconversation.com.au/rushallreservedesign for further information.

Merri Parklands Resolution and Progress on a Merri Parade Crossing

Advice from Rucker Councillor Trent McCarthy is that VicTrack and Darebin are settling on a form of peppercorn leasing arrangement for the land on the corner of St Georges Rd and Merri Parade. While it seems strange that this site, remote from rail corridors, continues to be owned by the state railway, this is good news. Hopefully the arrangement will allow Darebin to improve the presentation of this gateway site in the coming years as part of the re-landscaping of St Georges Rd, following the Melbourne Water infrastructure upgrades. So, with effusive gratitude to our representatives on Council and in State Parliament (Trent McCarthy, Steven Tsitas, Fiona Richardson - thank you), we can dial this one down to 'resolved.'

There's more encouraging news from Fiona Richardson's office on the Merri Street Crossing; Minister Luke Donnellan has responded to Fiona's representation on our behalf, advising VicRoads have acknowledged the protracted safety issues around the crossing from Union Street to the bike path and are keen to engage with Council on a safer crossing solution. It's likely this will be a refuge island, but I hold out some hopes for lights to assist motorists, cyclists and pedestrians alike, particularly with a major bike route needing to be redirected through the area while Melbourne Water does its thing on St George's Rd. Darebin Council have set aside some funding in the next financial year to assist with state road projects across the City, so hopefully this will be an early contender.

There's also an undertaking to upgrade the St George's Rd signage, warning large trucks not to enter Merri Parade and get trapped by the rail bridge. Hopefully this will help reduce the general carnage!

We'll advise once all this is nailed down, but for now, this is positive progress. Thanks to everyone in various levels of government, statutory bodies and community for lending your support to a remarkably complex local issue, which we hope to see resolved very soon.

Rushall Reserve: On-site consultation

Locals met with (brave) officers from Yarra Council on the proposed shared path to connect Rushall Station with Koonda Lat bike bridge and the Capital City Trail. There were difficult conversations amid a divided group on a divisive issue.

For more info, see the Yarra consultation page at http://yarraconversation.com.au/rushallreservedesign , plus community pages for and against: https://sharerushallreserve.wordpress.com and https://www.change.org/p/yarra-city-council-keep-rushall-reserve-free-from-development/u/13459284

Rushall Reserve Bike Path, Merri Parade, Merri Creek Parklands

The hot-button issue of the moment appears to be the City of Yarra's proposed connection of the Capital City Trail shared pedestrian and bicycle path through Rushall Reserve, from Rushall Station down to Koonda Lat bike bridge. From the extensive signage that's popped up in North Fitzroy, it's clear many locals are upset about the increased activity on site, while others are equally keen to see the project go ahead as a long-awaited local connector along the Creek's green corridor.

The proposed plan includes floating sections to avoid the roots of established trees, and a safety fence to separate the rest of the reserve from the shared path: the full size plan is available for viewing here,

Whichever way you lean, it's important to inform yourself and make your opinion known to the City of Yarra. The current plan is available to view online here, and the "Yarra Conversation" page invites you to submit your view online: http://yarraconversation.com.au/rushallreservedesign .

Importantly, there is a consultation meeting with Council Officers tomorrow morning (Saturday, 7 May) from 10am to 12pm, on site at Rushall Reserve. There are already demarcation lines helpfully painted along the grassy embankment demonstrating where the proposed path will run: I suggest everyone concerned visits the Rushall Reserve for a good look, then comes along to provide input tomorrow.

Merri Parade Crossing

Delighted to advise we've had some very welcome advocacy from Rucker Councillors Steven Tsitas and Trent McCarthy for the proposed pedestrian and bicycle crossing from the Kunda Lat Bridge path, across Merri Parade to Union St, Northcote and on to Darebin's "shimmy route" for local cyclists. We're advised all Darebin councillors have consequently supported a motion to establish a fund to stimulate State road projects and improve the amenity of neighbourhoods across the City of Darebin in the draft 2016-17 budget. If this makes it into the final budget, then Darebin will have some incentive funding to offer to VicRoads to assist with prioritising projects such as the Merri Parade crossing. We're sitting tight for now, but hope to report some positive progress from these developments very soon.

Merri Creek Parkland

The office of Member for Northcote, Fiona Richardson MP advise us that VicTrack and Council are continuing their talks about how the land adjacent to St George's Road and Merri Parade will be owned, governed, leased and so forth. Nothing revelatory to report as yet, so again, we will sit tight and await developments.

Terrific Support from Fiona Richardson PLUS 40km Speed Limits!

A good news post!

Very pleased to advise we've had some welcome assistance from Fiona Richardson MP, Member for Northcote with a couple of local issues. Tanya Wolkenberg, Christos Symeonides and I met with Fiona's  team last Friday to check in on progress and discuss next steps.

First, the Merri Creek Parkland: Fiona's office has earlier confirmed this will no longer be sold privately, which is a relief. Darebin Council and VicTrack continue discussion on the nature of either a sale/transfer or leasing arrangements; no further information available at this time, so nothing revelatory here.

Second, Fiona has provided terrific support for our request to secure a safe crossing over Merri Parade to the parklands, bike path and the Kunda Lat Bike Bridge beyond. She's also raised the issue of large trucks (still) entering Merri Parade to encounter the low rail bridge and performing calamitous turns through parkland or down narrow South Park Street. This follows Fiona's earlier advocacy for having the bike bridge built and installing sequenced traffic lights at the intersection of Merri Parade with St George's Rd, formerly the "roundabout of doom." We've been advised to sit tight and wait on a response from Minister Donnellan and VicRoads, who are aware of these issues through earlier discussion with residents.

Fiona's letter is online here for your reference, with our grateful thanks for the terrific representation (also to Fiona's helpful staff Michael Berthelson and Marion Dormer).

You will also have seen that Council is considering setting a 40km speed limit in our residential streets. This is fantastic news and follows our group's unanimous request to Darebin's traffic engineers at a big meeting convened by Cr Trent McCarthy a few years ago (2010!), so please do offer this welcome initiative your support.

The short survey tool for feedback is at http://surveys.darebin.vic.gov.au/s3/Northcote40km - calming traffic in our streets is very welcome, particular for all the kids, dogs and daydreamers hereabouts!

Jessi and Jennifer Hit the Bigtime

Great to see our erstwhile Bridge St neighbours Jessi and Jennifer hitting the big time in New York! Sad to see you go, but success is a fine consolation, congratulations both.

http://m.theage.com.au/victoria/the-melbourne-restaurateurs-taking-new-york-by-storm-20160205-gmn9i5.html

Progress for the Merri Creek Parkland

The good news from staff in Fiona Richardson's office yesterday is that private sale/development of the land is off the cards again - however, VicTrack still seek a sale to our Council and it's still important to sign the petition supporting the transfer of land back to the crown to remain as locally-managed parkland. We hope to see this matter resolved very soon.

https://www.change.org/p/jacinta-allan-protect-the-merri-creek-parkland

"Park's Fate Discussed"

From the article posted today in the Northcote Leader. Thanks to all who came along for the photo - remember, the petition is online at https://www.change.org/p/jacinta-allan-protect-the-merri-creek-parkland 

Petition: Protect the Merri Creek Parkland

Our petition to Ministers Allan, Neville and Richardson is now online - please sign to add your voice to the call to preserve the integrity of this open space, parkland and wilderness reserve.  https://www.change.org/p/jacinta-allan-protect-the-merri-creek-parkland 

VicTrack Sale of Merri Creek Parkland - Northcote Leader Photo

Hi again (already),

The Northcote Leader are now running a piece on this and would like to get a photo of the locals on site this Friday at 10.30am - grateful if you could factor this in to your morning! Please come along, same place, corner of St George's Rd and Merri Parade.

Thanks,

Mike

Proposed Sale of Merri Creek parkland by VicTrack: Channel Nine News item

A big thanks to everyone who came along to make their voice heard last month - many will have seen the subsequent news item that aired on New Year's Eve, but for those who missed it, here's the link: http://www.9news.com.au/national/2016/01/01/12/35/victorian-government-s-desperate-bid-to-save-land-from-developers

No further news as yet, but we'll certainly keep you posted.

VicTrack Proposes Sale of Merri Creek Park

Tomorrow morning we have Channel 9 coming to cover the contentious proposal to sell the land beside the Creek, just over Merri Parade from us, extending from St George’s Rd Bridge downstream to around the bike bridge. Please come along at 10.45 tomorrow morning so we can show the cameras some numbers! Bring your kids, dogs, bikes, etc.

VicTrack is evidently seeking $1.5M from the Darebin City Council for a transfer of ownership of the parkland between the Creek and Merri Parade. Basically, the land ownership is a hangover from the 19^th century, when the train line was proposed come over the Creek closer to St George’s Rd.  Instead, VicTrack's precursor bought up lots from the public sale of the “St George’s Park” estate (ie our adjacent neighbourhood!) and built the train line and Merri station in its current location.

This land has been maintained by Darebin for decades, mowing, weeding and maintaining the bike path. The Friends of the Merri Creek have maintained the native vegetation and secured funding for the rejuvenation of this land. The Merri Creek Management Committee has effectively governed the land. Many of us have organised and/or participated in removing rubbish from this land as a part of Clean of Australia Day. It’s classified as an area of significance for its importance to our local Indigenous people, its environmental values and its high amenity for residents from all over the Cities of Darebin and Yarra.

As our rates fuel much of the City’s activities and programs, and our volunteer labour has returned some stunning results, I consider that we have already paid for this community space many times over.

Most disturbing, from the Council report, is the implication that if Council cannot purchase the land, then it may be sold privately. This is unacceptable. We should support our Council on this one and call for VicTrack to have the land reclassified as Crown Land, with the City of Darebin appointed as its Committee of Management.

Hope to see you there!

Blueberry Time

Hi All
The blueberries are now in fruit and we have a fridge full if you would like to order any for Christmas.
$40/kg; $20/500g; $12/300g or $6/150g.
We deliver locally!!
Cheers
Anne-Marie and Rowan
tennihore@bigpond.com or 0438822508

A Sad Goodbye to George

Many of us will be familiar with our neighbour George Sarosi and his dog Beba as they patrolled the neighbourhood on their daily rounds.

Sadly, George is no longer with us, having passed away at his home in Union Street early this week.

George was from a Hungarian family. His parents left Hungary while his mum was pregnant with George, escaping the Soviet crackdown following the 1956 Uprising, apparently smuggled out by the Hungarian Football Team! Born in Australia, he was raised in Acland St, St Kilda, his family running a restaurant called the Hungarian Social Club.

A keen and talented soccer player as a young man, George became very involved with Melbourne's Indigenous community and married into the Griggs family, who have a proud Gunditjmara tradition. He had strong connections with a range of Indigenous peoples from our region, developing a particularly keen interest in the traditional knowledge base and spiritual framework of the Kulin alliance.

He has lived in community housing on Union Street for many years on a disability pension with his gorgeous dog Beba. George suffered from an acquired brain injury, but maintained a very active mind. A keen reader and student of history, he was good company; a fascinating conversationalist and an insightful commentator on current affairs. His companion Beba, now with family, has a beautiful, gentle nature and she was a delight for our kids. George did some helpful work for some of us on Bridge Street, putting the bins out every week for elderly neighbours, maintaining the grass on the nature strip and generally keeping an eye out.

George with Beba

We are very sad today at the loss of a friend and neighbour. Over recent years, many of us have got to know George and his extended family who have sometimes come to stay. In particular, the families of Monica Parravicini, Genevieve Kavanagh, Tanya Wolkenberg and Lyn Walker have enjoyed the company of George, his son Leigh Griggs and his grandchildren Kooric, Kelvin, Vanessa and Viviana. Our thoughts and condolences are with George's family and friends today. He was a good man who died too young and we miss him.

George, may Bunjil keep you safe on your journey.

Garage Sale SUNDAY 21 Sept 10-3pm

Hi All

Sally and I are organising a garage sale for this Sunday 21st September from 10-3pm.  Come and join in you never know who/what we might attract.  Outside 13-15 Bridge Street.
The sale is advertised on Gumtree already.  Unfortunately we clash with the climate change march in town - but some can go there and others stay here.

Cheers

Anne-Marie and Sally

Plot, Plot, Scheme, Scheme - Landscaping the Precinct

"Muahaha, muahahahahahaha" was the general thrust of this meeting at Paul and Mandy's place

Earlier this year, a group from Bridge St met to get together an application for the "Transforming Darebin Streetscape Competition."  The competition was to have a street in each of the wards of Darebin - ours is Rucker - designed and landscaped by Wes Fleming of Fleming's Nurseries.  Sadly, we didn't get the guernsey, but here is the thrust of the concept we submitted, albeit broadened to take in our whole neighbourhood:

The gardeners among us have found that regularly being at the front of one’s property, caring for or otherwise chilling out beside a garden bed, vastly increases opportunities for positive, casual interaction between neighbours.  We would like to consolidate our recent efforts to better know one another through establishing a neighbourhood landscape to care for together.

NEEDS

The new residents of the Parade Apartments will have little private open space and garden areas to enjoy and will benefit immensely through an attractive communal open space on the street.  They will also find more opportunity to get to know their neighbours through ad-hoc interaction and community working bees convened to maintain and further develop the landscape of the street.

While both the Station precinct and the Creek are developing an attractive landscape of mostly indigenous species, the streets that links the two physically and visually - Bridge, Charles, Union and South Park Streets - are mostly populated with Crimson Bottlebrush callistemons and ageing paperbarks near the end of their life cycle.  These combine to present a dry, exposed, monotonous streetscape with little shade, variety or visual interest, with a few exceptions.  The habitat is a monoculture and encourages only a narrow range of fauna.  The road reserve is wide and the combined pavement and bitumen creates a significant “heat island” effect in summer, while the absence of overhead canopies provides little shelter from the elements in other seasons.

With the closure of access to Charles Street by north-bound traffic on Merri Parade, all streets in our neighbourhood are increasingly an avenue for through-traffic, particularly in peak hours.  While Council has offered some welcome assistance through threshold treatments and other design solutions, further assistance is required in signaling to drivers that the area is residential, requiring a respectful, low speed transition of local traffic.  This will be particularly necessary with the doubling in local population this year and the commensurate increase in residential traffic.

VISION:

SHADE:

We would like shady avenues with substantial, interlinking tree canopies over the road to provide relief from the elements and attract bird life, linking the Merri Creek with the Merri Common as a walking route for pedestrians and a foraging route for local species.  

CHARACTER:

We would like significant specimen trees to soften the impact of the high-rise development, provide habitat and deliver a ‘precinct’ character to our neighbourhood.  In some places, we would like to replace the lawn of our nature strips with dense, hardy indigenous ground covers, shrubs and features to increase the interest and attractiveness of our landscape while minimizing maintenance requirements.  We would like to alter the regimented lines of the streets to incorporate more curves and irregular features, breaking sight lines from one end of the street to the other and creating visual interest.  Likewise, we would like foot paths to meander in the landscape.  We would like footpaths and roadways to receive similar material treatments to provide consistency in design and indicate to drivers that the area has a mixed-use purpose (cars, bikes, scooters, pets, kids, pedestrians) and a traffic-calming requirement.

SHARED UTILITY:

We would particularly like to retain formal lawns at the eastern end of Bridge Street to accommodate the train replacement bus stops and use by neighbourhood kids.  We would like to utilize the run-off from our rooftops to feed rain-garden beds and swales to help maintain nature strip vegetation and slow the progress of stormwater through the precinct.  We would like to establish areas for children, families and pet owners to enjoy open spaces through small play and recreation areas.  We would like to accommodate roadside spaces for bin collection and adequate access to vehicles.  We would like to optimise car parking in the new landscape through clearly delineated bays to maximize capacity for residents in this increasingly high-density area.  

So Now What?

Since we've missed out on being led by the hand through the process by Wes Fleming (dang it), we need to establish whether this is something we'd all like to do off our own bats, either for our individual streets or as a whole community.  

Council have encouraged us to do so and have provided us with some guidelines under the "GreenStreets Streetscape Strategy 2012-2020."  It's basically a framework for designing, planning and then getting permission to alter the nature strips and street trees in our streets - I've added links in the sidebar to further details.  Beyond this, we can work with the Council's traffic department to work out parking bays, restrictions and any proposed changes to the shapes of our streets.

I'm going to put this out there to the Bridge St residents, but wanted the broader group to know also - if you're interested, and you have enough neighbours on your street who are also interested, we can combine our efforts to get things planned and completed.  Let me know your thoughts (comments below, or to the email address in the header).

Welcome Pack

We need to get a welcome pack together for the new development.
What would you like to see in it?
What should we tell our new neighbours?
Post up suggestions.
Anne-Marie