Even if we do say so ourselves, last night’s Camden Ward On Line Election Forum was a fantastic event.

Sure we had some minor technical glitches on our first attempt at “Zooming”, thankfully the 150 participants (residents and candidates) understood – they   enthusiastically  and actively supported the event.

Topics covered in the Q&A session covered  those that impacted the whole of Glen Eira and those that were specific to Camden Ward.  For example (not necessarily in order)

• Council’s Governance – fiscal responsibility, rates, no genuine collaboration with residents, lack of accountability and transparency
• Planning – inconsistency in decision making, inability to deliver on issues (height limits, heritage and tree protection, environment and sustainability), need for Council actively represent residents in discussion with State Govt and at VCAT,  lack of open space, traffic and parking management.
• Inkerman Bike Path (surprising this wasn’t the dominating issue we expected it to be)

FYI – Unlike the other Wards (Rosstown and Tucker), Camden Ward has all three Councillor positions vacant – no incumbent Councillors are standing for re-election.

Examples of comments from the Meeting Chat

Candidates Comments  

• These online forums make it easy for people to engage which is great!
• Thank you to all the residents for attending tonight. Genuine consultation is important
• Due to the circumstances it was a wonderful opportunity to share our thoughts and platforms on a number of issues and make some connection with the voters.
• Some amazing questions tonight.

Residents Comments  

• This was one of the best OnLine/Offline Candidate Forums I’ve seen and this is a credit to the unsung heroes of GERA and SGE – Let’s have our future Councillors support Community run forums throughout the year – Let’s have a Community Council during our next term.
• Thanks for organising such a great forum. Some clear winners tonight.
• Get to see some candidates true colours
• Camden ward will be the winner
• Well done to the organisers as well as candidates
• Would councillors commit to running forums with residents and meaningful community engagement after election? – the candidates agreed

The Rosstown Election Forum will  be held tonight and we believe it will be as successful and informative as last night Camden Forum.   Details of, and registration for, the Rosstown Forum are available in our previous post – WHY YOU NEED TO MAKE AN INFORMED VOTE IN THE GLEN EIRA COUNCIL ELECTIONS

To quote one participant’s comment

“Now is the vital time to elect the right people to get the right thing done and we need to elect nine of them.  We have too much to lose to miss this opportunity”

If you wish to comment on or ask a question on this posting please do so on GERA’s FaceBook

Authorized by:  B. Hatfield, 21/41 Chapel Street, St. Kilda, Vic. 3182

Finding it hard to find information about Council Candidates?  Does it just seem like another hassle in the dreary COVID-19 world.

Well make it easy for yourselves, attend the On-Line Community Election Forums that are co hosted by the Glen Eira Residents and Save Glen Eira Associations and commence tomorrow night (6/10/2020)

To attend the Forums, you need to register.  Forum details for each Forum and registration link are provided below:

CAMDEN – Tuesday, 6th October, 2020 – 7.30 p.m. – 9.00 p.m.  

• Camden Registration Link 
• Camden Candidates Statements

ROSSTOWN – Wednesday, 7th October – 7.30 p.m. – 9.00 p.m.  

• Rosstown Registration Link
• Rosstown Candidates Statements

TUCKER – Thursday, 8th October, 2020 – 7.30 p.m. –  9.00 p.m.  

• Tucker Registration Link
• Tucker Candidates Statements

After registration, you will receive an email confirming your unique logon details.

Despite the Minister for Planning (December, 2015) directing Glen Eira Council to bring it’s Planning Scheme up to date by incorporating contemporary planning concepts and tools into the scheme,  little has been achieved.  We still don’t have Structure Plans for any of our activity centres and expected completion dates for the 3 traditional major centres of Bentleigh, Carnegie and Elsternwick is end 2021.  All other centres remain in limbo despite experiencing significant development pressures.

In the meantime, the archaic Planning Scheme remains the definitive document.  Guidelines only have been added.   And Glen Eira remains behind the times in most planning matters and their flow on impacts.  Council is also foregoing significant revenue in the form of development and open space levies paid by developers.

Significant issues exist across our municipality related to

• Planning (height limits, open space, traffic and parking management, environmental sustainability) and continual loss of amenity for current and future residents
• Significant Borrowings are proposed (approx. $60 mill) to enable capital works programmes (eg Carnegie Pool Redevelopment and Multi Storey car parks)
• Governance (poor Community Consultation and lack of Council transparency, accountability and representation).

Within the 3 election wards themselves significant issues are yet to be resolved and will be passed on to the incoming Council.

• Camden
  • Structure Planning designation of Urban Renewal Areas – Elsternwick
  • Woolsworth Development – referred to as The Elsternwick Towers
  • Loss of heritage
  • Caulfield South & Caulfield North developments & development proposals for heights which are more than double heights of surrounding residential areas (maximum mandatory height of 3 stories) and Council’s February, 2018 decision for a 5 storey height limit.
  • Opening up the Racecourse – further delays
  • Inkerman Bike Path

• Rosstown
  • Carnegie Pool,
  • Murrumbeena Community Hub,
  • Foodworks site (cnr. Murrumbeena & Neerim),
  • Developments along Murrumbeena Road & Koornang Roads
  • Glen Huntly Structure Plan and potential sky tower at proposed heights that dwarf the surrounding residential areas (3 stories).
  • Ormond Sky Tower. 

• Tucker
  • East Village (3,000 residences) – to generate major traffic congestion on main roads and residential roads.
  • Bentleigh Structure Plan does not represent residents views
  • Bentleigh East and McKinnon – lack of height controls in Commercial Areas, surrounding residential areas have a maximum mandatory height limit of 3 storeys

Attend your forum to learn how the candidates will address the above and the views on fellow residents on the issues.

MAKE AN INFORMED VOTE

YOU OWE IT TO YOURSELF, YOUR FAMILY AND FELLOW RESIDENTS

If you wish to comment on or ask a question on this posting please do so on GERA’s FaceBook

Authorized by:  B. Hatfield, 21/41 Chapel Street, St. Kilda, Vic. 3182

The Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) has made available on-line the Council Candidates Statements (election platforms, contact details and preferences) which will be included in the ballot mail out that will delivered shortly.

Note:

“The contents of candidate statements are provided by the candidates. Any inquiries about candidate statements should be directed to the relevant candidate. Candidate statements are not verified or endorsed by the Election Manager.”

 The by Ward Candidates Statements are available below

CAMDEN

ROSSTOWN

TUCKER

Each Ward has 3 Councillor positions (a total of 9 Councillors) in Glen Eira.  The number of candidates standing in each Ward are Camden 13 , Rosstown 13 and Tucker 10.

We consider the statements to be a must read for residents voting in the upcoming Council Elections (23/10/2020)

We also remind readers of the up-coming ON-LINE COMMUNITY ELECTION FORUMS that the Glen Eira Residents (GERA) and Save Glen Eira (SGE) Associations are co-hosting next week.

Registration is required to attend each forum – seats are limited so we encourage registration a.s.a.p.  Forum details for each Forum and registration link are provided below:

• CAMDEN – Tuesday, 6th October, 2020 – 7.30 p.m. – 9.00 p.m.   Camden Registration Link
• ROSSTOWN – Wednesday, 7th October – 7.30 p.m. – 9.00 p.m.   Rosstown Registration Link

• TUCKER – Thursday, 8th October, 2020 – 7.30 p.m. –  9.00 p.m.   Tucker Registration Link

After registration, you will receive an email confirming your unique logon details.

If you wish to comment on or ask a question on this posting please do so on GERA’s FaceBook

Authorized by:  B. Hatfield, 21/41 Chapel Street, St. Kilda, Vic. 3182

We had hoped that the opening of registration for the “Meet the Candidates” on-line community forums (co-hosted by GERA and SGE) would also include copies of the Candidates Statements (election platforms), however, not to be.

Given residents interest in the forums, for which we thank you, below are the Forum Registration links.

Copies of the candidates statements will presented in a separate post as soon as they become available.

Registration is required to attend each forum.  Forum details for each Forum and registration link are provided below:

• CAMDEN – Tuesday, 6th October, 2020 – 7.30 p.m. – 9.00 p.m.   Camden Registration Link
  

• ROSSTOWN – Wednesday, 7th October – 7.30 p.m. – 9.00 p.m.   Rosstown Registration Link

• TUCKER – Thursday, 8th October, 2020 – 7.30 p.m. –  9.00 p.m.   Tucker Registration Link

After registration, you will receive an email confirming your unique logon details.

If you wish to comment on or ask a question on this posting please do so on GERA’s FaceBook

Authorized by:  B. Hatfield, 21/41 Chapel Street, St. Kilda, Vic. 3182

Below is the Victorian Electoral Commission’s (VEC) official listing of Declared Council Candidates for the 2020 Council Elections.  Each Ward’s Candidates Listing is as it will appear on voting papers based on the ballot draw (ïe  lottery)

Click to enlarge

Later tomorrow (Wednesday, 23/9),  the VEC will publish the Election Statements (election platforms) submitted by each Candidate.  These statements will also be included in the posted Ballot Packs that should be received by each resident listed on the Electoral Roll in coming weeks.

Shortly after tomorrow’s VEC publication, the GERA website

• Will include the Candidates Statements and
• Open up Registration for the co-hosted “Meet the Candidates” Online Community Forums announced in an earlier posting

Covid-19 electioneering restrictions mean that you will soon be inundated with flyers and it will be up to you to contact (telephone, email, websites and social media) each candidate to learn their views on issues that matter to you.

The community forums present an opportunity for you to get

• a detailed and balanced view of the candidates and their positions,
• while also hearing about the concerns and views of your fellow residents

If you wish to comment on or ask a question on this posting please do so on FaceBook

Authorized by B. Hatfield – 21/41 Chapel Street, St. Kilda 3182