Candidate in the 2024 elections for the ward of Castlefield, in the City of Bayside
Councillors are required to consider issues across the whole of Bayside, however, I know that some suburbs have gained more attention and funding than others in the past, and Hampton has not had its fair share! These are some of the local issues I will tackle if I am elected.
I will work to progress the Hampton Hub project (option B) as outlined at the February 2024 Council meeting, but strive to deliver this in the next Council term. It will also be important to advocate for State and Federal funding.
Like everyone else who frequents the Hampton St retail strip, I understand that parking is an issue, which is exacerbated by tradies from the multiple construction sites taking up many public parking spaces which should be available to local residents and retail customers. This is something I will seek to tackle if elected (I have a few ideas!).
I will also re-visit the proposal to create multi-deck car parking behind the library to provide additional parking capacity to ensure trading is not affected by the construction of the Hampton Hub.
As population density increases in certain areas of Bayside, green open space becomes increasingly important. I will push hard to use funds from Council’s Open Space Levy Reserve to create new open space and improve existing open space (which is what the levy is collected for!).
The current balance of the Open Space Levy Reserve is $35 million, and with several major residential development projects in the pipeline across Bayside, this figure will increase considerably this year.
We also need to improve the appearance of our streets, keeping them clean, removing graffiti promptly, taking steps to prevent it, and working with property owners to improve the appearance of empty shop fronts.
It’s easy to say this, but harder to actually achieve. One of the problems is that Council officers often recommend approval of developments which are then opposed by the Council Planning Committee, and when it ends up at VCAT the Council officers mount a lacklustre response. I will advocate for independent representation at VCAT cases, using external subject planning matter experts and external lawyers, enabling Council to make a more robust case against developments which the Planning Committee is opposed to.
I believe we aso need more effective controls around construction sites to protect Council assets (such as roads and footpaths) and the amenity of local residents.
I will push to investigate gross pollutant traps for drains with outflow into the bay. We also need better maintenance and cleaning of the foreshore and walking tracks, and improve accessibility for all ages and abilities.
I have closely followed Bayside’s fiscal management for many years, and in 2021, I participated in the community panel that reviewed Council’s 10-year financial plan (though our input was twisted to suit the agenda, because it was really a PR exercise by the administration).
Through this process it became obvious that the administration, along with certain Councillors, have treated Bayside residents like a ‘cash cow,’ assuming they have limitless resources, able to endure ever-rising charges. That's the current plan - for your rates to go up every year, despite the $123 million in cash reserves. Yet the interest earnings on this is three times the amount raised by increasing rates!
For the past four years, I’ve been repeatedly told that Council intends to draw down these cash reserves for capital projects, but that never materializes. The capital works still go ahead - often significantly over budget - yet the cash reserve keeps growing. It’s clear that Council’s budgeting approach is grossly conservative (or incompetent), and this is costing rate-payers dearly!
If elected I will push for far greater fiscal prudence, which will deliver considerable benefits for everyone. At the very least, freezing rates for years to come is a very real possibility, while still delivering the strategic plan.
It's absolutely imperative that our Councillors are completely impartial and do not make decisions which are influenced by organised interest groups; the personal interests of family or friends, or indeed their own business interests. The same applies to Council officers. They are supposed to act impartially at all times. I will serve the City of Bayside with honesty and uncompromising ethical principles, and if elected, will push for a culture change among the Councillors and the officers.
Every month the administration submits reports to Council meetings to inform decisions. These reports often detail justification for infrastructure projects; results of community consultation; cost estimates ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars; and recommendations to proceed with certain projects, or adopt certain policies and plans. Time and time again these reports have contained material errors and distortions (some of which are deliberate) which have far reaching consequences for local residents. But they are rarely challenged by most (but not all) past and current Councillors.
To some extent, this is also an organisational culture issue, which I will seek to change if am elected. I will also not shy away from exposing distortions in Officers' reports, as I have sought to do many times as a member of the public.
There are over 105,000 residents in Bayside - their views and needs deserve equal consideration. In particular quiet minorites such as the aged and disabled. I visit the UK every year or two and the provisions they make for the aged and disabled are literally decades ahead of Bayside.
My experience of the City of Bayside's consultation with residents, and the subsequent consideration of residents' views, leaves a lot to be desired. In my view Council officers conduct what I call ‘Faux Consultation’ – it is artificial, and often conducted in great haste, simply as a box ticking exercise. ‘Yes, we consulted’ Tick! I have seen this so many times, all over Bayside. To add insult to injury, the views and concerns of residents that come out of the 'consultation' are often ignored if they don’t suit the agenda.
Making decisions based on feedback from private, organised interest groups, is both negligent, and may even be considered fraudulent, when it involves spending $millions in public money.
If I am elected, I will fight to hold the CEO and the officers to account so that they conduct genuine consultation and genuine consideration of residents’ views.
It's extremely distressing for people when they feel that they are being treated unfairly and are powerless to contest bureaucratic decisions, but this has been happening all over Bayside in recent years. It's not fair to trample over your residential amenity to benefit others, and then to be called a 'NIMBY' because you object, often by people who live elsewhere - so it's not in their backyard!
Bayside City Council uses the DAD approach to infrastructure development - Decide, Announce, Defend. This almost always results in conflict, forcing residents to spend their own money to fight a Council who is supposed to be serving those same residents.
It's not fair, and it has to change now!
Transparent dealings and decisions are imperative to gain the trust of the community. Yet many people have watched or participated in Council meetings and witnessed significant numbers of submissions from concerned residents brushed aside and basically ignored. There is often a feeling that there is something else going on that they are not privy to. That's because there usually is.
Councillors are often given "briefings" behind closed doors before Council meetings that are not open to the public. Why the secrecy? Council officers are regularly asked questions in public Council meetings, so why can't their briefing be public?
This is yet another area of Council operations that I will seek to reform.
I'm 63 years old, married, with two adult children, and have been a Bayside resident for over 30 years. I'm standing for a council seat because I believe we need greater fairness, transparency, and impartiality in the operations of the Council and the Council administration.
I am a truly independent candidate, without allegiances to old-boys networks, clubs, or political parties - for the record, I am not part of, or supported by, the Bayside Conservation Alliance. I have no business interests that could benefit from Council decisions, even indirectly. I am objective and believe that everyone in our diverse community deserves equal consideration from Council.
I have been involved in Council activities from a resident perspective since 2018. Including being on a community panel in 2021 that reviewed Council's four year strategic plan and ten year financial plan (neither of which I approved). I have made many submissions to Council meetings and directly to councillors, often defending residents from proposed policy changes they are oblivious to. For example, the Special Rates and Charges Scheme and the Undergrounding Powerlines policy, both of which could have cost rate payers huge amounts of money.
Authorised by Kevin Howard, PO Box 7050, Brighton 3186, Victoria.
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