April Yarra Council report
By SP Cllr Stephen Jolly
Last nights Council meeting saw attempts made on a number of issues to drag policy to the Right. The presence and intervention of many residents in the gallery plus resistance from myself limited the damage. However it is clearer than ever that we need an alliance of SP and progressive forces in Yarra to take control of the Council at the next election in 30 months.
Last night we saw that the current majority and some Council officers are opposed to supporting families and child care, as well as deserting residents by trying to stop any restrictions on footpath trading after 11pm.
Here is a report of the key debates and votes last night, in cronological order:
1. Fix your Mistakes!
In Questions Without Notice, I asked Finance Director Geoff Cockram to reimburse a young couple who live in Derby St, Collingwood. For four years between 2000 and 2004 they were charged double the rate bill they should have received as Council incorrectly thought their property was twice the size it was. When they pointed out this error to Council officers, they were told it was “not Council policy” to reimburse for mistakes! Mr Cockram pledged to reimburse the couple and put the size of the property on all future rate bills for residents in Yarra. A small victory won!
2. Support independent voice for older people!
I got unanimous support for a resolution opposing the State government’s funding cut to the ‘Housing for the Aged Action Group (HAAG)’. This cut if not reversed will lead to the shutting down of HAAG.
The group, based at Ross House in Flinders Lane, is 22 years old and advocates for older people in housing (45% of public housing tenants are over 55) as well as running a Older Persons Housing Options Information Service that helped over 8000 peole last year.
The Mayor and officers will help HAAG lobby the government to reverse its decision. I believe the department does not like any NGOs that advocate a line that may sometimes disagree with government policy - that’s why they want HAAG to go, and that’s why we must save HAAG.
3. ‘Priority of Access’ for Child Care = Child Care Hansonism
Council debated an outrageous policy last night that tries to shift the blame for the lack of child care places onto residents and children from neighbouring areas. The policy calls for giving Yarra residents priority over (the small number of) non-Yarra residents using Yarra childcare. If other Councils now follow suit we will have a terrible inter-Council war on child care places and diverts attention from the main issue which is that we need more child care!
Many workers who live near Yarra come here everyday to provide important services (such as emergency workers) and these workers’ children will lose out if this policy is passed.
We have several hundred children on waiting lists for child care in Yarra. Yet we only spend $950,000 on child care out of a $90 million budget. Councillors seem to think its OK to spend $5 million+ on refurbishing Fitzroy Town Hall (a Town Hall that is only open to Council officers, Councillors and a few paying tenants) but baulk at stepping up support for families by boosting the number of child care places.
A well known local real estate agent, who was in the public gallery for another matter, decided to speak from the floor explaining how many locals were moving out of Yarra due to the lack of child care and he openly supported my call for extra places from Council.
‘Priority of access’ is a smokes and mirrors policy that pits community against community instead of uniting us all to fight for extra places. It has shades of John Howards’ attempts to scapegoat refugees and Muslims to divert attention from his IR and other reactionary policies.
The ALP and Independents swallowed the line from the officers report hook, line and sinker. The ALP tried to claim that any attempt to boost child care spots in Yarra would bankrupt the Council or leave us in debt for years to come. This is nonsense; a simple readjustment of spending by way of cutting the number of senior management (there is lots more senior management in Yarra than in neighbouring Councils) or in dozens of other less important areas, would realise funds to help meet the needs of families struggling for child care.
Keeping out non-Yarra residents would - at best - release a very small number of spots for locals. Soon these spots would be utilized and then we would be back to square one. Then what? Kick out people above a certain income? Have a one-child per family policy?
Green Councillor Gurm Sekhon had a fence-sitting position of supporting SP’s calling for more places in Yarra (although he wanted us to merely put the heat on Canberra and not take responsibility ourselves to boost places) while also supporting the ‘priority of access’ policy. However this policy cuts across the unity we need to fight for more places. It gets people looking in the wrong direction for places. The debate and newspaper headlines get swallowed up in a community vs. community argument - not focussing on government inaction on boosting places.
The residents who spoke last night were brilliant. We need more such community pressure in the weeks ahead, possibly a Yarra Child Care Action Group to influence the consultation process around the policy that is set to begin.
Council voted 7-2 to put the policy out to community consultation. Green Councillor Kathleen Maltzahn and myself voted against. Green Councillors Jenny Farrar and Gurm Sekhon voted for the rightwing policy along with the ALP and Independents.
4. Footpath trading policy
The report called for massive fee increase for local businesses for tables and chairs outside their shops. Ironically it took the socialist councillor to defend these job-creating businesses from the greedy hands of Council.
As a sop to the businesses, the report sought to allow footpath trading on paths of 2.5m or less for the first time. Not surprisingly these got disabled access activists up in arms.
A second sop to businesses for slugging them for fee increases ranging from 15% to 49% was a plan to allow footpath trading all night instead of the current 11pm limit. Dodgy outlets like the Black Cat would then be able to make life miserable for Greeves St, Fitzroy residents - as was explained in a moving email received by a distressed resident hours before the meeting. The policy also had over the top restrictions on temporary real estate signs, very important in that industry on auction days.
The policy, as I explained, therefore succeeded in pissing everyone off - traders, residents, real estate agents and disabled groups! Some feat.
It got worse. ALP Cllr Paul D’Agastino moved the mother of all crazy amendments. He wanted to allow shops to use the car park places in front of their premises to put tables and chairs - further privatisation of public space. He didn’t think about safety for customers; loss of revenue to Council as parking metered places would be lost; the shifting of parking from the main street to side streets, eating into residents parking and boosting noise levels in side streets; the fact that non-restaurant businesses would lose customers as parking spots would be lost; and the fact that even many of the businesses who he was allegedly trying to help (restaurants) oppose the move as was reported in the local media. Cllr D’Agastino admitted to the Melbourne Times that his amendment was aimed at “compensation of sorts” to traders for the massive fee hikes.
The policy paper has now gone out for public submission.
5. Liquor Licensing policy
This was another bad policy document dished up last night. In fact it was not a bad policy, but a ‘do nothing’ policy. It gave a series of very bad reasons for Council not to put permit parking in sidestreets off entertainment precincts like Brunswick St.
After trying to slug businesses with massive fee increases in the previous agenda item, now the same Planning Department wanted to help them out.
This department, backed by the ALP, wanted to give away parking spots during the Footpath Trading debate, now they wanted to keep parking spots for customers of nightclubs and bars. Why? “Nighttime parking restrictions in the immediate vicinity of licensed venues may have a negative financial impact on the venues through loss of patronage”. That’s what it all about - putting nightclub owners first over the needs of residents and encouraging more car use in Yarra.
What do other Councils do? “No research has been undertaken into whether this approach has been tried in other jurisdictions”! A tram ride to Camberwell or St Kilda will show the officers and Councillors that permit parking is in existance in entertainment precincts there.
Instead of permit parking, the Planning Department suggested: “A possible solution may be signage such as ‘quiet - residential area’ at the start of residential streets when exiting the entertainment precincts may be of assistance.” This is beyond parody.
Council voted to analysis the report in the context of this years budget.
6. Fitzroy Pool
Councillors split SP/Greens (4 votes) to ALP/Independents (5 votes) on the issue of increasing the car park outside Fitzroy Pool in the middle of Alexander Pde. Council says it wants to encourage car use, it also has ‘Green Membership’ of Fitzroy Pool to encourage walking and bike use, and has an Open Space policy to protect the green spaces that still exist in Yarra - yet Council votes to increse the size of the car park.
7. Bloomburg St
SP and local residents in this Abbotsford street worked together to get this policy over the line. The steet will be blocked half way to separate the business part from the residential part, helping everyone in the process and increasing the quality of life for rate payers.
8. Street Party policy
A bureaucratic report was tabled seeking $7,500 to develop a kit on ‘how to run street parties’ without really taking up the main problem facing residents - the need for huge public liability costs for outdoor events. An Abbotsford resident asked for a clear Council policy on unsanctioned dance parties that have caused much conflict between Trennary Crescent residents and young people. We need to sort out a position on this immediately.
The meeting ended after 11pm. It showed once again that there are two very separate ways forward for Yarra Council - to continue its outsourcing, cost-cutting, and pro-State government position or to support local families and start getting in tune with the views of residents.
The Council election in 30 months time will determine whether we get the real change we need. If you want to be part of this battle, contact me or SP now on 96399111
