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Hawks change Dingley plans Brodie Cowburn brodie@baysidenews.com.au CHANGES to plans for Hawthorn Football Club’s new Dingley home have been given a thumbs up by Kingston Council. Councillors voted at their 26 August meeting to put amendments to Hawthorn Football Club’s Dingley plans to the planning minister. Those amendments will then be exhibited, and a further report will be received by council after the close of that exhibition. The officer’s report provided to councillors said that the proposal “allows for the following matters to be considered by council that would otherwise be prohibited: A function centre in association with an outdoor recreation facility with up to 400 patrons present at any one time, an indoor recreation facility, a medical centre, [and] advertising signage.” Cr Steve Staikos supported the changes of “a number of key elements” of Hawthorn’s proposal. He said “this does represent somewhat of a change to the previous planning scheme amendment that Hawthorn Football Club have brought to Kingston and has gone through planning scheme amendment process.” “As the idea of the Kennedy Centre has evolved, so too the purpose of the Kennedy Community Centre has evolved. What Hawthorn Football Club has said to the community in Dingley is that they see the site as community facing rather than inwardly facing. Hawthorn is seeking to embed themselves not only in Dingley community, but also the Kingston and south-east community in general,” he said. “A lot of what is proposed is not thought of generally on former landfill sites, but we’ve got a big and successful AFL club looking to invest vast amounts of money into the Green Wedge on

Council makes land demand Brodie Cowburn brodie@baysidenews.com.au

Changing the game plan: Hawthorn FC players with young footballers and local politicians at the club’s new Dingley homebase earlier this year. Picture: Supplied

a landfill site. “The facility itself does have merit.” Cr Rosemary West was the only councillor who voted in opposition to the changes. She said she was “disappointed” in Hawthorn FC after the project “began on such a positive note, wanting to enhance Green Wedge and work with community”. She said the amendments were a “hotshot plan to push for much more, including uses that jeopardise the integrity of Green Wedge.” “There’s indoor recreation facilities, six basketball courts, which is prohibited use in Green Wedge. There’s an increase from mandatory 150 patrons to 400, when there’s a 150 limit in the

Green Wedge,” she said. “We’d all acknowledge that the medical centre for athletes isn’t a reasonable thing for ancillary use, they want 12 doctors there. They’re going to have extended hours. I think it’s unfortunate. “There’s an increase from 414 to 830 parks but a reduction in bicycle parking despite being next to the chain of parks. “We also haven’t seen anything in report that says how big these [administration and accommodation buildings] are.” The Hawks had their Dingley Village home ticked off by Kingston Council and purchased the 28 hectare site in 2016. The project is expected to cost around $130 million.

KINGSTON COUNCIL is calling for the state government to follow through on their promise to invest in the Chain of Parks project. The Chain of Parks project has seen council purchase former landfill sites with the aim of turning them into linked parkland spaces. Earlier this year council spent $2.6 million on 3.02 hectares of land in Clarinda for the project, and commenced work at the Victory Road parkland site. In the leadup to the state election at the end of last year, the state government pledged that creating “the Sandbelt Parklands, a 355 hectare chain of parks running from Moorabbin to Dingley Village with walking and bike trails, conservation and adventure play areas” would be part of a $150 million investment into parklands statewide. Kingston mayor Georgina Oxley has called on the government to follow through on their promise to commit funding to the project by asking them to purchase two sites “at the highest priority”. “Council is pleased the Victorian government has committed funding to deliver the Chain of Parks, a long held vision to create new parkland and trails in Kingston’s northern suburbs that will link Karkarook Park through to Braeside Park,” Cr Oxley said. “Soon the area’s landfill sites will be closed for good and replaced with open space for the community to enjoy. Council wants the Delta and Henry Street landfill sites acquired as a matter of priority as the first step towards creating vital new parkland, trails and sporting facilities.” Both sites are in Heatherton.

Call for 'tap on the shoulder' for Takata SPONSORED CONTENT AR makers are calling on every Australian to tap someone they know on the shoulder - family, friends, neighbours or work colleagues - and urge them to check if their vehicles are affected by the Takata airbag recall. The faulty airbags have the potential to kill vehicle drivers and passengers. There have been 26 reported deaths and more than 300 reported injuries globally attributed to the airbags. The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries chief executive Tony Weber said the status of more than 7.8 million vehicles have been checked on the industry's airbag recall website ismyairbagsafe.com.au. This had helped identify more than 1.2

million vehicles that were affected by the recall. But there are still more than 530,000 vehicles to be rectified.

your vehicle's registration plate number and state or territory. You can also check by texting TAKATA to 0487AIRBAG (247 224)."

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"We are pleading with owners to check the status of their vehicles. It's time everyone joined this campaign by urging family, friends, neighbours and work colleagues to check if their vehicles are affected," Mr Weber said. "A quick tap on the shoulder could be the personal reminder that saves a life or prevents a serious injury. "This personal approach is particularly important for the elderly and people with limited English language skills." "We offer a simple and free checking process - visit ismyairbagsafe.com.au and enter

It is important that people buying used vehicles privately check the recall status of a vehicle. "The ACCC has placed requirements on licensed dealers to ensure vehicles are identified and rectified prior to sale. However, these requirements do not apply to private sales of vehicles," he said. "Our advice is clear. If you are looking to privately purchase a used vehicle, please check the vehicle's recall status on the industry website." ■ This is sponsored content for Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.

FCAI's Tony Weber is pleading with car owners to check their vehicle status.

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Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News

4 September 2019

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