Page 10 - The Local Paper - Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Local People Shire bans Jack ■ Yea resident Jack Russell, 77, says that he has been banned from all Murrindindi Shire Council offices. The political activist told The Local Paper that he tried to serve papers on the Council late last week, but was refused access. Mr Russell says that he has a Court appearance tomorrow (Thurs.), a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal action against the Shire on Friday, and a Supreme Court appeal underway. Mr Russell says the VCAT matters relate to “inordinate delays” at Murrindindi Shire Council over his Freedom of Information applications.
Safety priority
■ Murrindindi Shire Council says that it continues to monitor its facilities so that the safety of employees and residents is preserved. “Council considers the safety and welfare of staff and customers to be paramount and continues to review its approach to security to ensure appropriate measures are in place to manage risks,” said Margaret Abbey, Shire Chief Executive Officer, in a statement to The Local Paper.
Trivia Night soon ■ Yea Football-Netball Club will be holding a Trivia Night on Saturday, May 14, after the Round 5 game. APresident’s Lunch/Evening is scheduled for Saturday, June 4 (Round 7).
Yea AP&H meets
■ The next meeting of the Yea Agricultural, Pastoral and Horticultural Association (Show Society) will be held at the Y Water Discover Centre, Yea, at 7.30pm on Tuesday, May 10.
Big garage sale
■ A garage sale is being held this Saturday (Apr. 30) and Sunday (May 1) at 13 Yea Springs Drive, Yea. Items on offer include engineers’ tools, electrical test gear, Stihl whipper-snipper, child safety gates, an olderstyle safety seat, and more.
Sale at Gobur
■ Andrew Embling, of Landmark Alexandra, is advertising a Clearing Sale at Gobur for Merv Shaw, to be held on Sunday, May 8.
They Say . . . That The Local Paper badgered Murrin★ dindi Council and the Public Transport Corporation for long overdue repairs to the Yea bus shelter. The Council confirms that the repairs took place onApril 9.
That Flowerdale resident Lyn Gunter ★ will not be a nominee for the Murrindindi Shire Council when elections are held in October.
www.LocalPaper.com.au
Local People
Councillor’s Column
Rumours plague CEO
■ These days affordable housing is on everyone's mind and a major topic of our conversations. With house prices seemingly going through the roof in our cities and suburbs and escalating prices everywhere we look, we have to wonder how many in our growing communities will ever reasonably afford a place they can enjoy and call their own. If we put our collective ingenuity and resources together there must be ways we can explore new possibilities and resilient social housing models. With this in mind, I recently attended an inspiring and practical one day conference on the planning and design of inclusive and sustainable communities through the Co-housing movement. Co-housing is seen as a new development model, although it is really a very old concept, based on high density housing and eco-villages. Imagine a group of, say, 20 people, each contributing, again say, $100,000. With the resultant $2m and economies of scale, this group can buy land, build individual units or apartments for themselves and family, include a community kitchen and gathering spaces, throw in a gymnasium or a pool, gardens and play areas, depending on the co-operative's particular priorities or passions. Imagine too, this group consisting of retirees, young families, single parents, full time workers, selfemployed, etc, from various origins, with a whole range of skills and talents. Suspend for a moment thoughts about why this self-supporting village concept could be difficult and think instead about a scenario of opportunities such places can and do of fer. Affordable, inclusive and resilient places that embed a sense of place, ownership and pride and offer low impact living. Places where people feel supported and supportive, encouraged as self achievers and also resourceful as a collective. The major presenter at the conference was Chuck Durrett, an American architect and author based in California. With his wife, he designed Muir Commons, the first Co-housing community in Nor th America. He has consulted for and designed over 50 Co-housing communities in North America and on many other projects around the world. His talk focused on the well being such a community can engender and how positive it was for his children to have friendships and role models at hand within Muir Commons as they grew up. According to the website, Muir Commons is currently home to 45 adults and 35 children. Households include a variety of family structures. There are 26 homes on approx three acres, ranging in size but which all include complete kitchens and private yards. The clustered homes face a central pedestrian pathway while the backyards face the outer edges of the site. The large Common House is the 'heart' of the community and includes a large kitchen and dining area to accommodate community gatherings, including shared meals several times a week and get-togethers, as well as recreation rooms, a laundry and guest room. There are also special interest sheds such as those for wood working and auto mechanics. Its legal structure is similar to a strata title with shared ownership of the common spaces and facilities. The Homeowners Association consists of a 26-member Board of Directors comprised of one member from each household. There are shared responsibilities, equipment and tasks and a monthly body corporate fee. Check out the Muir Commons.com website and Chuck's publications on Co-housing and Building Sustainable Communities. There were also Australian presenters, such as Giselle Wilkinson from Murundaka Co-housing Community; Heidi Lee, architect and building environmentalist from DesignInc and Jeremy McCleod. Jeremy mesmerised the audience with a tale of how he and his architectural partners built a multi-storey, af fordable, environmentally friendly (using recycled and low footprint materials) apartment building in Brunswick, Victoria with a tenanted Co-housing type structure in mind. He was able to make us laugh about his idealised vision which was fraught with do's and many more don'ts. He has since been able to hone his enthusiasm for a high rise sustainable housing ethos and in the process stimulate modern architectural trends, winning national acclaim and architectural awards. The conference provided fascinating insights and stirred the delegates' belief in the huge potential for connecting communities and providing alternatives to our unsustainable and disengaged urban sprawl. For more information on this topic, I encourage you to Google each of the presenters mentioned above. I also took copious notes on the day and if you email me (cchallen@murrindindi com.au) I will happily forward them on. - Cr Christine Challen
■ Being in the local government public spotlight can often be accompanied by incorrect rumours. With news of her increased pay packet of $248,000, Murrindindi Shire Chief Executive Margaret Abbey was said by some to be living elsewhere and driving a Mercedees-Benz. So to settle the questions, The Local Paper extended an opportunity to give her side of the story. “Ms MargaretAbbey lives in Murrindindi Shire and drives a Council-supplied vehicle (a Subaru Forrester),” said the Shire in a written statement on Friday. “The Mayor is also supplied with a vehicle (a Toyota Camry Hybrid),” the Council said.
● Margaret Abbey, Murrindindi Shire Chief Executive
Memories of Ann
■ Ross Davis is to be the quizmaster at a Trivia Night to be held at the Flowerdale Community Hallfrom 6.30pm on Saturday, Mat 14. Entry is $10 per person. Proceeds will help the Flowerdale Men’s Shed Choir trip to Ireland in October. Enquiries: Alison, 0447 016 971.
Pithy Pars
■ A ‘Special Meeting’ of Murrindindi Shire Council will be held at 6pm tonight (Wed.), ahead of the regular monthly meeting. Discussion will centre on the Customer Code of Conduct. ■ The Yarck Mechanics Institute Hall is due to be opened at 2pm on Friday (Apr. 29). ■ The biennial general meeting of the Glenburn CFA is taking place at the Fire Station at 8pm on Tuesday (May 3). ■ Three community representatives, plus one from each user group, will be elected at the Yea Racecourse Committee of Management meeting tonight (Wed.)at 7.30pm.
Fun time at F’dale
Sophie denial
● A service to remember the life of Ann Wall (nee Wadsowrth) was held at St Kule’s, Yea, on Friday. It gave The Local Paper an opportunity to search its extensive photo files, and find this pic when Ann received a donation (on behalf of the Yea and District Memorial Hospital) from the Rotary Club of Yea, then under the presidency of Neil Beer. ● An invitation is extended to the Wall family to lodge an obituary report on the life of Ann for publication in The Local Paper. That same invitation is always extended to families who lose local loved ones. Of course, there is no charge for this service.
■ Sophie Mirabella, Liberal candidate for Indi, denies she physically pushed her political opponent Cathy McGowan at a function in Benalla. The ABC reported that the Benalla Ensign noted that Ms Mirabella “very publicly pushed Ms McGowan out of the way to obstruct the photo being taken”. “I empathically reject reports reports I pushed Cathy McGowan,” Ms Mirabella tweeted. Libby Price, Ensign Editor, stands by the report and says the incident was witnessed by a number of people. She said her report was in the public interest.
Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel
That we keep hearing the name Leanne ★ Pleash as a popular choice to be encouraged to re-stand for Murrindindi Council. That Yea publican Alister Borrie owns a ★ larger block in the Saleyards St area, where the Council is pushing for a resident-
funded kerb and channel project. His bill would be $43,000 ... if the Shire wants to add Hill St to the project, his bill would be more than $100,000.
That Indi’s Liberal candidate Sophie ★ Mirabella is in the headlines again, with Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten
critcising her statement that the Abbott Government took money off the table for a local hospital when she lost her electorate. That Mitchell Shire - based nearby at ★ Broadford, Seymour and Wallan - has retrenched 13 staff as part of the $1.1 million trimming of its 2016-17 budget. The sackings are across a range of departments.
● A healthy crowd gathered at the Y Water Discover Centre, Yea, on Friday night (Apr. 22) for the Bat Night.