Queensbridge Square Under Threat Exclusive by Sean Car
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MARCH 2015 ISSUE 39 PRICELESS WWW.SOUTHBANKLOCALNEWS.COM.AU : SOUTHBANK_News The voice of Southbank n Evan Walker tribute n Dianne's next step to Mars Page 3 Page 7 n Don't hold your breath on n Sandridge School to short-stays service Southbank Page 5 Page 9 A gift to Southbank Th e State Government last month announced $100 million in funding to repair and renovate Flinders St Station, which includes plans to restore the underpass connecting Southbank with Elizabeth St. Find out more about how the money will be spent on page 4. Queensbridge Square under threat Exclusive by Sean Car Th e Freshwater Place owners’ corporation (OC) is angry after receiving a letter from the City of Melbourne last month, alerting it of a proposal for a two-storey coff ee shop in the heart of Queensbridge Square. Th e proposal, which was submitted by was still assessing the matter and that all believed the proposal was “wholly pending request of the local community,” the Cafenatics to the council last July, would concerns would be taken into consideration. unacceptable for a range of reasons,” and letter stated. occupy a space of 12.4 metres in length and that it intended to send a letter of objection “In terms of the location, details of this “Th is was rejected due to ‘land issues’. 6.3 metres in width of Crown Land at the to the City of Melbourne. proposal were part of a confi dential item of Yet, it seems that the council and State western section of the square. a Future Melbourne Committee meeting In a summary of issues attached to the letter, Government have magically conjured Th e owners are particularly upset because in 2011 and, as such, I am unable to reveal the committee raised concerns surrounding up a premise for a proposed commercial the public square was partly funded by details of that meeting,” he said. public space, which Freshwater Place had enterprise almost right in the middle of the Freshwater Place developer contributions. square?” “Council is aware that there are concerns contributed $300,000 to help construct in According to City of Melbourne Councillor and objections to its presence and planning 2005, as well as a “long-pending request” for “Th is sends some very wrong and distressing Ken Ong, plans for the project have been offi cers will consider all issues before any a police station at the square. messages to residents and voters about the discussed behind closed doors with the recommendation is made to council.” priorities of these state bodies.” “Th e council and the State Government previous State Government since 2011. In a letter to residents, Freshwater Place OC apparently had no available place in He said the council’s planning department chairman Peter Renner said the committee Southbank for a police booth/station – a long Continued on page 5. WE ARE YOUR LOCAL GROCER! 182 City Road, SOUTHBANK 2 SOUTHBANK LOCAL NEWS ISSUE 39 Hodyl’s report implausible Suite 108, 198 Harbour Esplanade In theory, this scenario might happen. PO Box 23008 Docklands 8012 However, the diagram is, in the words of Prof Tel: 8689 7980 Fax: 9602 2929 Hein, “questionable”. www.southbanklocalnews.com.au Editorial In her diagram, Ms Hodyl claims that the Editor: Sean Car Sean Car controversial proposal at Queensbridge Tower and the accompanying hotel are Publisher: Shane Scanlan approved when, in fact, they are awaiting Th e manner in which City of approval. With a change in government, Tel: 8689 7980 Fax: 9602 2929 there is a very real chance that this proposal [email protected] Melbourne planner Leanne could get knocked back. Reader contributions are welcome. Hodyl chose to represent Another so-called “approved” tower, located Please send articles and images to Southbank in her recent [email protected] on the current site of Hanover House at the Churchill Fellowship report corner of City Rd and Power St is yet to be approved. Deadline for edition 40 is April 9. diminished its credibility. Planning Department spokesperson Kirsten Th e diagram of a block in Southbank that features in Th e comparative study, which received a Leanne Hodyl’s Churchill Fellowship report. Howe confi rmed this, stating: “No approval CONNECT lot of coverage in the mainstream media, has been granted, as further information has “It overreaches with respect to scale, concluded that “hyper-dense” apartments been requested from the proponents of both Keep up to date with local news & events. form and spacing of proposed individual in Melbourne were being built at a rate that applications.” buildings collectively contributing to a Follow us on Twitter would never be allowed overseas. questionable civic image for Melbourne,” he Ms Hodyl includes a further three @SOUTHBANK_News While the study tour took Ms Hodyl to was quoted as saying. imaginary City Rd towers in her diagram New York, Vancouver, Tokyo, Hong Kong on the very non-specifi c basis of “potential Like us on Facebook and Seoul to meet with a host of planning New York chief sustainability offi cer Gary towers based on existing development Southbank Local News experts, it would almost appear that she had Lawrence, was reported as saying that the patterns within block”. rate of development in Southbank was determined its fi ndings before she left. What her overseas counterparts were left Like us on Instagram “crazy”. In terms of providing shock value for a with was a false diagram, which validates SouthbankLocalNews tabloid publication it certainly delivers. But “Th is cluster of towers would never be built her conclusion that high-rise apartments in for an academic study it possesses a number in New York,” he was alleged to have said. Melbourne are being built at four times the of gaping holes, which would render it “Th e idea of creating a liveable city at this densities allowed in Hong Kong, New York irrelevant in the eyes of most policy-makers. density is crazy.” and Tokyo. Almost the entire study focuses on Few would disagree that Southbank is Ms Hodyl made the point that “Southbank development within the CBD, which is why challenged by the current planning regime has no density controls” and that height her decision to cast a spotlight on Southbank and that the nature of development is a and separation controls are mandatory and in a particularly critical and yet brief manner concern, which is why Ms Hodyl’s report is “rarely met”. seems like a strange call. so disappointing. However, had she presented an accurate and Within the 40-page study, Southbank is Th e “cluster of towers” quoted by Mr in-depth analysis of the situation, it would mentioned on a mere three pages. And Lawrence refers to a diagram (pictured) of have made a far more sustainable argument yet, while she raises legitimate issues a block in Southbank, which encompasses for reform. in Southbank to overseas planners, her Power St, City Rd, Queensbridge St and What is left, instead, is a falsely-spun assessment leaves much to be desired. Southbank Boulevard. portrayal which received a lot of media Th e report quoted University of British Th is diagram appears to be the only example coverage. Columbia urban designer Prof Scot Hein Ms Hodyl elected to showcase to her Leanne Hodyl declined to be interviewed by as saying that the Southbank project was overseas contemporaries and, on paper, has Southbank Local News. a “mistake”. all the makings of a Lego-city. Everyday needs are right next door Discover a range of everyday shopping needs at Southgate. ¨ Eyes on Southgate ¨ Flight Centre ¨ iBag intelligent drycleaning ¨ Mark’s Service Depot ¨ Max Therapy* ¨ Rooprani hair and beauty salon ¨ Southgate Medical Centre Located on the podium level at ¨ Southgate News and Lotto the base of Southgate Towers. ¨ Southgate Pharmacy *Located on mid level ¨ TAB ISSUE 39 SOUTHBANK LOCAL NEWS 3 Southbank remembers its father By Sean Car Th e Honourable Evan Walker, a visionary architect and former Labor planning minister who was responsible for shaping Southbank into what it is today, passed away last month aged 79 following a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. Southbank Local News caught up with former Labor Premier Hon. John Cain to pay tribute to the man dubbed the “father of Southbank.” “His ideas and his initiative was the genesis you have people like that in the department of Southbank,” Mr Cain said. “It was a but to have someone like that in the cabinet convenient, industrial, commercial adjunct room was pretty helpful.” to the City of Melbourne on the other side of Improvements to Melbourne’s arts, legal the river. He changed all of that.” and sporting precincts (including the MCG “Th ere were long-term Crown leaseholds lights), the creation of state parks, enforcing and most of the land was occupied under height limits and implementing rules those terms and conditions. When I say long surrounding developer contributions were term they were 99-year leases so they had just some of the many visionary changes that to be converted or reconsolidated and the Evan Walker introduced. streets had to be realigned so it was a long, However, Mr Cain said his most signifi cant long job.” contribution to the City of Melbourne would “But Evan had the persistence and the always be the architectural foresight he foresight to see what it could be, so he is the brought to rejuvenating Southbank and the man that we should thank for Southbank.” Yarra River. Following a fi erce sectarian divide in 1955, it “Southbank was the signature,” he said. “Th e wouldn’t be until the election of the Whitlam Yarra really was seen as being a drain and as government in 1972 that any Labor party in the southern boundary of the CBD prior to either federal or state politics held offi ce in that.” Australia.