Campaigns

Save our Preston Market: Letter to Minister for Planning

If you would like to help the campaign to prevent developers ruining our much loved Preston Market you can write in support to the Minister for Planning asking him to act on behalf of the community.

Below are sample letters you can use for inspiration or just copy.

Email addresses are included for you convenience.

Your support is very much appreciated.

To: richard.wynne@parliament.vic.gov.au,

CC: david.feeney@australianlabor.com.au ,

Dear Minister
No doubt you are aware of the efforts of our community, our MPs, and our Council to preserve Preston Market, an integral part of our city’s history and multi cultural icon.
As we mentioned at our first meeting, there comes a time in community struggle when we need to call on our Planning Minister to come to the aid of the people. We believe that time as arrived.
In order to ensure that proper process and true community justice prevails, we ask that you call in this development so that this occurs. We believe this is the democratic process. This will ensure that there is a level playing field and development takes place based on community approval of any part of the project that impacts on our market.

Dear Minister,

As a friend of Preston Market, I ask for your urgent support to help us save our market by ‘calling in’ the project to allow proper process and community consultation on the full development plan to take place.

Preston Market is not only iconic and part of our rich cultural history, but a thriving, current and vital part of our present and future. The market provides a space for buying fresh and affordable food, a gathering space, a space for micro businesses to flourish and many employment opportunities for locals.

It is imperative that any development of the area be consistent with the needs and wishes of traders and local residents.

Yours sincerely,
Preston Resident

Dear Minister for Planning and Members of Parliament both State and Federal

I am writing to you as a member of the Save our Preston Market community group, to request that you, also as a friend of Preston Market, offer immediate and urgent support to help save the market from inappropriate development.

I request that the Minister for Planning in Victoria, “call in” the project for consideration, so that a proper process of community consultation can commence and the full development plans be released.

Thank you for your time and consideration of this important matter.

Yours sincerely,

Dear Minister,

As a resident and regular user of Preston Market I am concerned at the plans for Preston market. There seems to be great concern by the community and stallholders regarding the implications of the re-development.

I ask for your urgent support to help us save our market by ‘calling in’ the project to allow proper process and community consultation on the full development plan to take place.

Kind regards

Dear Minister Wynne

I am writing to you to express my concern at the proposed re-development of our local Preston Market.

My affiliation with the market dates back to the 1970’s when my late father worked as a butcher there. In more recent times it has been a place I visit weekly with my family to purchase affordable produce. It has become so much more than a purchasing a weekly supply of fresh food. My three children have grown up interacting with the traders, enjoying the unique and colourful atmosphere that it provides, watching people from all socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds connect and very often meet for lunch in the fabulous central food court. It saddened me to think that a traditional 7 day a week retail centre is proposed for the sight. We already have multiple options in Darebin that provide major retail experience. For the last 15 years, when we purchase our dozen eggs from Preston Market ,the trader with out fail, every time opens the carton and checks every egg individually for potential cracks. This certainly is not something you would expect or experience from a major retail chain.

It must also be recognised that the Preston Market provides a safe and welcoming environment for many of those who are socially isolated or marginalised. For some members of the community it is the weekly address of their name from traders and knowing their regular order that gets them out of the house that day. Protecting this environment and social interaction are the basic foundations that provide the grounds for a more inclusive and cohesive society.

Minister Wynne, we are encouraged by your responsiveness thus far, meeting with committee members from Save our Preston Market group (SOPM) in September and more recently visiting the market personally. We feel the proposed re-development, in particular the addition of a 7 day a week traditional retail centre will undermine and corrode the unique character of the market and have adverse impacts on the community now and into the future. For this reason I urge you to immediately “call in” the project to allow for genuine community consultation and ensure that this beloved market is not destroyed on your watch.

Kind regards

Minister Wynne,

I am writing to you to express my concern at the proposed re-development of our local Preston Market.

Since moving into the area 8 years ago, my family and I have attended the market each Saturday morning to purchase our weekly supply of fruit, vegetables and meat. For my family, it’s more than just a regular food shop. It’s an education for our boys on healthy food choices, produce and variety but much more importantly, it’s a weekly connection to our community. Over the years we have forged relationships with the various stall holders and other market goers – such inter-generational and multicultural interactions money can’t buy.

The market is a gathering place for our local community as well as a place to access affordable and high quality produce.

We have been saddened to observe the impact of the new parking meters that have been introduced. As young, English speaking residents, we have been able to navigate the new system however we can see that this is not the case for many of the locals – especially the aged and non English speaking members of our community. It also causes unnecessary confusion and frustration for those who may have limited literacy skills. To us, it seems like certain community groups are being set up for failure and it appears opportunistic in terms of the generation of revenue through fines. Since the introduction of this new system, I have seen several episodes of aggression and rage at the meters and this does nothing to facilitate a feeling of safety for other market goers.

The thought of the market becoming a ‘major retail centre’ has no appeal to me and my family. We choose to attend the market to support the local traders and connect with our friends and community – there are already many local options for a ‘major retail experience’ if that is what we seek.

We feel that the proposed re-development will permanently alter and corrode the integrity of the Preston Market and will negatively impact the experience for regular market goers and traders.

We urge you and your colleagues to please act to protect our market.

Many thanks for your time and consideration,

Preston West resident

Dear Minister Wynne

I am writing to express my concern at the proposed re-development of our much loved Preston Market.

As you may be aware Darebin Council released ‘on advertising’ only stage 1C of the proposed development just before the Christmas break-up, making it very difficult for the stakeholder community to participate in any consultative or objection process.

Further, at the same time, Darebin Council released for ‘perusal only’ the planning application for Stage 1B of the redevelopment which includes two x ten story buildings. Council has been asked why stage 1B of the redevelopment was not released ‘on advertising’ and why the community cannot have a say through the normal process, as third party objectors, as regulated by the Planning and Environment Act 1987. This is very worrying as Stage 1B, if it goes ahead, will establish a high rise precedent for the site which is currently low rise. This precedent is very worrying for future stages like 1C and those that have, as yet, not been released.

Darebin Council, once again, has acted against community concerns by ignoring our rights protected under the Planning and Environment Act, 1987.

You may be reluctant to ‘call in’ planning applications, especially before they go through the proper consultative and approval process dictated but the legislation. But, as Darebin Council have overridden and ignored our rights it seems the only way the community can have a fair say is if you ‘call in’ the application and establish an alternative process that, at least, includes the right to object to the Stage 1B proposal.

Recently, an elderly citizen told me that his family go back five generations living in Preston and that the original Preston Market was on an alternative site before moving to the current site slated for redevelopment. This means that the market existed for more than 50 years and while it may not meet heritage criteria for the current precinct, surely the market itself meets heritage criteria and should be protected as such.

My own relationship with the market goes back thirteen years when I bought a house in East Preston. As a single person who lives alone I have appreciated the community atmosphere of the market, the like of which I never experienced at other markets in Melbourne. Over the years I have come to know the stall holders and staff very well. I consider my weekly visits more of a social outing than a necessary shop and worry that the redevelopment of the market is forcing stall holders out and will detrimentally affect the caring community it provides. Recently I was reminded of how caring the community at Preston Market really is when, not for the first time, another shopper was polite enough to ensure she was not served ahead of me. Again, something I have never encountered at any other market.

As a pensioner I am very appreciative of the good value, low cost, high quality, and fresh produce currently provided at the market and worry that the proposed development will force the traders to increase the prices of their produce so that they are no longer affordable for low income shoppers like me. I worry of the long term detrimental social impact of this on our community health and well being.

Currently Preston Market caters to a very broad demographic that is drawn from far beyond the local community. The building of hundreds of one and two bedroom apartments on the site, as per the planning proposal 1B and 1C, will negatively impact on the diversity of market goers, narrowing to predominantly one or two subgroups who can afford to live in small, expensive apartments.

Apartment dwellers tend to outgrow small spaces and will become more transient than those who live in other Darebin neighbourhoods. This discourages development of the type of caring community we have come to appreciate and want to see more of in Darebin. In our neighbourhoods where we look out for and support each other there are lower crime rates, safer streets and better health outcomes where our ageing population can age in place and we have a diverse mix of population from babies to the elderly with all the advantages that brings.

The proposal of a traditional 7 day a week retail centre for the sight will also negatively impact on the valued attributes of the current market. We already have multiple options in Darebin that provide major retail experience which draw a less diverse crowd. I would not want to see the high rise population ostracize particular community groups from their enjoyment of the market.

I feel that the proposed re-development will permanently alter and corrode the integrity of the Preston Market and will negatively impact the experience for market goers and traders.

I urge you and your colleagues to please act to protect our market before it is too late.

Many thanks for your time and consideration,

SAVE PRESTON MARKET FORUM

SAVE PRESTON MARKET FORUM
TUESDAY 27TH SEPTEMBER 2016

Its great to be here in a room full of passionate people all united in their concern for the long-term future of our wonderful piece of social and cultural heritage – the Preston Market.

I expect that we are all in shock and disbelief at the very possibility that such an important community asset could be at risk. I believe that our doubt and uncertainty has arisen through council indecision, a lack of information from the development consortium and a lack of information-sharing, let alone genuine consultation with the community.

As you heard in the introduction, I am a member of DADA and I would like to start my comments by making it very clear, that we at DADA are not opposed to development per se but we are opposed to poor development and poor outcomes such as: overdevelopment, poor design internally the cumulative effect of a lack of visual interest externally, and disregard for a sympathetic interface where the old meets new

We at DADA are speaking at this forum this evening because we feel compelled to join forces with you and all community groups as one voice in our opposition to the potential loss of this vital part of our community. We hope that together we can persuade the State Government, the Darebin Planning Department and the Development consortium- that what they are doing is not reasonable, not transparent, not community-minded and not beneficial for the long-term amenity of the area. We are concerned.

Can anyone provide a satisfactory response to the question: How will the proposed development contribute to the community in general and specifically to the market precinct?

Regarding our opposition to poor development, our concerns for the Preston Market are based on the evidence around us. What is the current benchmark in the Preston area?

If we take the Junction development precinct as an example, our understanding is that $3million dollars of ratepayer money was used for beautification to ‘the gateway’ to Preston. However the outcome, even with this additional resource is far from exemplary and if that is the blueprint for the market we suggest it is likely to be a treeless, harsh environment with limited air-space and a generally unwelcome atmosphere. The example of the type of building this development consortium has constructed in the area so far, that is the Centrelink building, is a hard-edged, uninteresting and dominating building – it is a building that yells at you to be noticed but unfortunately what it is yelling is: there is an absence of character here!

Perhaps some may argue that the market area is currently a treeless environment, however the low rise nature of the area, the air space, the natural light and the open environment provide key ingredients for shopper wellbeing and the sense of being in a space which is conducive to community gatherings. It is a place for people to meet and enjoy an experience that is part of our culture and history. These are important functions and deserve serious attention. Yet the only information available addressing the new space proposed – distributed in the past week – consists of a handful of visuals and a pamphlet of artist impressions of a proposed development of one part of the site plus, tellingly a disclaimer stating that all information is subject to change without notice. This is at best tokenistic and certainly does nothing to allay our fears that our community asset will be lost or at least so seriously compromised that it will no longer be the hub of vibrant cultural exchange and the genuinely distinctive shopping experience that we all currently enjoy.

This signifies the kind of disregard for existing culture to which we also object.

One criticism that has been made towards those who object is that they are just afraid of change. This old chestnut is most commonly used to veila one-eyed approach to development where the commercial interests of the few are allowed to subordinate the broader interests of the community. For a community centrepiece such as the Preston Market we cannot idly stand by while this criticism is trotted out. So we would say to this criticism – we are afraid. We are afraid of the loss of something integral to the community, we are afraid that the intention is to change the precinct of the Preston market such that its very nature is destroyed, and it becomes just another soulless place where you can buy stuff. And this speaks to a difficult argument – about the intangible value of a community space.

There are important issues around liveability. They are of a higher order than the motivations to conquer land, build structures and make money. It is hard to quantify what a place like the Preston Market can mean to people but all of you here today understand exactly what it feels like to experience the qualitiesof a sense of shared heritage, belonging, familiarity and cultural identity – and that’s what we have to keep talking about and explain until we are heard.

It’s harder to be heard however, when a strategy exists to ignore a voice. It seems to us as if the current strategy by the development consortium to split the whole development site into stages, is connected to a recognition of this development potentially threatening something out of the ordinary. The splitting of the development into stages is a way of drip-feeding us with information, which is a well-known method to both avoid and wear-down likely community opposition.

Stage one of this split, is the recently announced 4 million dollar upgrade which we see as having been offered as an enticement, but as others will expand upon, much of this upgrade is essentially redressing long-neglected health and safety requirements in the market. This of course is an important task which is very welcome. We are somewhat cynical however about the timing of this work – why now? These infrastructure maintenance tasks are long-overdue and are part of any landlords responsibility – lets not confuse them with protection of the essential and defining features of the Preston Market site, some of which I mentioned a little earlier.

The ultimate aim of the consortium in their detailed original plans as submitted to the council is for a 28 storey building with up to 1500 dwellings – although we would suggest that the term dwelling is an overly romantic description of what will amount to an excessive number of 1 and 2 bedroom places essentially catering for the come and go population.

This consortium’s plan is one example – a major example – but one example of a broader issue, that is, our council’slack of vision or a masterplan for the city of Darebin. It seems as if unfettered development is the name of the game. Development is occurring anywhere within the city rather than in liveable, well-planned well-designed and amenity- rich zones. Originally the North-South major corridors were targeted for development, with the East-West major roads not forming part of the plan and other in-fill areas being clearly restricted in terms of allowable development.

Now it seems that development is occurring in a more chaotic manner in which the push for individual developments are determining where developments happen, rather than the developments being determined by an overriding sense of how Darebin should progress into the future. In other words private developers are being allowed to lead the changing shape of our city.
The reality here is the evidence of what we have to live with.When we look around us, our suburbs are not better off and our major corridors are already looking tawdry with new, poor development. We don’t want a reoccurrence of this continuing pattern and we certainly don’t want our beloved community asset, the Preston market, degraded beyond recognition.

In the South and South-Eastern suburbs of Melbourne there are many examples of better designed buildings, than those of Darebin. So, is the apparent unwillingness of developers to design well, something to with demographic differences in the community residents or does it actually reflect a fundamental difference in councils with regard to their motivation to drive higher standards.
Something needs to change to give us a better deal. Perhaps future councillors will treat community concerns more sensitively and be more concerned with driving the agenda with regard to higher standards from developers. After all,the council is set up to represent the interests of the public, and it should at least recognise that it’s interests are not always aligned to developers.
And finally we believe that saving the Preston Market is an issue of social responsibility and that the development consortium and the council must accept the social responsibility incumbent on them. If they are not prepared to accept this responsibility, we say step aside and relinquish that responsibility to someone else.

Thank you for your time, your attention and your commitment to this vital cause.

save-the-preston-market-forum (PDF)

Petition: Protect Plenty Road

Dear family and friends,

We have started a petition to ask the planning minister, Richard Wynne, to protect Plenty Road from over-development when Darebin Council has abandoned them.

Our members who live along and nearby Plenty Road have been abandoned to the horrors of over-development by Darebin Council when they voted to raise the maximum building height to 6 storeys in Amendment C137.

Our goal is to reach 100 signatures and we need more support.

You can read more and sign the petition here:

www.change.org

Please send the link and encourage your friends and networks to sign.

Cheers, Maria

Protect Plenty Road from Over-Development

We have started a petition in support of the folk who live on and adjacent to Plenty Road.

Please sign by following the link:

https://www.change.org/p/richard-wynne-planning-minister-robin-scott-mp-fiona-richardson-mp-steven-tsitas-darebin-mayor-protect-plenty-road-from-over-development?recruiter=26302335&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=share_email_responsive&rp_sharecordion_checklist=control

Cheers!

Save Bundoora Park Petition

Dear DADA Folk,
Further to the Save Bundoora Park campaign is a petition, (below).
You can help by printing and gathering signatures.
Mail pages back to Councillor Tim Laurence, PO Box 91, PRESTON 3072.
If you can convert the PDF file to a Word format you can then add your signature digitally and return the page to Tim Laurence | campaign.kitchen@gmail.com
If you can convert to word please send me a copy to share.
Thanks for your support.
Maria
DADA

petition-bundoora-park-2015

Preston Market Plans

Dear DADA Folk,

Here are the documents relating to the proposed plans for Preston market.

They will be discussed at tonight’s (16/02/2015) council meeting and yes the proposal does include 28 story buildings on the railway side of the site.

It seems excessive and unnecessary when the strategic planners say that they already have enough planning proposals to provide for the projected population on their books right now.

You can stream the debate from the Darebin website if you can’t make the meeting.

Cheers, Maria
DADA

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