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Darebin Appropriate Development Association

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News

Preston Market Update: Council Meeting 9th June 2020

There have been claims and counter claims about the decision made on the future of Preston Market at the council meeting on the 18th of May 2020.

In an attempt to get council to clarify their position regarding the demolition, shift and rebuild of the market DADA asked the following questions.

Read the council reply underneath and decide if Preston Market is still at risk of being demolished?

If you are concerned about the future of Preston Market tell your council representatives.

____________________________________________________

The Preston Market motion passed at the last council meeting (May 18) has created confusion and concern in the Darebin community about the fate of Preston Market.

For the sake of clarification will council please answer yes or no to the following questions:

Q. Does the motion passed keep open the option of demolishing, relocating and rebuilding the market?

Response

Council doesn’t get to make the decision on whether or not the market will move. That’s up to the State Government and the landowner. What Council can decide, is what it tells the VPA is most important to think about when they set the planning rules.

The advice we’ve had from experts is that there are real risks if the market is moved – particularly to the architectural heritage of the building which is very important. The advice also indicates real risks to the ongoing viability of the market and to the existing traders if parts of the market aren’t moved or expanded, which is also very important.

We haven’t given up hope that there’s a solution where all of these risks are balanced. Where both the architecture and the traders are protected. That’s what we asked the VPA to do on 18 May 2020, to protect both – and we called for both a heritage overlay and a contractual agreement with the landowner.

Q. Is relocating the Preston Market to a new position still one of the options being considered by council?

Response

Once the VPA comes to us with a plan, we will be able to say whether we think they go far enough to meet Council’s clear objectives to protect what’s most important. Council’s objectives are very clear that moving the market could only be supported if the heritage experts say that it won’t harm the heritage of the market building.

Councilors in the chamber have claimed that there are many views from the community that do not support the continuation of Preston Market in situ.

Q. Is this secret council business or will you release the data of Darebin community members who support the relocation, hence ultimate destruction/demolition of the market? 

Response

All of the community engagement for Preston Market has been done by engagement specialists and their reports made fully public. The most recent round of engagement was carried out in May and June last year, by RPS Consultants. Issues around market character and urban design were looked at in-depth.

The report from this phase of engagement concludes: “Feedback also shows that maintaining the intangible essence of the market was an important consideration for participants. For the vast majority of participants these intangibles create the value of the market – this includes: the range and diversity of offerings, affordability, providing a welcoming and inclusive space that everyone can enjoy, having a range of stallholders, its cultural diversity and its authentic, ‘grunge’ aesthetic. For this majority the location of the market is not a concern.”

We also know that there are people within the community who passionately believe the market should remain exactly where it currently sits in the site.

Preston Market Update: Council Meeting 18th May 2020

Listen to the reasons given by Councilor McCarthy in the clips below for not supporting the amendments. You will hear that he wants to keep as many options open as possible. This includes the option of demolishing, moving and rebuilding the market regardless of it’s heritage status.

https://www.darebinada.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/McCarthy-1.mp4
https://www.darebinada.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/McCarthy-2.mp4

Public Question Time, Darebin Council Meeting, 18th of May 2020

 

Below is an edit from council meeting minutes for Monday the 18th of May 2020.

DADA asked:

Maria Polietti (sic), DADA President, (Presented by Chris Erlandsen, DADA Vice President and Save Our Preston Market Representative)

Will Council agree to record voting patterns in the General Council Meeting Minutes and Planning Committee Meeting Minutes?

Response from Chairperson, Mayor Rennie

Council’s Governance Rules (Meeting Procedure and Common Seal) Local Law – clause 42(1) stipulates that the Mayor will call the names of Councillors (for and against) of all motions and amendments (except procedural matters) and that’s a change that was made in the last Governance Local Law so that change that Ms Polietti has requested is actually now part of the Governance Local Law.

To be very clear and accurate, the minutes of the 18th of May, 2020 meeting were the very first where the voting patterns were published even though the Mayor had been recording them for some time in previous meetings.

DADA has been asking for greater transparency around voting patterns for at least 6 years.

This council cannot claim a strong commitment to transparency when they began their office by refusing the option to call for a ‘division’ which in the past enabled the recording and publishing of some, not all voting patterns.

Darebin Council Mayor refuses to meet with DADA.

A scheduled meeting with the Darebin Mayor, Susan Rennie and council officers on planning for the 50th birthday celebrations for Preston Market was cancelled today because the Mayor was offended by a meme posted on this website and the Save Our Preston Market facebook page.

It would be fantastic if council minuted records of voting by councilors so that they could refute the claim with statistics. Despite multiple requests to do so from DADA and others, they have not yet agreed. Instead this council decided to cancel calling for divisions which up until then was the only official way of recording votes in council minutes.

DADA does not intend to offend anybody but Councillor Newton and other incumbent Councillors used the Save Our Preston Market campaign for self promotion during the last council election. They are seen to enjoy the publicity but do not like us pointing out hypocrisy on their part.

Preston Market Heritage Hearing Report

The heritage hearing to determine if Preston Market is added to the Victorian Heritage Register was held on the 17th and 19th of August, 2019.

The registration committee were Mr Lindsay Merritt (Chair), Prof Stuart Macintyre, Ms Penelope Smith.

Submissions from DADA, Save our Preston Market, Darebin Ethnic Communities Council, Ethnic Communities Council Victoria, Mr Gaetano Greco, Mr Barry Pearce supported the application for registration and stressed the importance of Preston Market to the heritage of Victoria.

You can read the submission by the original architect and designers, BARRY PEARCE, Architect and Designer and DAVID RAYSON, Building Designer here:

PRESTON MARKET WRITTEN SUBMISSION_Criterion f_130619-2Download

You can read the DADA hearing submission here:

Heritage Victoria Hearing submission M Poletti- Preston Market bDownload

Read the submission on behalf of DADA and Save our Preston Market here:

Document- Heritage Preston Market C ErlandsenDownload

We discovered, through the process, that Darebin Council still owns land titles in the market. We have asked the Darebin CEO and Mayor to clarify this.

The Heritage Council representative told the hearing that:

The former Broadhurst Tannery site is in the Victoria Heritage Inventory (H7922-0399).

Its significance is quite separate to Preston Market.

Archaeological investigation would be a Heritage Act Consent requirement for any disturbance or development work undertaken on the Inventory site that may affect historical archaeological remains associated with the former tannery.

The area also has blanket protection under the Act.  Under the terms of the Act it is an offence to disturb any historical archaeological remains, even for a site that is not included on the Heritage Inventory, unless a Consent has been issued by the Executive Director, Heritage Victoria.

The Heritage Council has 90 days to make a determination.

Preston Market Update: Preston Leader

The Preston Leader has the following article on their Facebook page. Happy reading.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/north/save-our-preston-market-group-says-council-waved-white-flag/news-story/69bff97da9f5ca6800ddaee3e108d0f0

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Our next meeting is planned for 7pm, Tuesday, July 18th, 2023. All welcome.  Contact DADA for address or zoom details. … [Read More...] about Next Meeting: 7pm, Tuesday July 18th, 2023

Guide: Having Your Say

Having Your Say A Guide to Successful Planning and Development Objecting Is designed to guide readers through the process of objecting to planning and development proposals at local government and Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). It includes pages and appendix documents of strategies and ideas used to produce successful outcomes and shared by DADA folk with many years … Read More about Guide: Having Your Say

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