Our plan for Kensington
As we emerge from COVID-19, we can’t continue with the broken politics that rewards pollution and favours donors at the expense of the genuine public good. We need a Council that puts the people of Melbourne first, and we need Councillors who will work with and fight for the people who live here.
Our plan for Kensington in 2020-24
Since the City of Melbourne Act was introduced in 2001, The Greens have been the only councillors who publish policies and keep them published throughout the term of Council. We are serious about transparency and accountability.
Our policies are for a more sustainable, affordable, healthy and prosperous Kensington:
- We will halve rates on Kensington’s cafes, restaurants, bars and cultural venues (those places people gather that have been hit hardest by COVID-19) and provide rate relief to residents. We will pay for this by changing our rating system from NAV to CIV which allows for flexible differential rates to be applied, and doubling the rates on gambling premises for 5 years to help the city as a whole get through the recession. (See our Fair Rates For Everyone policy initiative for details.)
- We will seek to purchase land in ‘Macaulay’ south of Chelmsford Street for a new local park to serve current and projected future populations. This is where our open space needs are greatest. (See our Parks For Everyone policy initiative for details.)
- We will improve Racecourse Road by working with the Department of Transport and the City of Moonee Valley to make major road safety and amenity upgrades, with a focus on boulevard tree plantings, new physically separated bicycle lanes, and high amenity pedestrian precincts to support our local retail economy. (See our Parks For Everyone policy initiative for details.)
- We will fast-track organics, recycling and waste options without a new waste charge. The City of Melbourne’s waste rates are far too high; we have a plan to support communities to greatly reduce waste and to recycle what we can. We will partner with local networks that are already working hard on composting and resource recovery. (See our Recycling For Everyone policy initiative.)
- Our municipality-wide inclusionary zoning policy will deliver hundreds of new affordable homes in Kensington, in new medium and large developments concentrated in Macaulay. (See our Homes For Everyone policy initiative for details.)
- We will strongly advocate for new government schools to take pressure off existing schools and cater for a growing population. We will need two new primary and two new secondary government schools in Macaulay and Arden and plans and costings need to be put in place now, including clarity in the two Structure Plans nearing completion.
- We will crack down on illegal late night construction by seeking major reforms to the way construction noise is regulated. (See our Good Night’s Sleep For Everyone policy initiative for details.)
- We will ensure that the new planning controls for Macaulay are clear, predictable and avoid the unintended consequences of the earlier C190 controls.
- We will work hard to keep Council honest and ethical on all planning and development issues. We never take donations from developers or gambling interests and we will fight for transparency and accountability in the policies and decisions of Council.
Our achievements in Kensington
In Kensington, The Greens have:
- Built the new park next to Kensington station. This was originally proposed by Cr Leppert.
- Initiated a full review of the West Melbourne Waterfront land use and development to ensure a precinct approach, not an ad hoc approach by developers seeking to rezone each site one at a time, resulting in a comprehensive Council position “Maribyrnong Waterfront: A Way Forward“.
- Made the City of Melbourne adopt the Kensington Association’s policy when it comes to community impacts of Metro Rail Tunnel works, and worked closely with local residents to ensure that the Council’s Metro Tunnel liaison team is advocating strongly to the MMRA and contractors.
- Advocated relentlessly for the Moonee Ponds Creek Strategic Opportunities Plan to bring in flood mitigation and open space opportunities to the creek corridor.
- Secured a Council policy to advocate for the relocation of the South Kensington Station further west, to better service Kensington Banks and new development by the Maribyrnong River.
- Secured major changes to the Macaulay planning controls in 2013 and led the charge for a complete review in 2019/20, to bring in greater clarity for all parties.
- Brought in the 40km/h speed limit on non-arterial roads, to keep our community and young people safe.
- Initiated a review of Racecourse Road road safety, amenity and urban forest plans, which will come to fruition in the next term.
- Supported sustainable funding for The Venny at every opportunity.
- Expedited heritage restoration works on the Kensington Town Hall, and secured additional acoustic treatment to enable a wider range of community uses in the hall proper.
- Supported a new Dementia Friendly Neighbourhood Garden at the Kensington Community Centre.
- With the community, fought off the East West Link and its disastrous Stage 1B down Moonee Ponds Creek. We shifted Council’s position with a slim 1 vote victory back in 2013 despite the Doyle majority on Council.
- We stopped the Kensington pool plans from being rushed through Council, to allow time for serious consideration of the major ideas coming through community consultation, especially the indoor/outdoor flexible cafe in a park setting, an outdoor kids’ pool, and the ability to open the main pool hall up to the outdoors as much as possible in summer.
Vote for a Kensington resident
Cr Rohan Leppert has lived in Kensington since 2008. Among all of the candidates on all teams on the “Councillor Ticket” who are in a winnable position, Cr Leppert is the only Kensington resident.
All eight Greens candidates live in the City of Melbourne. We are the only major team that can say that. The City of Melbourne routinely produces a majority of councillors who do not live in the municipality – the only Council in Australia that does this. Council is too far removed from the communities it seeks to represent. To overcome this, vote for local residents with a plan.
You can read more about Rohan and our local candidates here.