Our plan for North Melbourne
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 North Melbourne 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 North Melbourne:
- We will halve rates on North Melbourne’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 convert parts of Sutton Street to green open space, and replicate the success of Neill Street Carlton here in North Melbourne: a new, expanded, high amenity park and community setting for our public housing precinct. We’ll finally upgrade the North Melbourne Community Centre and ensure that this area becomes an attractive heart of the Melrose/Boundary precinct of North Melbourne for our current and future populations. (See our Parks For Everyone policy initiative for details.)
- We will seek to purchase land in ‘Macaulay’ west of Boundary Road for another 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 deliver new public open space on Queensberry St in front of North Melbourne Town Hall. Why so much new public open space in North Melbourne? Because after Southbank, it is the area of the municipality in greatest need – and we have the budget to do it. We will pay for this project through the State/Council traffic mitigation fund associated with the (ill-conceived) Westgate Tunnel project. (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 North Melbourne, in new medium and large developments concentrated in Macaulay. (See our Homes For Everyone policy initiative for details.)
- We will work with the State Government to build new public housing in the ‘Arden’ urban renewal area. The waiting list for public housing in Victoria is approaching 100,000 and it’s time that Government built housing again: also as a means of economic recovery. (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 push for road traffic noise regulations to be upgraded.
- We will ensure that the new planning controls for ‘Macaulay’ are clear, predictable and avoid the unacceptable 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.
- We will ensure that the Queen Victoria Market retains its heritage and remains a great market, able to operate sustainably, fairly and enjoyably for generations to come.
Our achievements in North Melbourne
In North Melbourne, The Greens have:
- Proposed and secured an expansion to Gardiner Reserve. This is where we launched our 2016 election campaign, and promised 3,000 sqm of new public open space. That’s what we delivered.
- Advocated relentlessly for the Moonee Ponds Creek Strategic Opportunities Plan to bring in flood mitigation and open space opportunities to the creek corridor.
- Secured the acceleration of the Transport Strategy 2030, delivering 10 years of bicycle lanes in 4, through Cr Cathy Oke’s Climate Emergency Declaration response. This brought forward the Abbotsford Street and Peel Street separated bicycle lanes works.
- Proposed and secured a North Melbourne Heritage Review, to upgrade 30 years out-of-date heritage controls.
- 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. We fixed Planning Panels Victoria’s mistakes on the Shiel Street interface controls.
- Proposed a 40km/h speed limit on non-arterial roads, to keep our community and young people safe: it’s sitting with the Department of Transport at the moment.
- 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 former Lord Mayor Doyle’s majority on Council.
- Proposed pandemic plans for North Melbourne public housing in the wake of the State Government’s heavy-handed force-first support-last approach to public housing lockdowns, to ensure that we do everything possible to avoid human rights abuses in future.
- Through direct advocacy on behalf of residents, secured new pedestrian crossings and bicycle parking infrastructure between Errol and Capel Streets.
- Secured a strategic plan and funding for Arts House Melbourne, bringing a dedicated contemporary performing arts community to the precinct.
- Ensured that the Queen Victoria Market renewal plans respect the heritage and fresh fruit and veg functions of the market. (The Greens established the $20m Trader Support Fund, secured the ‘no development zone’ around the Aboriginal cemetery and changed the renewal plans to ensure that H and I sheds are retained for fruit and veg sales (see pages 13 to 15), and proposed the Market Square Charter.)
Vote for a North Melbourne 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.
Roxane Ingleton, our Deputy Lord Mayor candidate, lives in North Melbourne.
You can read more about Roxane and our local candidates here.