Our plan for South Yarra
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 South Yarra 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 South Yarra:
- We will halve rates on South Yarra’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 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.)
- We will complete the Greens-initiated South Yarra Heritage Review, to renew our 35 years out-of-date local heritage controls.
- We will implement Conservation Management Plans for all of our parks and gardens, starting with Fawkner Park, to ensure that our public open spaces are preserved and prioritised for community use and respect our heritage and inner city biodiversity. (See our Parks For Everyone policy initiative.)
- We will ensure that the next Municipal Planning Statement better recognises the Domain Rd retail and hospitality strip to prevent the further erosion of local services and shopping options.
- We will crack down on noise and nuisance by seeking major reforms to the way construction noise and waste trucks are regulated and by pushing for more notice, and a stronger MOU with community groups and Council with the contractors, for major transport and construction projects. (See our Good Night’s Sleep For Everyone policy initiative for details.)
- We will progress the new Greens-initiated sustainable building design controls to ensure that every new building in Melbourne adds to the quality of our city and provides quality homes.
- 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 South Yarra
In South Yarra, The Greens have:
- Proposed and secured support for a South Yarra Heritage Review to bring 35-years-old local heritage controls up to date.
- Proposed and secured new heritage policies to make it harder to demolish the front part of ‘contributory’ graded heritage buildings, while making it easier to ensure that energy-saving infrastructure like solar panels can be built on lower graded buildings.
- Protected and increased funding for our world class parks and gardens, while introducing new Sunlight To Parks planning controls to minimise the impact of new development on our prized public land.
- Resisted inappropriate development inside heritage parks and commissioned a review to improve the way the City of Melbourne plans and consults on works in parks on the State heritage register.
- Progressed and supported the Domain Parklands Master Plan, and secured changes to the final version in line with the requests of South Yarra residents.
- Ensured that South Yarra residents have access to a more transparent, accessible and accountable register of planning applications.
- Proposed in the 2017-21 Council Plan that the Council reimagine the role of the Yarra River, with strategic work resulting in the Yarra River – Birrarung Strategy.
Vote for a local
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 our local candidates here.