Monday, October 11, 2010

MP urges power companies to consider residents plan

The Family Fun Day on 10/10/10 was a huge success with around 800 residents turning up throughout the afternoon to support the "Parks Not Pylons" campaign. It was a fantastic show of community spirit and demonstrates how passionate everyone is about getting a good outcome from the Brunswick Terminal Station upgrade.

Kelvin Thomson, Federal Member for Wills, spoke at the event and urged the power companies and regulators to seriously consider the alternate plan put forward by residents which would both place the new facility underground and open up more parkland for the community. He spoke about pressure on the local infrastructure with increased multi-unit housing in the area, and the urgent need for additional recreational space for Moreland residents.

Other politicians who attended included Jane Garrett (Mayor of Yarra and ALP candidate for Brunswick), Cyndi Dawes (Green candidate for Brunswick), Fiona Richardson (Member for Northcote), Anne Martinelli (Green candidate for Northcote), Greg Barber (Greens MLC), Cr Trent McCarthy (Darebin) and Cr Jo Conellan (Moreland). Thanks to them all for making the time to come along on a Sunday afternoon.
Singapore Power Ausnet, CitiPower and the Australian Energy Market Operator sent along a contingent of staff to talk to residents and explain their plans for a proper community consultation process. They said everyone in the local area should be receiving a newsletter and 'feedback form' in coming days so all residents should ensure they make their views known. Many thanks to all those who donated their time, energy and resources to the day - including Frank Woodley for being such an excellent MC, all those bands who entertained the crowds, the sausage sizzlers, face painters and all the behind the scenes crew who made it happen.

The Merri Creek Community Group will ensure that everyone who has signed up to this blog keeps getting regular updates on progress, so please encourage any of your neighbours or other supporters to sign up now. Thanks again to this wonderful community for being so supportive of the campaign to date - without you, futures generations would have been left the legacy of a sea of pylons and not the range of credible alternative solutions we now have on the table.







Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Family Fun Day - HUGE Political Line-up




Only 5 days to go until our big community rally and fun day this Sunday - and we need to ensure there is a big crowd to make their views known to the politicians from all levels of government that we have coming along.


Firstly, Adam Bandt the new Greens member for Melbourne (pictured right - is this his first local appearance since being elected??) and Kelvin Thomson (pictured left), the re-elected ALP member for Wills. They will hopefully give us some idea what our federal representatives can do to help keep the pylons OFF the table and get a more community focused solution on the BTS site.


And with the State Election looming in only six weeks, we have Fiona Richardson (Member for Northcote), Carlo Carli (retiring Member for Brunswick), Greg Barber (Greens member in the Upper House), and a whole host of candidates (Jane Garrett - ALP for Brunswick, Cyndi Dawes - Greens for Brunswick, Anne Martinelli - Greens for Northcote) coming along to hear the community's views.



Last but not least, we have representatives from three local Councils (Moreland, Yarra and Darebin) pledging to attend to hear what community members have to say. Make sure you, and all your family friends and colleagues, come along to make this a memorable occasion.




Fun starts at 12pm - serious stuff at 1pm - and continues throughout the afternoon.