PART THREE

1. Reports are out

Council's Economic and Community Impact Analysis and a progress report from the Design Review Committee are now available on the CoPP website.

2. Re-arranging the deck chairs...

We now have a response from the developer to our two documents - one third the size and vision for success.

Unfortunately, not much has changed.  We still have before us a commercial purpose proposal for a massive shopping and entertainment complex on the St Kilda Foreshore Crown Land.

In its revised, but not significantly altered form, the proposal still falls short of meeting the planning guidelines for the site and addressing community concerns. Its public purpose use remains a meagre 15 percent of the constructed site.

Yet, Council is determined to push ahead, at full throttle, albeit with a few of the deck chairs rearranged.

3. The sinking ship

We entered discussions with the Council and BBC in good faith to bring, at the least, the current BBC proposal in line with UDF guidelines.  We assumed Council and BBC entered likewise.

Our case was for substantial changes to the proposed Development Plan (DP), such as a material reduction in the retail and commercial floor areas (including nightclubs, pubs and taverns) and significant design modifications to leave views intact, in order to bring the DP into compliance.

Some progress has been made but the fundamentals remain the same. The minor concessions made will still result in a massive commercial exploitation of crown land, on a scale not seen previously in St Kilda or Melbourne.

We question the value of remaining a party to a negotiation process where so many things are declared not negotiable, with a Council so dismissive of promises made to its community.  

Our leaving the table would not signal the end of our campaign.

For more details, see council minutes