Coldstream 3770

Planning Minister orders VCAT to create an extra six weeks of sitting days

2012-02-15T09:41:00.000+11:00

UP to $1.5 billion worth of stalled planning cases will be cleared through a VCAT blitz.

Frustrated at year-long delays at the tribunal, Planning Minister Matthew Guy will order VCAT to create an extra six weeks of sitting days to determine an extra 800 cases and clear some of the $3 billion backlog of cases waiting for a hearing.

There are 1824 smaller cases in limbo, many of them applications made by families and small developers with a value under $5 million.

Ref: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/planning-minister-orders-vcat-to-create-an-extra-six-weeks-of-sitting-days/story-fn7x8me2-1226271102141

Comment: Why do so many cases go to VCAT?

Another developer sues Guy

2012-02-15T09:36:00.002+11:00

ANOTHER developer is suing Planning Minister Matthew Guy, this time because of claims he acted unreasonably in a decision over rural land in Lara.

Hail Netting Regulations.

2012-02-10T08:47:00.001+11:00

A letter from theMinister for Planning to the Mayor regarding hail netting regulations.

Comment: Let's get a move on

Free Goats (2) to a good home!

2012-02-08T08:56:00.005+11:00

Goats Rosie and Bobby have been surrendered to the Coldstream shelter and need a new home.

Animal Aid (Coldstream) general manager Nell Thompson said with special attention the two goats would make fantastic pets.

To adopt the pair, phone Animal Aid on 9739 0300.

Read More Here

The CFA at work

2012-02-07T09:18:00.000+11:00

CFA crews from Dixons Creek, Yarra Glen, Toolangi, Coldstream and Healesville brought the fire under control in about 10 minutes, and stayed on the scene until about 3pm.

The fire burnt about two hectares of grass, but Mr Noonan said if it hadn’t been quickly controlled, there was potential for it to threaten Dixons Creek Primary School, which is only about 500 metres away.

Breaking the WEED habit

2012-02-06T15:23:00.002+11:00

Weed Control

What are weeds and how do I remove them?

Weeds are unwanted plants that invade natural bushland and waterways and make it difficult for native plants and animals to survive.

A large number of weeds come from private gardens so it's important to ensure your plants are not 'jumping the fence'.

For more information on how to remove weeds download the Weed Removal Techniques fact sheet listed below:

Agapanthus	Montbertia
Angled Onion	Montpellier Broom
Arum Lily	Radiata Pine
Blue Periwinkle	Red Cestrum
Bridal Creeper	Red Root
Bulbil Watsonia	Spanish Heath
Desert Ash	Sweet Pittosporum
English Broom	Sycamore Maple
Hawthorn	Wandering Trad
Holly	Wild Tobacco Tree
Honeysuckle	Willow

How do I dispose of weeds?

We encourage you to remove any environmental weeds from your garden to stop them from spreading into natural areas.

You can dispose of them in one of three ways:

Dropping them off at your local Recovery and Transfer station Transfer stations are located in Healesville, Wesburn, Coldstream and Lysterfield. You can contact our Environment Department for a voucher to dispose of your weeds for free.
Fortnightly Garden Organics bin service
This service is only available to properties in certain areas. For more information visit the Waste & Recycling page
Bundled green waste service Check your Residential Recycling & Waste guide for details about the next service in your area.

Taken from the Shire Web Site

Weather Stata for Coldstream Jan 2012

2012-02-04T22:07:00.001+11:00

Weather statistics for January 2012.

Temperature about average, rainfall down a little onaverage.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Averages\Extremes for the monthof January 2012

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Average temperature =20.1°C

6 yearaverage = 20.2°C

Averagehumidity = 66%

Averagedewpoint = 12.7°C

Averagebarometer = 1012.6 hPa

Averagewindspeed = 3.7 km/h

Averagegustspeed = 6.9 km/h

Averagedirection = 160° (SSE)

Rainfall formonth = 41.6 mm

Average formonth = 51.0 mm

Rainfall foryear = 41.6 mm

Maximum rain per minute = 1.0 mm on day 11 attime 11:27

Maximum temperature =38.6°C on day 01 at time 17:45

Minimum temperature =5.3°C on day 31 at time 06:48

Maximumhumidity = 96% on day 31 at time07:28

Minimumhumidity = 19% on day 02 at time18:43

Maximumdewpoint = 21.8°C on day 30 at time11:34

Minimumdewpoint = 4.3°C on day 31 at time6:47

Maximumpressure = 1020.2 hPa on day 14 attime 08:40

Minimumpressure = 990.4 hPa on day 30 attime 14:52

Maximumwindspeed = 22.2 kmh from 203°(SSW) on day30 at time 19:28

Maximum gustspeed = 40.7 km/h from 203°(SSW) on day 11 attime 17:00

Maximum heatindex = 38.5°C on day 03 at time 15:25

Avg daily max temp :27.5°C

Avg daily min temp :13.1°C

Total windrun = 2722.9km

-----------------------------------

Daily rain totals

-----------------------------------

04.4 mm on day 5

00.2 mm on day 6

07.8 mm on day 9

02.4 mm on day 10

03.2 mm on day 12

12.8 mm on day 13

01.0 mm on day 14

00.6 mm on day 19

03.6 mm on day 31

Regards,

Robert Bethell

Leslie (Les) Skate honoured for community service.

2012-01-31T09:51:00.000+11:00

Dedicated life

By Kath Gannaway

31st January 2012 02:00:30 AM

A MAN who has served the Coldstream community for more than 60 years has been awarded Yarra Ranges Council's Australia Day Mayor's Lifetime Achievement Award.

Leslie (Les) Skate was among nine Yarra Ranges individuals and members of the Millgrove Residents Action Group honoured for their community service at a ceremony at Burrinja in Upwey on Australia Day.

read the rest here:

Comment: Congratulation Les, you deserve this award. Congrats to the others as well.

Coldstream Tip Going Private

2012-01-31T09:45:00.004+11:00

Scales tipped

By Kath Gannaway

31st January 2012 02:00:30 AM

YARRA Ranges Council will no longer have control over tip fees following a decision to privatise it's Coldstream and Wesburn waste transfer stations.

Mayor Graham Warren used his casting vote to tip the scales on a decision to lease both sites to Knox Transfer Stations Pty Ltd.

The lease will give the company a free-hand for the management and operation of the sites for 10 years, with a further five- year option.

Read the full story here

Councillor fears cost to dump rubbish will rise under contractor

2012-01-31T09:14:00.004+11:00

COUNCIL-OPERATED rubbish tips at Coldstream and Wesburn are to be run by a private contractor in a bid to improve services and efficiency.

But one councillor has raised concerns that costs to drop off rubbish may rise as a result of the change.

The Yarra Ranges Council last year undertook a tendering process for the management and operation of its recovery and waste transfer stations.

Read the rest here

Yarra Ranges Rate Payers Inc. - Up And Running For 2012 Election.

2012-01-30T08:33:00.003+11:00

"Yarra Ranges Rate Payers Inc is committed to making Yarra Ranges Council accountable. The attached press release shows how residents and ratepayers of Yarra Ranges have been charged rate increases at over three times the rate of CPI from 2008. When this Council was elected." - Yarra Ranges Rate Payers Inc.

For more information regarding Yarra Ranges Rate Payers Inc email: yrratepayers@gmail.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/YarraRangesRatepayers

Yarra Ranges Rate Payers Press Release

"YRR has released the following table of YR Council Income, Rates and Expenses for the period 2008 to 2011(YRC Annual Reports). Over this three year period household rates increase by a massive 24.7%. Compared to the Melbourne CPI for the three years of 8.4%. (ABS) Expenditure has risen an incredible 40.7% or almost 45 million dollars.

Yarra Ranges Council expenditure is out of control. They are following the dogma promoted by Municipal Association of Victoria with no regard to the financial stress they creating for Yarra Ranges Residents and Ratepayers.

Comment: Take from Jim Childs' site for your info.

Plan overturned

2012-01-23T18:07:00.002+11:00

Published In Mail

Plan overturned

By Kath Gannaway

17th January 2012 02:00:28 AM

The Independent Panel Report on Amendment C97 supports higher density development to meet future housing needs.

AN INDEPENDENT Panel, appointed by the Minister for Planning, has demolished Yarra Ranges Council's proposed Planning Scheme Amendment C97.

In a report released last week, the three-person panel chaired by John Keaney, effectively sent the council back to the drawing board, saying Amendment C97 failed the elementary test of any planning scheme amendment - strong strategic justification.

The proposed amendment represents the most significant change to Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme since it was introduced in 2000, and would implement the 2009 Housing Strategy and the 2002 Neighbourhood Character Study, as well as streamlining controls over minimum block sizes.

More than 150 written submissions were made to the panel and 30 people, including representatives of Yarra Ranges Council, planning consultants environment and community groups, and residents were heard at the seven-day panel hearing late last year.

On the housing strategy, they stated that the draft 2007 draft strategy was more robust than the adopted 2009 version, which they said, had “been seriously eroded” and was beset with problems.

Ironically, the panel accuses Yarra Ranges Council of an unbalanced response to “exhaustive community consultation” on the 2007 Housing Strategy, which resulted in 18 proposed consolidation areas across the shire being reduced to 10 including Healesville, Yarra Glen and Yarra Junction in the Yarra Valley.

Coldstream, where many residents have railed against dual-occupancy over the past two years, is one of the areas the council dropped from its consolidation plans, but which the Panel says has potential for development and would benefit from population growth.

A development overlay prohibiting subdivision below 1000 square metres was, the panel said, “ … a recipe for no change at all” and a lost opportunity.

They said while community consultation was part of the assessment matrix, it should not be the determining factor.

“ … it needs to be balanced against the admirable social and physical objectives that the original strategy purported to achieve,” and “should not be viewed only through the narrow prism of local opposition,” the report states.

In Healesville, the panel inspected, in particular, the Smith Street area, which has been changed from a consolidation zone to an incremental change zone. Other areas including along Farnham, Don and Mt Riddell roads had reverted from a 'neighbourhood precinct' in 2007 back to low density residential zone (LDRZ) without any explanation.

A development overlay applicable to incremental change areas in Yarra Junction, Healesville and parts of Woori Yallock, Wandin North and Seville would establish a mandatory subdivision minimum of 500 square metres.

The panel described the LDRZ as a de facto minimal change area with state planning restrictions dictating a 4000-square metre minimum subdivision, rendering vast areas of the shire as unable, or unlikely, to be more intensively redeveloped.

The panel was also critical of the State Government Department of Planning and Community Development which gave the go-ahead for public exhibition, saying their authorisation of the housing strategy component of C97 brought into serious question the rigours of its analysis.

The panel gave two options for Amendment C97. Option one, that council revisit the strategic basis of its housing, character and settlement strategies, keep the existing Municipal Strategy Statement and maintain the existing residential zones. Discretionary provisions for minimum lot sizes would stay and use overlays to protect vegetation.

Option two would retain some of the policy parts of C97, but none of the MSS changes identified as they are linked to vital strategies which the panel suggests should be deleted or substantially changed.

Yarra Ranges Council did not respond to questions on Amendment C97 in time for the Mail's deadline.

Taken from JIM CHILD's SITE re C97

2012-01-06T18:03:00.001+11:00

C97 Panel Scathing of Council - 2009 Housing Strategy out the door!

The C97 Planning Amendment Panel has handed down a report scathing of the Yarra Ranges Council.

"The Panel concludes that Amendment C97 fails the elementary test of any planning scheme amendment which is a strong strategic justification."

"The 2009 Housing Strategy has been strongly influenced by community consultation that has distracted Council from applying sound and logical planning principles to its assessment."

"The diversification of housing stock is the key to increasing housing choice but this must be provided in a variety of locations and not just be limited to the ‘consolidation areas’ as is the outcome of the 2009 Housing Strategy.
As repeatedly noted in the submissions, people want to be able ‘to age in place’ and remain living in their local communities. This is a central tenet of Council’s Ageing Policy and it is not assisted at all by the likely outcomes of Amendment C97."

"The Panel considers that the 2009 adopted Housing Strategy is a compromised version of the original that will not deliver on many of its key objectives. It seems to the Panel that while the implementation of the 2009 Housing Strategy has been strongly influenced by some elements of community consultation, it has not taken into account the interview survey results of a representative sample of residents who expressed the need for a range of housing options in their local area. As a result, the 2009 Strategy appears to lack balance and has been distracted from applying sound and logical planning principles to its assessment." - From the Panel Report.

“We will be preparing a report for Council to consider their preferred way forward.

In developing the housing strategy significant research and consultation was undertaken and the 2009 strategy was once again tested to ensure that it would enable Yarra Ranges to meet or exceed the expected housing targets.

The Yarra Ranges community and Council values the role of consultation in local democracy. Consultation is an important part of planning scheme amendments, as they can and will have significant impacts upon the area into the future. It is also a legitimate and accepted element of local government practice.” said Andrew Paxton, Director Planning Building Health Yarra Ranges Council.

It appears to me that Council for some reason known only to the present Councillors has failed the basic consultation process. And also has failed to to make the hard decisions in the face of minority opposition. This whole Housing Strategy/C97 saga has cost 'US' the ratepayer a fortune and it is likely to cost us even more. - Time for a change!

Comment:

For those who do not know Jim, here are some facts about him. His site is well worth a visit as well.

http://jimchild.blogspot.com

Jim Child is passionate about the Yarra Ranges, in particular the O’Shannassy Ward where he has worked, lived and been in business for the past forty years.Jim was born and bred in the Shire of Yarra Ranges, a fifth generation resident of the Shire of Yarra Ranges, is the great great grandson of one of the shires’ earliest settlers Matthew Child, who along with Jabez Richardson and Isaac Jeeves made their homes on Running (Olinda) Creek (Kalorama) in 1855. A past councillor and Shire President of the Shire of Upper Yarra (now O’Shannassy Ward), candidate for the O’Shannassy Ward and the previous owner of a successful business in the O’Shannassy Ward.Author: Jim Child.

Storm-damaged strawberry farms caught in netting row

2012-01-06T07:49:00.002+11:00

STRAWBERRY growers in the Yarra Valley who lost much of their crop to the Christmas Day storms that swept across the state want to be able to erect hail nets more easily in order to prevent damage.

But a bureaucratic blame game has erupted over who is responsible for planning laws surrounding the nets.

As Sam Violi, owner of Golden Vale strawberry farm in Coldstream, tells it: ''Most of the plants have been destroyed by the hail. We've had to get rid of 250,000 plants - nearly a third of our crop.''

However, Yarra Ranges mayor Graham Warren said the council supported the use of netting to protect crops, and had received fewer than 20 applications in the past four years for protective netting. ''None were refused,'' he said.

Greens MP Greg Barber said Mr Walsh was mistaken to blame the council for their approach to hail netting.

''Actually, it's the state government's stupid rule,'' said Mr Barber. He said the Agriculture Minister should get ''on to his mate the Minister for Planning to get something done about it''

Mr Rieschieck said the nets, which have previously saved his crop, had indeed been a bureaucratic nightmare to get the council to approve. ''We had to get engineers drawing up plans for them before we put them up,'' he said. ''And then it took about 3½ years to sort out the permit.''

Comment: BLAME GAME.

Let's hope for some common sense on this matter between the Shire and the State Governments.

C97

2012-01-05T21:16:00.002+11:00

YARRA RANGES PLANNING SCHEME
AMENDMENT C97
Report of a Panel Pursuant to Sections 153 and 155 of the Act

Read it here

Comment: Back to the drawing board me thinks

Yarra Valley netting restriction furore

2012-01-05T21:11:00.002+11:00

AGRICULTURE Minister Peter Walsh has slammed the Yarra Ranges Council over ‘stupid’ hail net restrictions.

Mr Walsh toured the Yarra Valley today with Member for Evelyn Christine Fyffe to inspect recent storm damage.

He said it was upsetting to see tonnes of fruit destroyed by marble-sized hail stones on Christmas Day.

“But what makes it more disappointing is that the damage could have been minimized except for stupid Yarra Ranges Council policies restricting use of protective hail nets.”

Mr Walsh said council policy limits growers in green wedge zones to a maximum of 60 per cent coverage.

Yarra Ranges Council Mayor, Cr Graham Warren said the council supported growers using netting to protect crops.

“In the last four years Council has received less than 20 applications for hail netting and none were refused,” he said.

Berry and cherry grower Mark Chapman from Chappies in Silvan said netting was important for protecting crops from hail, rain, sun and most importantly fruit bats.

He said they were not allowed to scare the bats without a council permit.

Bats can chew through vast amounts of fruit at night before farmers realise, making scaring them impractical Mr Chapman said.

“We’d rather not build structures but the demand for quality too from the customers requires that if we don’t have high quality we can’t sell the fruit,” he said.

Mr Chapman said their netting went ahead after they applied for a permit several years ago, despite a neighbour’s complaint.

Ref:

C97 and Coldstream

2012-01-05T19:43:00.000+11:00

Ref: http://planningschemes.dpcd.vic.gov.au/Shared/ats.nsf/%28attachmentopen%29/33B04F8AA5991E01CA25797A000B4B94/$File/Yarra+Ranges+C97+Panel+Report.pdf?OpenElement

In part from the report

(v) Coldstream
Other inconsistencies relating to the application of the original ‘consolidation’
categories that were raised in submissions and that are of concern to the Panel were
explored in the hearings.
Based on its inspections, it appeared to the Panel that Coldstream clearly has
potential for some growth, especially flanking its two underutilised shopping areas.
All of Coldstream has been included in the least change area in Amendment C97. The
Panel believes that Coldstream has at least some potential for growth and it was
acknowledged in the 2007 strategy that a small part of it was suitable for
‘consolidation’. Even the identification of such a small area seems another lost
opportunity given that there are a number of well located sites in the town. For
instance, land on Murrac Street is close to a bus stop on Maroondah Hwy and is
across the road from parkland and a small shopping centre (including about a half a
dozen vacant shops). Amendment C97 provides little opportunity in Coldstream
other than for the detached housing that presently exists. It was apparent to the
Panel that there is little or no diversity in Coldstream with single storey dwellings on
‘quarter acre’ size blocks dominating. The 2007 Housing Strategy identified some
‘consolidation’ areas in Coldstream but Amendment C97 includes all of the town in
a Residential 3 Zone with DDO5 that will prohibit subdivision below 1000m2. This is
recipe for no change at all.
The Panel appreciates that there were some contrasting viewpoints from submitters
about whether Coldstream could sustain further development or not. Mrs Bouma
felt that the town was developed to its capacity in accordance with its original
subdivision. It was highlighted by others (Ms Clarke) that many of the town’s
services were dwindling due to a lack of patronage and could in fact benefit from
further population growth. Ms Clarke also cited Coldstream as an example where
she, as a long time resident, was not able to ‘downsize’ within the town and
therefore had to move.
Overall, it seemed to the Panel that Coldstream had many of the suburban
settlement and built form attributes of Mooroolbark and Chirnside Park, albeit in
more of a ‘village’ setting. To effectively limit any further development in this town
to more of the same seems to the Panel to be a lost opportunity.

Yarra Valley strawberry crops destroyed by hail and heat

2012-01-03T11:44:00.002+11:00

HAIL and heat have conspired to wreck strawberry crops in the Yarra Valley.

Several farmers at Coldstream are counting their losses after the Christmas Day storm and recent hot weather killed their fragile plants.

Read the rest here from the Herald Sun

2011 Weather Summary for Coldstream

2012-01-03T11:41:00.000+11:00

NAME: Coldstream Estate CITY:Coldstream STATE: Victoria

ELEV: 300 LAT: -37:43:31 LONG: 0145:22:36

TEMPERATURE ( °C), RAIN (mm), WIND SPEED (kmh)

AVG

MEAN WIND DOM

MTH TEMP HIGH TIME LOW TIME RAIN SPEED HIGH TIME DIR

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

01 20.4 40.0 16:40 06.0 05:59 98.4 02.6 44.4 08:30 SSE

02 18.4 39.9 15:01 06.2 06:44 229.4 02.2 48.1 08:57 SSE

03 16.4 33.0 14:36 03.8 07:46 61.0 02.2 35.1 08:05 SSE

04 13.4 26.7 15:36 04.3 06:52 89.2 01.6 31.4 08:19 SE

05 09.4 20.9 13:41 -01.3 07:07 109.2 01.1 31.4 08:36 SE

06 08.4 17.5 14:03 -01.7 05:09 67.2 02.1 53.6 02:37 E

07 08.6 17.1 14:09 -02.2 03:07 72.2 02.8 35.1 08:27 NE

08 10.3 21.7 11:37 -00.3 01:42 41.2 02.1 42.5 08:59 NNE

09 11.5 26.9 15:24 00.1 04:52 107.0 03.1 44.4 07:01 NNE

10 13.8 28.6 15:03 00.3 07:15 77.6 02.4 44.4 08:59 NNE

11 17.4 33.4 15:52 05.2 03:32 149.4 01.8 46.3 08:55 NNE

12 17.8 36.8 14:33 03.3 06:22 86.2 03.3 38.9 07:56 NE

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

13.8 40.0 -2.2 1188.0 2.3 20.8 NE

Comment: Thanks again Robert

Coldstream Weather for Dec 2011 from Robert.

2012-01-01T17:28:00.001+11:00

Hi Mario,

Attached are the Coldstream Estate weather statistics forboth December and a summarised version of the total 2011 year.

2011 has been the wettest year since I started recording in1980.

Comparing the rainfall to that of Lilydale, 2011 has beenthe wettest since 1934.

Averages\Extremes for the month of December2011

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Average temperature =17.8°C

Averagehumidity = 69%

Averagedewpoint = 11.5°C

Averagebarometer = 1013.2 hPa

Averagewindspeed = 3.3 km/h

Averagegustspeed = 6.1 km/h

Averagedirection = 146° ( SE)

Rainfall formonth = 86.2 mm

Rainfall foryear = 1188.0 mm

Maximum rain per minute = 1.8 mm on day 25 attime 17:28

Maximum temperature =36.8°C on day 24 at time 14:33

Minimum temperature =3.3°C on day 04 at time 06:22

Maximumhumidity = 97% on day 26 at time09:12

Minimumhumidity = 25% on day 08 at time17:41

Maximumdewpoint = 20.3°C on day 24 at time18:36

Minimumdewpoint = 2.1°C on day 04 at time6:20

Maximumpressure = 1025.6 hPa on day 01 attime 21:59

Minimumpressure = 999.2 hPa on day 25 attime 18:19

Maximumwindspeed = 18.5 kmh from 338°(NNW) on day18 at time 13:21

Maximum gustspeed = 38.9 km/h from 00°( N ) on day 18 at time13:20

Maximum heatindex = 37.7°C on day 24 at time 14:30

Avg daily max temp :25.4°C

Avg daily min temp :11.2°C

Total windrun = 2402.8km

-----------------------------------

Daily rain totals

-----------------------------------

18.6 mm on day 10

22.0 mm on day 18

00.6 mm on day 19

03.2 mm on day 24

41.4 mm on day 25

00.4 mm on day 26

Robert Bethell

Comment: Robert, thanks for your monthly updates.

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T12:59:00.002+11:00

Happy 2012

Just

One year closer to 2020.

Regards

Mario Galteri

Merry Christmas

2011-12-23T13:41:00.001+11:00

Wishing you all a merry Christmas and a happy and Holy New Year.

Regards

Mario Galteri

Growth plan to stay the same | Upper Yarra Mail | Star News Group Local community news

2011-12-20T08:56:00.000+11:00

Growth plan to stay the same | Upper Yarra Mail | Star News Group Local community news

YARRA Ranges Council has decided to leave the Urban Growth Boundary as it is, despite a number of areas in the shire pushing for changes.

Not all councillors were happy with the decision to support the UGB without amendments, with the vote a five-four majority at last Tuesday's council meeting.

Councillors Jeanette McRae, Len Cox, Noel Cliff, Tim Heenan and Samantha Dunn supported the decision, saying there was clear intent the broader community was happy with the Yarra Ranges as it was.

But councillors Terry Avery, Chris Templer, Richard Higgins and Mayor Graham Warren acknowledged although there was no need for big changes, there were anomalies that needed fixing.

“We do have issues with anomalies in our area…we need to do a small body of work to address those,” Cr Avery said.

Cr Templer said the motion was just about “making a statement”.

“It seems to be a mute point – we're no longer being asked and they (the State Government) have moved on without us,” he said.

“In terms of growth and the future of towns in the area, the status quo is not sustainable over time.

Cr Len Cox brought up the issue as a councillor motion, as he felt there was a fair degree of confusion in the community.

“To me, there doesn't need to be any further fiddling at all,” he said.

Cr Cox said he didn't want to see tourism suffer if the shire was to become “masses of suburbia”.

“We're an outer Melbourne suburban area that doesn't have this massive growth, and I wouldn't think we'd want an 8 per cent growth like our neighbours Cardinia,” he said.

“I want the municipality to stay as it is, and that is sustainable.”

But groups like Coldstream 2020 will continue to push for changes to allow development of green wedge land around the town.

Comment: Merry Christmas to one and all.

Cr Jeanette McRae please explain!

2011-12-18T12:53:00.000+11:00

Cr Jeanette McRae pleaseexplain!

Over the past year theColdstream 2020 group have suggested it was time for Coldstream to expand itsUGB.

We conducted a survey,Christine Fyffe MP conducted a survey but more importantly you, through the Shire conducted an extensive survey.

All three surveys, includingyours, showed that it was time for Coldstream to EXPAND.

At the last Council meeting amotion by Cr Cox was put forward,

1. Supports the retention of the Urban GrowthBoundary without amendment.

2. Authorises officers to write to the Minister for Planning and all submittersadvising them of this position.

Given that the residents of Coldstreamwanted and expansion why did you vote for this motion? Why did you not add an amendment to excludeColdstream?

Given that thousands of ratepayerdollars has been spent on getting an external report, which was just aboutfinished, why did you not wait for the details of this report?

When will the people who paidfor this report (ratepayers) actually see it?

Mario Galteri

Coldstream 2020