Our past news stories are listed here most recent at the top…
Our latest news stories are here

• Charter 29 report on proposed State Planning Changes
  The Victorian government is preparing a Plan for Victoria – a strategic framework for the whole state – while it simultaneously rolls out “the most radical program of planning system reforms in thirty years”.  The Charter 29 report summarises the publicly available information on both, adds analysis and commentary, and offers constructive feedback in the form of positive propositions.
  The analysis draws on five years of advocacy work by Charter 29, a group of planning and urban design professionals who work pro bono to improve planning in Victoria, independently of government and industry. The contents of this report have been workshopped with a number of widely respected planning industry professionals and academics.
  According to the report, “The government is imposing radical housing targets on all municipalities without public consultation. The public will have no rights to be notified about development proposals or to appeal. Rights of objection will be removed or reduced. “
  Click on the link below to see the report

Royal Historical Society call to action on proposed State Planning Changes
The Royal Society has issued a call to action on the proposal from the State Government to create Activity Centres. The Activity Centre zone designation would allow high rise apartments but also remove heritage as a consideration in planning decisions in these areas. This might be reasonable within a confined area.    Although not currently proposed for Clifton Hill, if one was ever designated on Clifton Hill Station, it would potentially mean the Activity Centre “rules “ which set aside heritage protection would apply all the way to Spensley St Primary School! This would clearly be completely inappropriate. Hence the ECHRI shares the view that the State Government proposal is excessive.

ECHRI has written to the Minister requesting that the rules are changed, that these areas are confined in their application, and that heritage protection is considered as part of the decision making process. ECHRI’s position is that planning decisions should remain with Council so that local considerations are included in making local planning decisions. The letter, with more detail, is here

• The ECHRI Annual General Meeting was held on 12th November 2024. All positions were vacated and elections held. The new Office bearers can be found here. The notice of meeting, papers and draft minutes are here.

• Council Elections – Sarah McKenzie of the Labor Party has been elected as the new councillor representing our ward which is Yarra Bend. Congratulations Sarah. Full council election results are on the VEC website at https://www.vec.vic.gov.au/voting/2024-local-council-elections/yarra-city-council/results

• Disappearing Aust Posting Boxes! Numerous Australia Post Street Posting Boxes in East Clifton Hill have recently been removed by AustPost. Aust Post have advised the removals are permanent due to declining letter volumes. ECHRI has written to the CEO of Australia Post and engaged in extensive correspondence to date without success. ECHRI has written to the Ombudsman seeking review, and the Ombudsman advised that they are investigating the issue. (see Correspondence and the letter to Commonwealth Ombudsman here)

• (from Oct 24) Council Elections – Candidates have responded to our questionaire for Yarra Bend candidates for Council. We have polled each of the candidates on their policy positions to make sure you have more information on which to assess how to vote. See their responses here. The elections will be held via postal vote in October so make your vote count!

• (from Sept 24) Analysis of CoY Councillor voting since 2022. ECHRI has undertaken an analysis of voting by current councillors on numerous measures but the results are inconclusive. Dialogue with Councillors has provided some reassurance that the vast majority of issues are sensibly resolved, but highlighted the importance of our local representatives being accessible within and accountable to the community to ensure they are able to reflect local interests in their decisionmaking.

• (from Sept 2024) Meet candidates in forthcoming Council Elections. Alphington Fairfield Civic Association is holding an event to meet the Yarra Bend candidates at 7pm this coming Wednesday 2nd October at Alphington Bowls Club, 28 Parkview Rd, Alphington. register your questions at info@afcivic.org. The flyer is available here

• (from Sept 2024) Council elections in October 2024. Council elections will be held via postal vote in October. Voting is compulsory. Please make your vote counts for the issues that matter to you! We will be polling each of the candidates on their policy positions to make sure you have more information on which to assess how to vote. The questionaire (available here) has been sent to each of the candidates for Yarra Bend who are: Bridgid O’Brien (Ind), Sarah Mckenzie (Labor), Jill Price (Greens), Amaya Castro Williams (Victorian Socialists), Leonie Gnieslaw, and Ignacio Inchausti (who has since advised he has withdrawn from the election). Look out for their responses here from 30th September before you vote ….

• (From Sept 2024) Update on the Removal of Angled Parking on designated bike routes in the City of Yarra. The City of Yarra Transport Strategy which was provided by Council in 2024, calls for removal of angled parking on streets where there is a designated bicycle lane. ECHRI wrote to Council seeking full consultation before any such changes are made in East Clifton Hill, and has received confirmation from Council that “Should there be any proposals to change or remove on-street car parking, all affected properties and road users will be provided the opportunity to comment.” See the ECHRI letter below. The Council has since further clarified this issue and their statement can be found here