Save Preston Market

Save our Preston Market

Only if a council officer says I can..

 

DADA has been working hard to get some further information on the process of applying a Heritage Overlay to protect Preston Market.

Below is a screenshot from the Council website on transparent governance.

At the Council meeting of 27th of April 2020 six questions were asked in relation to any further information

Our questions were not read out in the council meeting nor were they answered. Instead Council thinks good governance is to release documents on the Friday before a planned Council meeting where matters are listed on the following Monday.

The process is completely inadequate as it gives the community only three days to read, comprehend and prepare a five minute submission for Council meeting. Questions will not be answered on any matter listed for consideration on a council meeting agenda.

This lack of transparency also effects councilors who do not get the full reports to read either. They have to rely on the summaries produced by officers in updates and briefings.

Darebin Councilors who delegate responsibility to council officers without full and proper over-site, that includes community inclusion, are not adequately representing their constituents.

If Councilors continue to delegate decisions to officers without reading reports and questioning the veracity of the briefings and updates then what is the use of Councillors?

Questions to Council Meeting 27th of April, 2020

From Maria Poletti DADA President

At the Council meeting of 14th October 2019 Council voted unanimously to ‘Commissions its own heritage studies to fully investigate and considers any further new evidence regarding the cultural, social. Building and technical heritage matters at Preston Market to help inform Council on the application of a Heritage Overlay through the Darebin Planning Scheme’

At the same meeting, point (10) of the unanimously carried recommendation ‘Notes that Council has recently called on the VPA to support Council’s endorsed objectives and key elements (endorsed at Planning Committee Meeting of 19 August 2019 and shown in Appendix C), that relate to critical market identity and character elements, however Council will review its endorsed objectives and key elements in light of future heritage studies.’

With the mounting evidence, now three reports, that Preston Market does deserve a significant level of heritage protection of the much appreciated and loved local historical, aesthetic, technical and social features and values embedded within;

1. Will Council release to the community the full RBA report before they make any further recommendations on a heritage overlay for Preston Market?
2. Will Council do as promised at the Planning Meeting of 19 August 2019 and review endorsed objectives and key elements in the light of the RBA Heritage study recommendations?
3. Will council review the advice on urban design, commercial viability, identity, affordability and diversity in the light of the recommendations of the heritage reports?

From Chris Erlandsen DADA Vice President and Save Our Preston Market Representative

1. Will Council facilitate a meeting with DADA and Save Our Preston Market representatives and RBA Architects and Conservation Consultants (RBA) who have now finalized the report and identified Preston Market as of local significance and recommend a heritage overlay be applied?
2. Will Council facilitate a briefing for Councilors and officers and community representatives with Jane Stanley, a world renowned expert on markets viability?
3. In the name of further transparency will Council release an updated timeline for the progress of all matters and decisions relating to the future of Preston Market?

From ORDINARY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES 27 APRIL 2020

• Maria Poletti, DADA President and Chris Erlandsen

THE QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY MS POLLETTI AND MR ERLANDSEN CONTAINED INFORMATION IN PART FROM CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS AND WERE NOT READ OUT HOWEVER THEY WERE RESPONDED TO BY THE MAYOR.

RESPONSE FROM CHAIRPERSON, MAYOR RENNIE

WE’VE HAD QUESTIONS FROM MARIA POLETTI AND CHRIS ERLANDSEN OF THE DAREBIN APPROPRIATE DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION WHICH RELATE TO SEVERAL CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS, SO I AM UNABLE TO READ OUT THE QUESTIONS HERE OR TO ADDRESS ANY OF THE CONFIDENTIAL MATTERS.

I’D LIKE TO THANK MARIA AND CHRIS FOR THE QUESTIONS AND CAN PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING RESPONSES.

IN RESPONSE TO YOUR QUESTIONS MARIA, I CAN TELL YOU THAT UNDERSTANDING AND ADVOCATING FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE CHARACTER, IDENTITY AND HERITAGE OF PRESTON MARKET HAS BEEN A LONG STANDING PRIORITY FOR COUNCIL. WE HAVE INVESTED SIGNIFICANT TIME AND RESOURCES INTO THIS AND HAVE BEEN WORKING HARD TO CALL ON THE STATE GOVERNMENT FOR THEIR COMMITMENT TO THIS AS THE DECISION MAKER.

COUNCIL HAS MADE ALL REPORTS CONSIDERING THE IDENTITY AND HERITAGE OF PRESTON MARKET FULLY PUBLIC SO FAR AND WE INTEND TO CONTINUE TO DO SO. WE’RE EXPECTING TO CONSIDER RECENT TECHNICAL REPORTS ON PRESTON MARKET, INCLUDING THE HERITAGE STUDIES ARISING FROM COUNCIL’S MEETING ON 14 OCTOBER 2019, AT COUNCIL’S UPCOMING MAY MEETING. ALL THIS INFORMATION WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR THE COMMUNITY TO SEE AS PART OF THE MEETING AGENDA PAPERS.

YOUR SECOND QUESTION RELATES TO A POTENTIAL FUTURE DECISION OF COUNCIL, SO I AM NOT ABLE TO PRE-EMPT THAT DECISION. WHAT I WOULD SAY IS THAT THIS MATTER IS HIGHLY IMPORTANT TO ALL COUNCILLORS AND COUNCIL HAS A LONG STANDING COMMITMENT TO ENSURING THE MARKET THRIVES.

IN REGARD TO QUESTION THREE, COUNCIL IS GETTING A RANGE OF ADVICE ON A RANGE OF MATTERS AND ALL THE ADVICE WILL BE CONSIDERED IN DETAIL.

CHRIS, YOUR FIRST QUESTION HAS DETAILS IN IT THAT ARE CONFIDENTIAL, SO I WON’T READ IT IN FULL.

QUESTION ONE REFERS TO HERITAGE WORK THAT IS IN PROGRESS ARISING FROM COUNCIL’S DECISION OF 14 OCTOBER 2019. AS I MENTIONED EARLIER TONIGHT, COUNCIL WILL SHARE THE WORK PUBLICLY IN MAY AS PART OF THE AGENDA PAPERS FOR ITS 18 MAY COUNCIL MEETING. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ARISING FROM THE REPORT WHEN YOU’VE SEEN IT, OFFICERS WILL BE HAPPY TO HELP WITH ANY QUESTIONS THAT MAY ARISE.

THANK YOU FOR THE SUGGESTION. IF JANE STANLEY IS KEEN TO SPEAK TO COUNCILLORS, I’M HAPPY TO TRY TO FACILITATE THAT. OFFICERS WILL BE IN TOUCH ABOUT THIS.

YOUR THIRD QUESTION RELATES TO THE TIMELINES FOR MAKING DECISIONS. THE STATE GOVERNMENT SETS THE TIMELINE FOR THIS. THE VICTORIAN PLANNING AUTHORITY HAS ADVISED THAT A DRAFT STRUCTURE PLAN AND PLANNING SCHEME AMENDMENT IS DUE IN THE SECOND HALF OF 2020.

The following article appeared today. It reports that new studies commissioned by Darebin Council are being considered by Councilors before they have been released to the public.

In the name of transparency DADA believes that the reports should be made public, in full, before council makes any further recommendations on the future of Preston Market. We want to be absolutely sure that council does not cherry-pick recommendations to suit their own agenda.

The decision of the DADA and Save our Preston Market Heritage Register application was published on the 18th of September.

We were not successful in proving the statewide significance of the market to achieve a listing on the register but the Heritage Council Victoria did make make a recommendation to local council and/or the state government to apply a heritage overlay.

You can read the final determination here:

There have been articles in the Leader:

At the council meeting on Monday the 14th of October community representatives made the following submissions:

DADA Submission to last nights Darebin Council Meeting.Darebin

Council has been roundly criticised by the Heritage Council of Victoria for its ‘disjointed’ approach and handling of the Preston Market.In their numerous recommendations, Heritage Council Victoria notes that Darebin Council in its submission did not include a Heritage Study that it commissioned by ‘Context’ in Dec 2017, nor 2 reviews of that study.Community supporters of Preston Market concur with the experts on the Heritage Victoria committee. And together with the architects presentation given last week, we believe there is an increasing and compelling body of information for all Councillors to make an evidence based decision to push for a Heritage Overlay as one of a raft of measures to protect the market.Should it be determined that more work needs to be done, then the next step should be to request an Interim Heritage Overlay as Minister Wynne did previously.It’s time for Council to act on behalf of the ever growing number of concerned community members. Chris Erlandsen

The State Heritage Council recently, in its Report, recommended that our Market strongly warrants a ‘local heritage overlay’ which seemed to contradict council’s prevarication on this issue.   The protection of the Preston Market is paramount in our community we have been fighting for several years now to protect it.  For over 2 years, we have sought Heritage protection. The community do not believe that they have had the genuine support of some councilors to achieve this goal.We elect councilors for two reasons, one to show leadership, the other to ensure that community requirements are met as often as is possible.Councils are advised by non elected bureaucrats whose role is to establish how community needs can be met.   If councilors believed a heritage overlay could help our market and bureaucrats do not, then it is incumbent on our elected reps to tell the bureaucrats to reassess, aft all.  Council’s parking strategy was rejected by the community and was withdrawn, this is called democracy.The Heritage Council, while rejecting state significance, in its Report, clearly and decisively over and over recommended a local heritage overlay being warranted, and clearly recommended that Council endorse and act on this.  Council, at its last meeting rejected this.  The question the community wants answered is why?  Why have we had to try and drag council, kicking and screaming to support a local heritage overlay which has been obvious to the community for over two years?  Will they recognize that this is a significant way to protect our market and will they now admit the community were correct and get behind us or be condemned by the community for refusing to take every possible step to save our Market?
Marion Harper