1 minute ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

The line I found interesting was the quote that says"so there would be no fencing or no structures in Yarra Park"

If that is referring to the fence that quite properly protects people from falling into the railway viaduct, it would be a massive boost for the people living in East Melbourne as it would genuinely open Yarra Park up with much greater access from Wellington Parade. 

Conversely, though, I don't understand what he means when he says  "no structures in Yarra Park". How can there be admin and training facilities without structures? Perhaps they will be built "underground", meaning with the parkland on top, but that sounds like a horribly expensive option.

Good point re giving residents direct access from Wellington Pde.

Re last para.  My recollection is that buildings were 'proposed' for the airspace over the railway line rather than in the park. 

If they build in the airspace they can keep the protective fence and give East Melb residents, the general public, MCG attendees etc direct access to Yarra Park via a 'ground level mall' type of set up.  If I get really creative I can visualise that 'mall' as a retail and/or cafe area...

23 minutes ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Based on this article Yarra Park is the one we will go hardest for Not a Pipe Dream

The article also states we explored Fishermen’s Bend in Port Melbourne and Burnley as options. Wonder if they will still look at these locations should the Yarra Park proposal not go through. 

Edited December 17, 20186 yr by Dee Zephyr

1 hour ago, Dee Zephyr said:

The article also states we explored Fishermen’s Bend in Port Melbourne and Burnley as options. Wonder if they will still look at these locations should the Yarra Park proposal not go through. 

Interesting question but I hope they don't.

Fishermen's Bend is rather soulless with zilch public transport. 

At Burnley, there is open space at the freeway end of Swan Street:  Burnley Park bordered by Yarra Blvd which has an oval of sorts.  And, The Bicentenial Park (not sure how big it is).  Burnley station and Swan St tram are the only public transport options.   

Interestingly, there is a lot of space behind the Burnley Gardens campus (owned by Melb Uni).  But that land effectively is Tiger territory as it is dominated by the Kevin Bartlett Reserve and Kevin Bartlet Sporting Complex (which the State Gov't recently promised nearly $.5mill to build a new pavillion).  The precinct has two football ovals and is home to a range of sports including Richmond and Collingwood soccer clubs.  Both AFL clubs are expanding their sports so I wouldn't be surprised if one or both have their eye on expanding into the aforementioned Burnley Park across the road. 

So I reckon we are too late to join the Burnley party!

As Pert previously noted the importance of giving supporters a place to go before and after games neither F'Bend nor Burnely fit that bill. 

I get a sense we will push hard for Yarra Park.

Edited December 17, 20186 yr by Lucifer's Hero

2 hours ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

The line I found interesting was the quote that says"so there would be no fencing or no structures in Yarra Park"

If that is referring to the fence that quite properly protects people from falling into the railway viaduct, it would be a massive boost for the people living in East Melbourne as it would genuinely open Yarra Park up with much greater access from Wellington Parade. 

Conversely, though, I don't understand what he means when he says  "no structures in Yarra Park". How can there be admin and training facilities without structures? Perhaps they will be built "underground", meaning with the parkland on top, but that sounds like a horribly expensive option.

My understanding the proposal from day one has been an oval in yarra park and admin building over the train lines/area outside of yarra park.

The Oval would be bringing back the old east Melbourne cricket oval from years gone by

Edited December 18, 20186 yr by Grimes Times

At last nights AGM there were a number of questions on this subject. Bartlett and Pert consistently held the line that  Yarra park was achievable and they were pressing on. When the subject of other options was raised they quickly moved the conversation back to Yarra park. Too costly or too far away seemed to be the comment about other options. IMO they see yarra park as easily the best option if they have a plan b they were not going to give it air last night. Again it is only my opinion but they are locked into a Near MCG option and nothing else is on the radar. They could of course be using this to get better support for option b we will all just have to wait and see. 

53 minutes ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Interesting question but I hope they don't.

Fishermen's Bend is rather soulless with zilch public transport. 

At Burnley, there is open space at the freeway end of Swan Street:  Burnley Park bordered by Yarra Blvd which has an oval of sorts.  And, The Bicentenial Park (not sure how big it is).  Burnley station and Swan St tram are the only public transport options.   

Interestingly, there is a lot of space behind the Burnley Gardens campus (owned by Melb Uni).  But that land effectively is Tiger territory as it is dominated by the Kevin Bartlett Reserve and Kevin Bartlet Sporting Complex (which the State Gov't recently promised nearly $.5mill to build a new pavillion).  The precinct has two football ovals and is home to a range of sports including Richmond and Collingwood soccer clubs.  Both AFL clubs are expanding their sports so I wouldn't be surprised if one or both have their eye on expanding into the aforementioned Burnley Park across the road. 

So I reckon we are too late to join the Burnley party!

As Pert previously noted the importance of giving supporters a place to go before and after games neither F'Bend nor Burnely fit that bill. 

I get a sense we will push hard for Yarra Park.

would be rather odd if we end up with a home in the middle of richmond territory whilst richmond have a home  amidst  melbourne territory

5 minutes ago, daisycutter said:

would be rather odd if we end up with a home in the middle of richmond territory whilst richmond have a home  amidst  melbourne territory

They have been using our ground for home games for 50 years dc stranger things can happen. Having said that  I think there is next to no chance the MFC have anything but Yarra park in mind.

45 minutes ago, old dee said:

They have been using our ground for home games for 50 years dc stranger things can happen. Having said that  I think there is next to no chance the MFC have anything but Yarra park in mind.

Yep and I find it really amusing when Richmond supporters at work are telling me our club should stop trying to encroach their space. I thought it was a joke at first but these Tigers fans are serious. 

4 minutes ago, Dee Zephyr said:

Yep and I find it really amusing when Richmond supporters at work are telling me our club should stop trying to encroach their space. I thought it was a joke at first but these Tigers fans are serious. 

Their ground is not even in Richmond.

5 minutes ago, old dee said:

Their ground is not even in Richmond.

That’s the only line to use instead of getting into an argument with them, it really stumps them. 

4 hours ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

Based on this article Yarra Park is the one we will go hardest for Not a Pipe Dream

It looks like we aim to generate a groundswell of community support (and thereby drown out the 'not-in-my-backyard' type objections of the Residents Group).  Pert said:  "Quite a few of the community groups and individuals are really excited by the possibilities. What they're saying is that this is an area where there's no flat ground."

Amassing support of the broader community is a good strategy:  get the numbers on-side and implicitly isolate the Residents Group.

In that article there is a steely resolve by Bartlett and Pert that we will make it happen. 

Agree with the above and whilst I think local residents views both for and against are important, I've been thinking that one thing that certainly shouldn't be discounted are the view of us MFC supporters as well.  As MFC supporters, we are still part of the comunity and pretty important stakeholders regardless of living in the city council/local area or not.  Even though I now live interstate, I still feel a real affiliation for the MFC and Yarra Park area and really don't like 'Plan B' options anywhere near as much, because let's face it, they are further from our home the mighty G, further from the range of public transport options and generally inferior.  ...and their are over 40,000 MFC members + more non member supporters.

This precinct doesn't just belong to the local residents, there is a degree to which it belongs to all of us.  I don't want to go as far as saying that the MFC has some kind of 'native title' to this area, because there is nothing like that level of cultural/spiritual equivalence.  However, I do also think that the MFC has a significant historical association with this location and that shouldn't count for nothing either when it comes to planning approval considerations.

On 12/4/2018 at 10:32 PM, old dee said:

All of that may be true and I accept a number of people like yourself would enjoy it. The DEE Army already exists as witnessed by the people at the two MCG finals and a sizeable group that traveled to Perth. My premise is that I don't think the creation of one would increase ability of the playing group. Now I am not saying you and others don't need or deserve one. I just believe the benefits are over stated. Having one or not will not change my devotion to the MFC since 1960. I hope you get your wish.

It doesn’t need to “increase the ability of the playing group” but it would be a mighty shame if we won a GF and had nowhere to celebrate with other Demonlanders, players and the MFC Board! ?

On 12/17/2018 at 1:34 PM, Diamond_Jim said:

not meaning to be facetious but I suspect there aren't that many children in the immediate area.

The nearest concentration would probably be at the Collingwood and Richmond high rise areas.

Heard on the radio this morning that the Bulldogs got another $5M today to upgrade the Whitten oval. Cannot find a link

I am in the local area (one block away) with four children lamenting the lack of accessible sporting facilities!

1 hour ago, CBDees said:

It doesn’t need to “increase the ability of the playing group” but it would be a mighty shame if we won a GF and had nowhere to celebrate with other Demonlanders, players and the MFC Board! ?

I live for the day this problem arises CBDees.

On reflection it is possible in the next couple of years and you can guarantee nothing will be available by then. If we are playing in a GF the club will arrange a venue for the occasion if required.

 

3 hours ago, Dee Zephyr said:

Yep and I find it really amusing when Richmond supporters at work are telling me our club should stop trying to encroach their space. I thought it was a joke at first but these Tigers fans are serious. 

They're Richmond supporters. They're used to roaches in their space.

Be interesting to see how they plan on designing the oval. The land has a pretty steep slope where its planned to go. 

6 hours ago, Grimes Times said:

My understanding the proposal from day one has been an oval in yarra park and admin building over the train lines/area outside of yarra park.

The Oval would be bringing back the old east Melbourne cricket oval from years gone by

If the oval is not fenced off and it is improved by being flattened and resown, then it is hard to see what legitimate gripe the residents group can have. How many of those complaining currently use the oval area and for how many hours in a day? If it is only that the club will use it for a few hours a week, then that is a nonsense, as these parks are there to be used.

If the real gripe is about the building, then it must be noted that it is being planned to be built over an ugly railway line and that fits within planning guidelines, that deal with improving areas and widening their use. A modern mixed use building will be of more use to the community as a whole, than the airspace over a railway line. As well as club facilities, their could be cafes, shops and community offices etc, which would enhance the use of the now vacant area.

Further, If the building was owned by the Government and paid for by it, we could lease/buy back over a period and end up with a revenue stream and it would be very difficult for a marginalized group to stop it going ahead. 

Edited December 18, 20186 yr by Redleg

53 minutes ago, Redleg said:

If the oval is not fenced off and it is improved by being flattened and resown, then it is hard to see what legitimate gripe the residents group can have. How many of those complaining currently use the oval area and for how many hours in a day? If it is only that the club will use it for a few hours a week, then that is a nonsense, as these parks are there to be used.

If the real gripe is about the building, then it must be noted that it is being planned to be built over an ugly railway line and that fits within planning guidelines, that deal with improving areas and widening their use. A modern mixed use building will be of more use to the community as a whole, than the airspace over a railway line. As well as club facilities, their could be cafes, shops and community offices etc, which would enhance the use of the now vacant area.

Further, If the building was owned by the Government and paid for by it, we could lease/buy back over a period and end up with a revenue stream and it would be very difficult for a marginalized group to stop it going ahead. 

Your big mistake Mr. Leg is you are being logical. That will never succeed with Greenies using logic. 

1 hour ago, old dee said:

Your big mistake Mr. Leg is you are being logical. That will never succeed with Greenies using logic. 

I don't think there are many Greenies, if any...  as home owners in East Melbourne, 'OD'.

The Herald Sun is reporting the Andrew's Government has shot down our plans for Yarra Park, but I can't get past the pay wall

https://t.co/eNUrYSWE85

 

1 hour ago, Good Lord George said:

The Herald Sun is reporting the Andrew's Government has shot down our plans for Yarra Park, but I can't get past the pay wall

https://t.co/eNUrYSWE85

A typical knee jerk reaction (like when John Cain reduced speed limits after a bus crash)! I am wary about government announcements on the run without debating it in parliament or following due process. Wait until the plan is finalised, application made, Council and/or VCAT consider it and then start worrying. At the moment it is only a thought bubble!

I really can't see what the big problem is with these NIMBYS, etc, being against such a development.

The building would be over the rail line (virtually empty/useless space). Will it rob them of their precious views of trains going by? Secondly, the oval. It would provide a flat bit of land making the area even more accessible and community friendly.

It all sounds like people who want to have the best, but not let others have it. The age of self-entitlement really has known no greater time.

Edited December 18, 20186 yr by Demon Disciple

So... it really was a pipe dream?  My feeling is both Pert and Bartlett ( who appointed him) have a lot on the line here. 

We were told last night that it wasn’t going to be easy getting the site we want. The Club now has to show some fight on and off the ground. 

 

A six storey building in Yarra Park is an impossibility. In the drawing I have seen this 6 story building extends beyond the rail line into Yarra park and would eliminate the playgrounds that are currently there. A big building like this  would be a total eyesore and as much as I love the club I don't want to see this building towering over Wellington Pde and blocking the view of the ground and Park......nobody does except....us? Frankly the whole idea is an embarrasment and I just can't understand how this can be seriously entertained.