My HTV

Dear voters,
This is my suggested order for your ballot paper. I'm happy to answer any questions on why I have ordered preferences in this way. I can be emailed at voterachel@bigpond.com
2 - Pidegon
6 - Zylberspic
8 - Bauch
4 - Poletti
5 - Webster
1 - Powning
3 - Carter
7 - Robins

Your vote this Saturday

Over the past weeks I have been doorknocking across the ward. If I have missed you then you may have found one of my calling cards under your door. Thanks for all the great feedback and welcome smiles. When doorknocking I have found a great diversity of views, which is to be expected and is good to see. What residents do have in common though is the desire for a councillor who lives locally, and who can represent them on a broad range of issues - from effective governance to clean streets. I'm not a single issue candidate, and I live here in Carlisle ward.
I need your vote on Nov 29th. When you vote, make sure you number all the boxes, or your vote will be invalid. And please, use your preferences wisely...

Thanks for your support,
Rachel

If elected my priorities for our ward will be:

• Taking climate change seriously - reducing Port Phillip's carbon footprint
• Ensuring development planning puts locals and sustainability first (including on the Triangle site)
• Making our streets and parks safer
• Supporting local traders and local artists - this means protecting what we love about our strip shopping centres
• Ensuring high quality and affordable community services, including housing, childcare and aged care

What do we do about ABC Learning in Port Phillip?

Like many others I am very concerned about the future of the 4 ABC Learning childcare centres in Port Phillip. With fellow CAPP candidates I have issued 2 media releases outling where to from here on this topic. I am calling for Council to play an active role by implementing community management of the centres. We will need federal government assistance to purchase the buildings if required. In my view childcare is an essential service, and its quality must not be compromised by market volatility.

Community Survey Results

Thank-you to the residents who were able to post back their community surveys.
I understand you are concerned about climate change, and want council to do more to prepare for it.
I also hear you are concerned about planning and development, and want to see the interests of residents and local business put first. Community safety is also a big issue in Carlisle ward, as is the dumping of rubbish on our streets.
I will work hard to address all of these issues. I will post my policy and actions statements on the blog shortly, and this will provide details of my comittments in all these areas. If you still have a survey, by all means please send it back, I'm still keen to hear your concerns.

Regards,
Rachel

My Community Survey

Thank-you to all who have taken the time to respond to my community survey. If you have only just received it or still have it lying around, I'd still like to hear from you. I'll be posting the results of the survey received to date here on the blog in the next day or so, and will keep it updated as more responses come in.

Rachel

Sustainable Communities

Sustainable Communities

As the environmental impact of human activity on global weather conditions becomes clearer there are many things that local communities can do to lessen our household Co2 emissions. If elected to represent Carlisle Ward I will be advocating for the following:

• Conduct a major information campaign for households on climate change and global warning and the implications for Port Phillip
• Initiate Tune Up Port Phillip: a project to bundle together existing incentives, knowledge and skills into a retrofit service at scale for householders. Tune Up PP would offer householders on a street-by-street, locality by locality basis:
• A high quality residential environmental audit
• Based on the audit results, design and building advice to retrofit
• An attractive financial package for householders to take the next steps
• Installation in households of appropriate environmental products and services to a minimum standard (this could include a range from insulation, glazing, lighting, heating, water, and other solutions)
• Training and education for householders in the use, maintenance, performance of these products, and other environmental steps.
• Support and training for designers, builders and trades to develop the required solutions and to make them work.
• A green certificate which adds intrinsic value to a householder’s property.
• Conduct an energy, greenhouse gas and water audit of all Council buildings and services to determine the potential for and costs of conversion to green power, solar energy generation and water recycling.
• Research and identify the major commercial and residential greenhouse gas emitters in Port Phillip.

If we all work together we will be able to reduce our overall emissions - it seems that what is missing is the political will to make that happen.

A vote for Rachel Powning on Saturday is a vote for sustainable communities in Port Phillip.

Balaclava tavern spurs ire

As Printed in the Caufield Leader

Paul Riordan

19Aug08

FEARS of drunken revellers passing out in Balaclava's streets have led residents to petition against a proposed hotel in Carlisle St.

But the developer has defended the plan, saying it would be a family-run business for all ages.

Balaclava resident Aqua Dibble has more than 100 signatures on a petition opposed to the plan.

The application is for for a 79-seat licensed restaurant downstairs and a tavern for 195 people upstairs. The council will consider the planning permit for the old Red Rooster site at 284 Carlisle St this month.

The permit will allow part-demolition of the building, a double-storey extension at the rear and a licence for the ground floor restaurant to operate from 7am-3am Thursday to Saturday. From Sunday to Wednesday it would be open 7am-1am.

Ms Dibble said she had doorknocked many houses and handed out flyers at Balaclava station.

"Most people don't even know about it," she said.

A council information session about the plan was at 5.30pm on a Friday afternoon, so many missed a chance to have a say, she said.

St Kilda East resident Rachel Powning said the Balaclava strip had a village feel, but the development would attract revellers from across Melbourne at all hours.

"It will set a precedent for other developments," she said.

Town planning consultant representing the applicant Alan Swindon said objectors had a "knee-jerk reaction" to the proposal, which would give bands a chance to play at a sophisticated venue.

A little about me

I have lived in East St Kilda for 8 years, and prior to that in St Kilda since 1989. I live with my partner Michael and our 6 year old daughter. I have worked in many fields, including 5 years in international development for CARE Australia and Oxfam, and 11 years in local government in Victoria. I have worked in both of these fields as an employee and a consultant, and I now consult to local governments all across Melbourne. I hold a BA Hons in Sociology and a Masters degree in International Relations. I am a member of the Community Alliance of Port Phillip (CAPP).

I am passionate about improving the world we live in, which for me means doing what I can to make sure we are all given a fair go, irrespective of wealth, educational level, race, religion or sex. I have always felt driven to be a community activist, and I have a strong commitment to public service.

I have worked on many social campaigns such as the fight to close the pay gap between men and women, the fight to improve access to childcare for all families in Port Phillip. For 2 years I was an active member of the Policy Committee for the St Kilda & Balaclava Kindergarten. I have also recently set up a website for international students in Australia, with the aim of giving them information on their legal and social rights.

Because I have worked in local government for so many years, I know how to get things done, and how to make sure community concerns are heard and acted on. I am deeply committed to real community engagement – to me doing this well is a critical role for any local council.

If elected, my priorities for Carlisle Ward will be:

• Acting quickly to prepare us for climate change
• Responsible development
• Improving community safety
• Supporting our local businesses and artists
• Ensuring high quality and affordable community services, including childcare and aged care.

As many residents have noticed, East St Kilda is fast becoming very popular local tourist destination. “Keeping Carlisle Local” means maintaining a balance between the needs of our residents, and the needs of the growing number of visitors. We don’t need large numbers of late night visitors to the area, and we will have to fight to make sure this doesn’t happen. We don’t want to see more chain stores in the area, and we will have to make sure we support our local traders.