VILLAGE VOICE Postbag Change, but not for the better

MELBOURNE has existed for centuries and change has inevitably taken place here

Time has brought us the sprinkling of agriculture and light industry which we recognise today

Time has been, thus far, gentle in these changes, so that those of us who lived in these old streets were able to identify the strong roots of the place and the human scale of history in Melbourne Visitors would often remark that Melbourne felt somehow special, human and civilised when balanced against other localities where the march of progress and time have been unsightly and ugly Melbourne was a place to live a quieter life and a place where one might expect to grow old in a settled and peaceful community

It is, therefore, not surprising to find that, in such a place, any change needs time to be considered before it is taken on Visitors who came here often remarked that they liked Melbourne because it retained things which other places have lost Newspaper polls chose Melbourne as a special place to live in Chiefest among the virtues they found here was a sense of community, a place where the march of progress had not destroyed human values of friendship and support

Then, recently, change came It came brutally and quickly and took little notice of our community The Old People’s Centre was among the first to be taken along with the bowling green The centre had once been promised to the elderly residents of Melbourne so that they might have a place for themselves and their interests Melbourne Hall became a place of showbusiness concerts, cramming the visitors at night cheek by jowl with the sleeping residents and filling the streets with their parking A selection of defunct vehicles sits in the fields now to attract “glampers”

All these changes have brought little extra of value to the community except stress and traffic Yet they were described, even in the Village Voice, as a “field of dreams” If this was the case they were bad dreams for the many who live in the heart of the community

From the promoters of these events, I have heard that they are popular with the public If you live elsewhere and have no attachment to Melbourne then such things are fun But it is a very different story for many residents for whom the “Field of Dreams” myth is growing thin

Now, with hardly any notice, comes word that we might expect up to 1,000 Download Festival campers to camp next to us Apart from their arrival they will be ferried in buses into Castle Square each night 1,000 youngsters in buses We have now become a bus station for the “Field of Dreams”

The latest news is hearing that the elderly residents of Pool Cottage have to leave a place that for many is their home Pool Cottage once cared for an ancient friend I saw for myself the care and support given to him and was deeply moved Now the Pool Cottage residents must try to find somewhere in another place, out of their home village, without their companions and probably at more cost

Perhaps these elderly people are too frail to try “glamping”

John Williams, Melbourne