AUGUST 10, 2016 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
NEWS + SPORT + THE WEST’S BEST PROPERTY GUIDE
Signposts to home
(Damjan Janevski)
A Hobsons Bay council initiative will mean lost pets that are registered and microchipped can be reunited directly with their owners instead of being impounded at the Lost Dogs Home in North Melbourne. Previously, the council sent animals to the dogs’ home, where about 63 per cent of cats and seven per cent of dogs handed in from Hobsons Bay were euthanased. The council’s latest initiative means at least 10 dogs a month are returned straight to their owners. It took just 15 minutes for Williamstown’s Sam Visser to be reunited with dogs Pippa and Minnie after a neighbour accidentally let them out. “Both our dogs are microchipped, so I got a call to say that they’d found them on Melbourne Road,” she said. Mayor Peter Hemphill urged people to register and microchip their pets. Ninety-four per cent of cats and 39 per cent of dogs picked up by rangers in Hobsons Bay are unregistered. The council is conducting doorknocks to check for unregistered animals and plans a cat microchipping and desexing day later this year. Call 9932 1000 or go to hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/community/ animals. Maribyrnong council also reunites pets with their owners if the pet is registered. SAM VISSER AND PIPPA
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The June 16 letter seeks “an agreement with RAIDIM immediately … please advise.” Mr De Fazio said the group fired back a letter seeking more information, but is yet to receive a response. “RAIDIM is now left to question if the highly emotive wording used in Hachem’s letter – and strongly presented as the only alternative to a gambling venue – was merely to garner community support for a proposal of substantial overdevelopment with a significant lack of parking,” Mr De Fazio said. “Adara’s proposal will tower over Edgewater’s shopping precinct and provide no car spaces for its proposed 200-patron restaurant, gym,
cocktail lounge and retail shops, cafes,” he said, pointing out the impact on roads and parking. “RAIDIM would welcome a new development proposal from Adara Group that does comply with planning laws for that site, and which positively benefits Edgewater estate,” he said. Maribyrnong council planning services director Nigel Higgins said Prizac’s current permit requires the existing proposal to be completed by January 21, 2018. It has already had two extensions of time. Adara did not respond to a request for comments. ■ Pokies
battle: Page 3 1219971-HM10-16
Residents have slammed developers for fanning concerns about pokies in order to ram through an “unacceptable” development at Maribyrnong. Residents Against Inappropriate Development in Maribyrnong (RAIDIM) president Enzo De Fazio said architecture and branding firm Hachem wrote to the group on behalf of Adara Hotels, which is negotiating the takeover of the abandoned Club Edgewater development on Edgewater Boulevard, seeking support for a new proposal. Adara is working with property developer
Prizac to vastly inflate the size of the project, left in limbo last year when the Western Bulldogs walked away from the $30 million project. They want to increase the building’s height to include 133 apartments, 70 hotel rooms, a 200-seat restaurant, gym and retail. Hachem’s letter states Adara is “a community focussed organisation” that would prefer to eliminate the gaming element of the project. “However, there is a commercial prerequisite which we are required to meet in order for Adara to develop and operate the site. “If we are unable to meet this requirement, my client will therefore withdraw and the gaming venue will be built.” 1182408-CG18-15
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