Planning Scheme – Amendment C245Whse

The Minister for Planning is considering to prepare a new amendment to the Whitehorse Planning Scheme, named Amendment C245Whse.

This amendment proposes to:

▪ Apply a Specific Controls Overlay to facilitate a proposed development in the Box Hill Central North Masterplan, and make the associated changes to accommodate this development to the Whitehorse Planning Scheme.

▪ Include a new Incorporated Document titled Box Hill Central North Masterplan in the Whitehorse Planning Scheme

▪ Apply the Road Closure Overlay for the partial closure of Fairbank Lane in Box Hill (east of Nelson Road).

Youth ConneXions

Youth ConneXions is Whitehorse City Council’s youth information, support and referral centre based at Box Hill Central Shopping Centre.

Please note that Council is not the Planning Authority responsible for undertaking this amendment, meaning we do not have the authority to process submissions. If you would like to make an inquiry or submission, you must do so by contacting the Department of Transport and Planning directly via the state government’s ‘Have Your Say’ page at the link below. Here, you can also find further information and documentation relating to the amendment.

Submissions close at 5pm Monday 20 March.

L More information: www.planning. vic.gov.au/policy-and-strategy/ draft-amendment-c245whse

You can make a time to see one of the friendly Youth Workers between 1pm to 2pm.

If you can’t drop in for a visit, Youth Worker Support & referrals continue to be available over the phone, text, Facebook Messenger or Instagram:

Youth ConneXions contact details

Phone: 9898 9340

Email: youth.worker@whitehorse.vic.gov.au

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ YouthConneXions

The centre offers a comfortable and supportive environment for young people aged 12-25 to hang out, relax, find information or seek assistance with any issue they may have.

At the centre, you’ll find lots of fun activities like pool and table tennis tables, video games, movies, card games, a recording studio, musical instruments and equipment, arts and crafts, snacks and hot and cold drinks. Youth ConneXions is a safe, inclusive and supportive space that is open for drop-ins on weekdays between 2-5pm.

Instagram: www.instagram.com/ youthconnexions/

If you need crisis assistance

Kids Helpline – 1800 551 800

Lifeline – 13 11 14

Safe Steps – 1800 015 888 (Family Violence)

Image: School Holiday ProgramTerrarium Making Workshop

Whithorse Performing Arts

Whitehorse Performing Arts

THE WHARF REVUE –LOOKING FOR ALBANESE

Friday 14 April 7.30pm

Saturday 15 April 1.30pm & 7.30pm

It’s a new dawn, a new day, and a new captain at the helm of the ship of state. And what a state we’re in! Inflation, rising interest rates, conflict in Ukraine, climate disaster, culture wars, COVID 19-20-21-22-23, and a looming World War Three… Could things get any worse?

But there is a light on the horizon: The Wharf Revue is back! Inspired by the new national spirit of optimism that lasted for a week, the team are as keen as mustard to once again tackle the big-picture issues.

Season 2023

HIGHER POWER – MELBOURNE CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

Saturday 6 May 7.30pm

Across time and place, composers have been inspired to serve a vision, and pursue expression transcends words alone. You need to believe in a higher power experience it. We depart with in his relentless quest for perfection in the Brandenburg concertos, find Ross Edwards in one of tranquil and contemplative moods for Veni creator spiritus. Polyphonic Voices join MCO, inviting you choral music’s warm embrace.

Gather with us as a family of theatre and music lovers to experience connection through great live entertainment.

Theatre And Music

SEASON 2023

To discover our full program, visit www.theround.com. au/professional-season

Presented at One Community, Blackburn

Wallflowering

Friday 21 April 7.30pm

Saturday 22 April 1.30pm

VIVA ITALIA! LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL

Saturday 25 March 7.30pm

Virtuosi instrumentalists Jane Rutter and Giuseppe Zangari celebrate the music of Italy with classical masterpieces, dances and songs by Vivaldi, Giuliani, Paganini, Caccini, plus Ennio Morricone’s stunning Gabriel’s Oboe from The Mission — and more.

Wallflowering is a delightfully amusing and poignant play about the nature of marriage, the pursuit of happiness and the perfect foxtrot! Peg and Cliff Small, an ordinary, suburban, middle-aged couple were once prize-winning ballroom dancers. Their story is interspersed with ballroom dancing by a younger couple, who represent not only Peg and Cliff in their glory days, but also their romantic, idealised view of themselves.

Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow

Tuesday 16 May 7.30pm

Australia’s ultimate comedy road Featuring the best and brightest 2023 Melbourne International Festival, we’re bringing the funny you! Get ready for a stellar line-up with Roadshow favourites alongside the most talked-about breakthrough stars of the moment, together jam-packed show.

MELBOURNE composers a spiritual expression that don’t power to with Bach perfection concertos, and his most moods Polyphonic you into embrace.

Sparrows Of Kabul

Saturday 27 May 7.30pm

Fred Smith and band present this extraordinary song cycle on Australia’s involvement in Afghanistan, culminating in the dramatic evacuation from Kabul in August 2021. Great songs, vivid images and some cheeky Aussie humour combine to offer a vivid account of Australia’s Afghanistan story. Fred was the first Australian diplomat to be sent to Uruzgan Province in 2009 and a last to leave in 2013.

We are left with an admiration for the work of our soldiers and the courage and tenacity of thousands of Afghans who braved the human logjams at Kabul International Airport in a last-ditch dash for freedom.

To buy tickets and subscriptions or request a Season 2023 brochure, contact Whitehorse performing arts on 9262 6555 or visit www.theround.com.au

FAMILY SHOWS

Presented at Box Hill Town Hall

Midweek Matinees

Presented at Stairway, Vermont

INTERNATIONAL brightest of the International Comedy funny to line-up alongside breakthrough together in one

ROADSHOW road trip!

The Sunshine Club

Friday 7 July 7.30pm

Saturday 8 July 1.30pm

Set in 1946, this joyful and acclaimed musical tells the story of Aboriginal soldier Frank Doyle, returning home to Brisbane after serving in WW2 to find that, while the world may have changed, the same attitudes and prejudices still exist at home. Frank finds himself filled with a strong desire to change things for the better. By setting up The Sunshine Club, a place where all people are welcome to come together, laugh, romance and dance the night away, Frank sets out to win the heart of Rose, the girl from next door.

THE BEANIES EGG-STRAORDINARY DAY

Tuesday 18 April 1pm

Suitable for 3+ years

As seen on ABC Kids TV, The Beanies are live on stage! Come sing, dance and laugh in their giant box fort. But little do they know they’re about to face their biggest challenge ever - BABYSITTING… or should we say “egg-sitting”. Turns out it’s harder than it looks: the trio argue about nap time, get confused about baby proofing and deal with crying fits. The Beanies need your help to solve problems, unravel riddles and search for clues.

The Winner Is

Wednesday 22 March 11am

Music Theatre and TV star Ian Stenlake teams up with award winning singer/ actress Michelle Fitzmaurice to take you on a journey of academy award-winning songs that have lit up our silver screens from 1935 to 2020. Enjoy songs such as Lullaby Of Broadway, Over The Rainbow, Might As Well Be Spring through to Can You Feel The Love Tonight.

IT TAKES TWO

Wednesday 10 May 11am

Join Karla Hillam and Jonathan Guthrie-Jones as they take you back to the 50s, 60s, 70s and the 80s performing their favourite duets. Featuring music from stage, screen and everything in between with songs like Up Where We Belong, I Got You Babe, Islands In the Stream, All I Ask Of You and many more delights.

You Are A Doughnut

Saturday 24 June 1pm

Suitable for 5+ years

YOU are a doughnut! It’s true! YOU are a great big fleshy lump with a remarkable hole running all the way through your middle — your digestive system. Join biology teachers Oesoph A. Gus and Dewey Dean as they embark upon an utterly brilliant allsinging, all-dancing (and all-clowning!) exploration of every twisting tube and remarkable organ — with sketches, songs, and sensational science.

NIGHT AND DAY –THE DORIS AND SHIRLEY SHOW

Wednesday 5 July 11am

The fabulous Gina Hogan returns to the stage with another standout show featuring songs from Doris Day and Shirley Bassey. These two iconic women are as different as night and day, yet Gina moves effortlessly from Doris, the quintessential all-American ‘girl next door’ to the dramatic and powerful Shirley.

The views expressed are those of individual Councillors and do not necessarily reflect Council policy or the views of Council as a whole.

Whitehorse City Council is divided into 11 single-councillor wards.

Our Councillors have been elected to serve until October 2024.

Cootamundra Ward

Andrew Munroe 0429 138 140 andrew.munroe@whitehorse.vic.gov.au

Late last month at Box Hill Town Hall, I was pleased to attend the Asian Business Association of Whitehorse (ABAW) annual Lunar New Year Fundraising Gala, which raised thousands of dollars for Eastern Health.

The ABAW earlier in the month also hosted a very successful Lunar New Year festival in Box Hill, with estimates of over 100,000 people attending. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spoke at the festival and State Opposition Leader John Pesutto spoke at both the gala and the Festival. Mr Pesutto congratulated the ABAW on their success and acknowledged the significant positive contribution people of Chinese descent have made to our community.

In the February edition of this publication a snapshot of each Ward was presented. While it was not intended to be an exhaustive list, as each Ward has many attributes, I do acknowledge the concern raised with me by people connected to Wandinong Sanctuary in that it was not mentioned under open spaces. The Sanctuary and Cootamundra Walk are both parklands with community-based advisory committees.

Wandinong Sanctuary is two hectares of remnant bushland fronting both Canterbury Road and Ronley Street, Blackburn. It is a truly special place in our city. Purchased by the Hooke family more than 100 years ago, it was donated by Albert Arthur and Janet Emily Hooke in 1973 to what is now Whitehorse Council to be preserved “for all time as a sanctuary for native birds, wild-flowers, native vegetation and as a place of public resort and passive recreation”.

Image: Cr Andrew Munroe, ABAW President Bihong Wang & State Opposition Leader John Pesuto.

Lake Ward

Denise Massoud – Deputy Mayor 0409 230 499 denise.massoud@whitehorse.vic.gov.au

Eley Ward

Trudy Skilbeck 0435 188 822 trudy.skilbeck@whitehorse.vic.gov.au

The trends that will matter most

In the midst of everyone feeling more uncertain about the future of the planet, of people and of prospects of profit ($$$ and non-financial gains), McCrindle Research has released their expected top trends for 2023. For a snapshot, visit https://mccrindle.com.au/resource/ infographic/trends-of-2023-infographic/. One trend is about the consequences of the continuing decline in trust - trust in each other/media/governments/institutions. Distrust means that our news, our ‘truth’ if you like, comes from an ever-greater variety of sources. We then find more divergent views abounding, and it’s very hard for a singular message, even a message that’s very important for a community to hear, to cut through the increasing ‘noise’. Democracy is built for a diverse community, thankfully, but our communication tools are not. I’m committed to trying to find better and simpler ways to both listen and to communicate what most needs to be said and heard as Council seeks to serve the Whitehorse community in 2023’s picture and beyond.

A positive future, that I believe in, rests in being relevant to what people are actually experiencing, carried with the kind of integrity that re-forms trust. It also rests in being innovative. This means opening up our minds to different possibilities than we have leaned into in the past.

Welcome additional funding from the state government to support hands-on digital training programs for seniors was announced late February. Your Whitehorse Manningham Libraries are a recipient! This is part of the needed communications transformation in which we are all participants. Watch for what’s on at your local branch across 2023.

Mahoneys Ward Mark Lane – Mayor 0435 387 526 mark.lane@whitehorse.vic.gov.au

Elgar Ward Blair Barker 0459 857 280 blair.barker@whitehorse.vic.gov.au

When reflecting on the progress our Council has made, it is easy to consider the visible and new; sporting pavilions, water fountains, solar and on demand park lights, trees or better recycling services and the near absence of dumped shopping trolleys on our streets.

However, I consider Council’s significant cultural shift to greater engagement with and listening to the community as our most important progress. I am proud of it because listening has always been a core promise of mine. Thank you to the thousands of residents who have engaged in Council’s (and my own) consultations, covering a range of topics from off lead dog areas, rubbish or carpark safety.

Listening has also been central to a team of residents, senior management and front line staff who I’ve gathered to resolve the enduring issue of dumped rubbish and hard rubbish. We are making progress, sourcing ideas and supporting, empowering and listening to people to help resolve challenging issues. I’ll report more results in my next column.

Congratulations to all that have engaged with the SnapSendSolve app! Our significant achievement as the best ‘solving’ organisation is a testament to everyone who has taken the time to help, and further proof that Council listens, cares and acts.

As always, a massive thanks to the volunteers of our area that enable others to enjoy sport, faith, environment and other groups. A massive congratulations to Emi Luppino, our Citizen of the Year, an Elgar Ward local that many will know from her selfless volunteering in our area and beyond. Image: out for a ride and listening to Peter C, a local cyclist.

Sparks Ward

Cr Tina Liu 0418 121 357 tina.liu@whitehorse.vic.gov.au

Kingsley Ward

Cr Amanda McNeill 0435 158 360 amanda.mcneill@whitehorse.vic.gov.au

As part of the Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP), the 132-year-old Mont Albert Station closed on Friday 17 February, with the community gathering to say goodbye.

John Lang, the last Officer in Charge, was there sharing his fond memories of the Station. Toot toot!

I can assure all the Mont Albert Station building is being carefully protected and will be re-erected on the plaza on Beresford Street facing Hamilton Street, opening it to the community. Council is working through the form of community use, planning and other details.

Getting to, and parking in the Mont Albert Village is a nightmare. To address this, car parks on the East Side of Hamilton Street (Bread Street side) will be converted from 1P to 2P. Works will be completed shortly.

If you encounter any issues with the LXRP contactors, contact the LXRP on 1800 105 105 or write to Paul Hamer MP.

At its meeting on 30 January, Council approved the preparation and exhibition of a local Planning Scheme Amendment to place a local Heritage Overlay on the remaining ANZAC Honour Trees in Churchill Street Mont Albert. The Box Hill RSL and the community gathered with John Trevorrow, descendant of the Head brothers for photos and celebration. The goal is to protect the trees and support the community desire for a permanent ANZAC memorial in Mont Albert. If you have any information to support the Amendment, please contact Council Officers.

Applications for Community Grants are open from now until 6 April. Visit www.whitehorse.vic.gov.au/grantscommunity

And finally, congratulations to Mont Albert Cricket Club, who have made it to the finals!

Wattle Ward

Cr Andrew Davenport 0407 652 145 andrew.davenport@whitehorse.vic.gov.au

Walker Ward

Cr Ben Stennett 0448 375 937 ben.stennett@whitehorse.vic.gov.au

Progress on our new performing arts centre

It’s hard to miss — construction on ‘The Round’ is well underway and on track to finish by the end of this year. A variety of plants, including indigenous, native, and exotic species at an offsite nursery, are waiting to be transplanted to their new home at The Round. The latest news is that new trees will be planted in a state-ofthe-art Strata Vault system made from 100 per cent recycled plastic, to ensure roots have space to grow without damaging nearby footpaths and roads. Plants have been carefully chosen to complement the architecture of the new building and provide seasonal benefits for visitors.

Terrara Ward

Cr Raylene Carr 0400 886 889 raylene.carr@whitehorse.vic.gov.au

Simpson Ward

Cr Prue Cutts – Deputy Mayor 0409 867 540 prue.cutts@whitehorse.vic.gov.au

Prepare for Melbourne Water pipe upgrades requiring roadworks along Mitcham Road from Simpson to Lucknow Streets over the next seven weeks.

Mitcham Road will be closed to traffic from 1-8 March and again 17-23 April, with a partial road closure in the intervening period. If possible, please avoid travelling between Canterbury Road and Whitehorse Road during this time.

Former RSL site in Mitcham

Many people have noticed there was an advertising sign outside the former Mitcham RSL site. This was to advertise a permit application for construction of a four-storey building with basement, comprising 62 dwellings and 37 car spaces, as part of the Victorian Government “Big Build” and construction of social housing. Council will not be the responsible planning authority for determining this application. Thank you to those that were able to attend the online forum in late February. If you want to make a written submission, you can do so by emailing BHBsubmissions@urbis.com.au or by Australia Post to Big Housing Build, Att. T Sobel Beeri, Urbis, Level 10, 477 Collins Street, Melbourne, 3000. Submissions close on Tuesday 14 March.

There is new parking signage at Vermont Village shops, replacing 1 hour parking zones with providing 16 2 hour and three 3 hour parking spaces. This is a great example of all stakeholders working together to get a more equitable outcome. It was great to work with Michelle of Shelly’s Hairworks (pictured on the left with Jasmine of Superior Nails and myself), who led a petition to Council officers signed by all traders on the Boronia Road shopping strip. My listening post at the shopping strip held late October was a good starting point to hear local concerns.

The Moonlight Movie held recently at Simpson Park was a great success. Screened on our hottest day in three years, followed by rain in the late afternoon, miraculously ended in a pleasant night’s viewing under the stars. Sharing the Moonlight Movie sessions around the municipality has been something I have pushed for since we moved to single Councillor Wards in 2020.

It’s been great to work with our Mayor, Cr Mark Lane, over recent months. We have a weekly catch-up and have attended Alkira, Burke and Beyond, healthAbility, Mitcham Community Meal and an event at Whitehorse Churches Care together.

If you’d like to raise any issue, please contact me using the above channels or via Facebook, @councillorpruecutts.