News archive
Quote of the week
"Widening roads to solve traffic congestion is like loosening your belt to cure obesity,"says Walter Kulash, a traffic engineer from Orlando, Florida - something to keep in mind when contemplating the planned roadworks on Hoddle Street.
Melbourne Heritage Action
Melbourne Heritage Action is a new group created to provide a forum of people dedicated to preserving, protecting and promoting the ongoing use of significant heritage places such as buildings, streetscapes, laneways and interiors in Melbourne. The group wants to encourage owners, developers, architects, academics and businessmen to explore ideas of adaptive reuse and heritage preservation. Founded under the auspices of the National Trust of Victoria, the group advocates for the protection of significant built heritage from all periods, which is threatened by unsympathetic development, demolition or neglect. Their focus is primarily the City centre and has arisen over concerns over the recent demolition of Lonsdale House and the threat to the Windsor Hotel. Anyone wishing to join should go to their website: http://www.melbourneheritage.org.au
Yarra Park at its Lowest Point?
Yarra Park 2 August 2010The East Melbourne Historical Society has published a gallery of photographs recording the current condition of Yarra Park, perhaps at its worst in living memory.
As many residents of East Melbourne have noticed, car parking in Yarra Park throughout this wet football season has been severely damaging to the Park. As an estimate, 70% of the Park's surface is now down to bare dirt or mud. Scores of trees are damaged, dead or vanished. Trucks and cars are driving over the roots of trees and parking hard up against them. Even the historic Aboriginal trees have only thin, narrow fringes of grass around them. The gallery tells the story quite unambiguously.
To see what you can do, keep reading ...
City of Melbourne Development Strategy 2010
2010 City of Melbourne Growth FrameworkOur President Jill Fenwick reports on recent correspondence and discussions with the State Government and with the City of Melbourne concerning Yarra Park and developments in the sporting precincts and along the railway lines.
The news is not good. (Was there ever a "Good News Week"?) The council denies responsibilty for Yarra Park and the State Government acts as though it is being managed despite the depressing evidence to the contrary. The sporting precinct has become a breeding ground for white elephants. The new City of Melbourne Municipal Strategic Statement is a multiple pregnancy - species unknown.
Lost, Stolen or Strayed - Yarra Park - Forty Shillings Reward
Has anyone noticed? Yarra Park has gone the way of James James Morrison's Mother. She has disappeared! One wonders, was it despite or because of repeated warnings from the National Trust (commonly known as Jim) about green wedgies at the end of Town? In any case, Yarra Park donned her golden gown this autumn - and promptly disappeared from the City of Melbourne's records.
Change of scheduled speaker
Greg de Moore was to speak to us on 16 June 2010 about Tom Wills, the co-founder of Australian Rules Football. Unfortunately Greg has had to reschedule. However, John Briggs, a heritage architect, known to many in East Melbourne, has agreed to speak to us on 16 June about heritage conservation, a subject dear to all of us. Please bring your friends but do call Deirdre first!
Missed the quiz? Don't worry, John Clarke provides the answers.
And the answer was ...
Punt Road. The other photo shows the Franz Joseph Glacier, where some actual movement has been detected by scientists over the past 600 years.
Also of interest to East Enders ...
Yarra Park added to Heritage Register
Yarra Park 1864In culmination of a long campaign by the East Melbourne Group, the Heritage Council of Victoria has added Yarra Park to the Heritage Register. This means that any major developments will require a permit from Heritage Victoria.
Rupert Murdoch's "Melbourne Leader" reacted in form. "Heritage listing puts MCG car park under threat," its headline said. It continued, "The future of game-day carparking at the MCG is under a cloud after Yarra Park was added to the state’s heritage register. East Melbourne residents were last week celebrating after a hard-fought campaign to have the park added to the register."
See the full decision of the Heritage Council and the Leader article in our catalogue item, Yarra Park Heritage Listing 2010.
The East Melbourne Historical Society Receives a Special Grant
Project team members: - Jill Fenwick, Nik Iljin, Wendy BabiolakisThe East Melbourne Historical Society has received a grant of $2,290 from Museums Australia (Victoria) to digitise its collection. Digitising involves creating high quality electronic images of items in the collection and loading them onto the web site. The collection may then be searched or browsed via an on-line catalogue and digitised items can be viewed in detail. The grant provides funds to buy imaging equipment, software and services to begin the process.
Hole plugged in MMBW plans
Thumb print of missing planA significant hole has been plugged in our set of MMBW plans for East Melbourne. The missing plan covers the area bounded by Grey, Hoddle, Hotham and Powlett Streets. It was drawn in 1899 but had managed to escape digitisation until clever detective work by the State Library Maps Collection uncovered its whereabouts and took it into custody. Its particulars have now been digitised by the Imaging department and it is available in our Gallery where you are free to pan and zoom at your pleasure. As you will see, even after such a long period at large the item is in quite remarkable condition although admittedly a little ragged around the edges.
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