Simply Living

A community garden is taking shape here at the Bridge St Uniting Church.

The east side of the building shown in this picture will be transformed into a publicly accessible edible garden.

The project is supported by a community grant from the City of Port Phillip.

157 Albert St

The application for 3 town houses for this site was recently decided by VCAT. Council was concerned about various aspects of the application, such as bulk and access to carparks in such a narrow street.

VCAT overturned council's refusal. The Tribunal member supported the view of the applicant's expert witness, and quoted from him in his decision as follows

· In an urban setting borrowed amenity should be regarded as a ‘bonus” rather than being taken for granted over the longer term.
· Visibility of a building from neighbouring properties is not the test to determine whether a new building is acceptable or not.
· Narrow areas between buildings and side boundaries are typically used for utility and access purposes as opposed to being areas of high amenity.
· Windows on the sides of dwellings with an outlook towards side fencing or structures on neighbouring properties tend to have a daylight function as opposed to providing any meaningful outlook.
· In urban settings, it is commonplace that side windows will be overshadowed to some extent by existing buildings, fencing and or vegetation.

All over for this season

The borough went down to North Ballarat on Friday night in the VFL Grand Final at Telstra dome in a disappointing end to a fantastic season.

Into the Grand Final!

If you are feeling depressed after St Kilda's exit from the 2008 season - Port Melbourne is in the VFL Grand Final after beating Williamstown today 16 21 117 to 13 18 96!

The ground and the Norm Goss grandstand were full.

Graffiti blight

The benches along the Sandridge foreshore have been tagged.

Attempts have been made to get it off without success.

The benches will need to be re-stained.

Do report graffiti on council property straight away so it can be attended to on 9209 6777 or assist@portphillip.vic.gov.au

Guy Grossi fan club

Guy Grossi is the patron of HEAT [Hospitality Employment and Training] based in Liardet St, Port Melbourne and run by SKYS [St Kilda Youth Service]. The programme is aimed at students disengaged from education who graduate with certificates in hospitality and barrista training.
He spoke at the graduation of the 12th group of HEAT students about the down and difficult times he had experienced in his career.
It is fantastic how Guy has embraced the life of this community since opening Mirka's at Tolarno.
The HEAT programme will be moving to the former infants school on Pickles St later in the year.
Valued partners in this project are William Angliss, the Victoria Police, the Local Learning and Employment Network, and the City of Port Phillip.

What the ...?

This mysterious wrapping will soon reveal one of the planets of the solar system - a permanent installation along the length of the Port Phillip foreshore at a scale of 1:1 billion.