Kew Cottages

Brian Walsh, President, Kew Cottages Coalition, today called on Heritage Victoria to halt work at the State Government site overlooking Yarra Bend Park in order to test for the deadly plant pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi, which appears to be the likely cause of the death a large rare tree, and which has been previously linked to construction works at Kew Cottages. "Stopping the current works is necessary to prevent more damage to heritage listed trees", Mr. Walsh said. Public Meeting 26 February. Details inside.

You are Cordially Invited to Kew Cottages Coalition Inc. Annual Public Meeting at the Kew Civic Centre, 8pm Tuesday 18th March 2014 (Details and Melways Reference at end of this article). Kew Cottages Coalition Inc. presents "Kew Cottages and the Victorian State Election: A Midsummer Night's Public Meeting" with MC Rod Quantock

"The Windsor Hotel redevelopment scandal will go down in history as a bid to corrupt Victoria's Planning and Heritage laws.

What is not so clear yet, however, is whether the Windsor scandal is an isolated incident linked to a 'Rogue Trader' in the State Government's Media Unit, or whether it is part of a wider conspiracy designed to help undermine the rule of law, and the regulation of property developers in Victoria," says Brian Walsh, leader of the Kew Cottages Coalition in Victoria. (Kew Cottages Coalition was formed in 2003 to defend public ownership of public land containing building and plant for the care of people with developmental problems. This public estate, overlooking sweeping views of parkland and the Yarra River all the way to the city of Melbourne, has since been sold-off by the government to private development, without democratic consultation.)

Against repeated previous promises, the Victorian Government of John Brumby is trampling over community and local govenment opposition to turn Melbourne into a junior version of Los Angeles without a proper cost-benefit analysis.

Article by Kenneth Davidson, a co-editor of Dissent Magazine, originally published as "Projects built at expense of community" in the Melbourne Age of 15 Feb 10.

2nd FEB 2010: Victorian State Election meeting held by Kew Cottages with Rod Quantok, MC and featuring a number of Members of Parliament
Topics for discussion: * How has the State of Victoria managed to loose $17 million building and selling 55 houses in Kew ? * What will each of our local MP's do about protecting all of the remaining Kew Cottages Public Land if re-elected ? * Do our MP's support the Kew Coalition's Alternative Plan ? * How can the community help ?
[An article on the current sell off of the Kew Cottages site and its background may be found on this site entitled 'Victorian Madness with Kew Cottages']

If Victorian Labor is to be epitomised in its wholesale profiteering of Melbourne's heritage, it is the carving up of Kew Cottages 90 acres, which for decades on the prominent Yarra River's prominent hilltop bend was home to Victoria's mentally handicapped, the socially unwanted, the 'too-difficult' vulnerable members of Melbourne's community. It was Melbourne's Bedlam and society labelled them 'mad' and banished them to 'Kew' up on the hill, behind the big wall. Now the Victorian Government is profiting from decades of neglect of many of its most vulnerable.

[This article was initially a comment to the article by Sheila Newman on this site 'Victorian Elections: A Midsummer Night's Meeting with MPs about what's going on'].