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This week's meeting
Boroondara Mayor, Jack Wegman looking into the future
Councilor Jack Wegman commenced by telling us “I believe that we face major external planning challenges in maintaining our neighbourhood character, heritage and amenity. It will be up to this council, over the next four years, to advocate, lobby and fight to protect what residents most value about where we live. We will strive to keep Boroondara the premier city”.
Good governance is bounded by legislation and codes, so whatever council proposes or wishes, is always constrained. How to balance the wishes of a given group of citizens on the one hand, with a master plan, and the opinions of councilors on the other hand always often leads to tension. There are the council employed officers on the one hand, and the councilors on the other. Officers, with good reason, may resist implementing instructions from the elected councilors. There is often an adversarial relationship. The relationship between officers and councilors may be likened to a ‘marriage of inconvenience’.
A citizen’s concerns about a barking dog, a disputed parking fee, a right of way, youngsters with spray paint cans, can occupy valuable time of officers or even councilors. But in the interests of good relations with the community, they must be attended to. Residents want to be taken fairly and consistently.
Maintaining good relations between citizens, officers and councilors is always a challenge. It is the task of councilors to deal with long range issues, while officers must attend to the immediate issues. Officers must ‘be performance based’ – which is another cause of tension.
A questioner posed the issue of a developer wanting permission to proceed with a multistory structure which both residents and council oppose, but the developer appeals to VCAT – what is to be done about that? Jack pointed out that the developer is not a criminal – he just wants to go ahead with what to him is a good project. Jack blamed the ‘System’, meaning the way in which state governments have structured the relationship between the state and the councils and the courts, for such an anomaly.
In response to another question, yes, the pressure for densification meaning more dwellings in existing space, will continue. Especially for Camberwell, with its train and tram transport facilities. The 20/20 Plan is always there. Already, a 9 storey structure over the railway, and a 13 storey structure near the junction are on the books.
It was a privilege to have Councilor Jack Wegman, Mayor of Boroondara, who has lived in the area for 25 years and the last 15 years in the Junction Ward, address the club on the future of our municipality. Apart from his family commitments, Jack is a member of the Psychological Society of Australia, the Market Research Society of Australia, and the Institute of Company Directors.
Owen Tassicker.
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