Albert Park Yacht Club celebrated its 150th anniversary on 26 February. Celebrations included a Sail Past salute and Opening Day Bracelet Race and are anticipated to be a significant and memorable part of that history. 

Albert Park Yacht Club has a rich history of sailing on the lake since 1871 and is one of the oldest yacht clubs in Australia. It began when the Colony of Victoria was only thirty-five years old, and Melbourne was a collection of townships. Albert Park Yacht Club is the oldest continuing inland yacht club in Victoria. Many people have learned and developed their sailing at Albert Park Yacht Club. They have progressed to enjoy sailing socially; many to be good club level racing sailors; and in quite several cases state, national or international champions.

APYC is welcoming new members if you are interested in learning to sail. Applications forms are available on the website

Join the Club - Albert Park Yacht Club www.apyc.org.au 

From 1st February 2022, City of Port Phillip has signed up to the Victorian Government trial in partnership City of Yarra and City of Melbourne, with 500 e-scooters distributed across each city for use on bicycle lanes, bicycle paths, shared paths and roads. E-scooters will be contained to these metro areas through the use of geofencing and a 20km/h speed limit will apply.

Lime and Neuron Mobility will deliver the trial, and rides within the three municipalities will be made possible by downloading the Lime and Neuron apps. 

Riders must adhere to most of the same rules as bike riders, including wearing a helmet and slowing down to give way to pedestrians on shared paths.  

E-scooter riders should behave the same way as bicycle riders and slow down to give way to pedestrians. There will be special 'no go' and 'go slow' zones where speed limits are restricted in high-traffic shared areas. E-scooters are not permitted on footpaths and roads where there is a speed limit above 50km/h.

Deep coloured, ripe and delicious fruit and vegetables, aromatic hand-made cakes and jams, freshly laid free range eggs and just cut flowers are only a few of the sumptuous goods you’ll find at our monthly Gasworks Farmers’ Market, held on the third Saturday of each month. 

You will love spending Saturday mornings on the grass soaking up the vibrant atmosphere and sampling the very best of local Victorian produce, direct from Victorian farmers and specialty makers.

Gasworks Farmers’ Market is proudly accredited by the Victorian Farmers Market Association (VFMA) and our market received the Outstanding Farmers’ Market Award at the 2012 delicious. Produce Awards.

The Gasworks Resident Artist Studios are also open during the Farmers Market, so make sure you pop in and say hello!

For the full list of stallholders and the circuit of accredited farmers’ markets in Melbourne every week, go to the Regional Farmer's Market news Facebook and Instagram.

Please remember, Gasworks Farmers’ Market is plastic bag free and all packaging is as environmental responsible as possible so bring your own trolleys or baskets, reusable bags and coffee cups/mugs.

Gasworks Farmers’ Market, 3rd Saturday of every month, 8am – 1pm.

https://gasworks.org.au/whats-on/gasworks-farmers-market  

What is an example of how Rotary is involved in the local community?

In the spring of 2020, Rotary led the formation of PorTTogether, which is a part of the Town Team initiative.  Quite simply Town Team is a coalition of business, council, service organisations and most importantly, residents of an area, all coming together to work collaboratively for the betterment of a specific area. It is about connecting, organising and acting to regenerate the fabric of their neighborhood’s and to create better places. We abide by the Town Team charter which can be found at the Town Team website https://www.townteammovement.com/. There are 81 Town Teams spread across 34 local government areas in Australia.

How is Port Phillip Rotary involved?

Our Town Team is a coalition of Port Phillip Rotary, the City of Port Phillip, Port Melbourne Business Association, SHIP (Star Health Inclusion Port), Southport Community Centre, and community members and stakeholders.  For more information on how to get involved simply email pres@rcpm.org.au

What does PorTTogether do?

PorTTogether works toward goals.  The first goal is the betterment of the entire area, which we will accomplish through a series of smaller specific projects.  Our first project is to help make Bay Street one of the most vibrant town cores in Australia.  By revitalising Bay Street, we make Port Melbourne and the City of Port Phillip even more compelling for residents and attractive for visitors.  We have so much to offer.

Our broader mission is to work together.  By building a strong, inclusive and democratic coalition we will shape our communities for ourselves and the people who come after us. Our Town Team is another example of service organisations impacting local areas.  It’s also a model that can be rolled out quickly and efficiently in virtually any part of the country.  

Is something happening soon where we can be involved?

Covid has impacted us in so many ways and due to the restrictions we have been under, it has been hard to plan ahead too far with definitive and expansive plans for this year but  there will be an event on Saturday 4th December at Bay Street, which the  Business Association have organised so pop the date in your planner and come on down to support your community, purchase some goodies and have fun.  Come and chat to me, too, as I will be there.

Kevin Beagle
Port Phillip Rotary Membership Officer

email: kmbeagle@gmail.com

The BCNA is a not-for-profit community association in Port Melbourne. It is the successor organisation of the Swallow Street and Bain Street Residents’ Association formed in February 1987.  It was formed out of fear that the Victorian Government would acquire their homes as part of an urban renewal project.  

Purpose:
BCNA’s purpose is shown in its Rules of Association.  It is to “… provide a forum for all residents of Beacon Cove and abutting neighbourhoods to discuss key local issues and thence to take appropriate action to preserve and enhance the quality of life for residents and visitors to the area…”.

How we operate:
BCNA representatives meet key people and organisations to find solutions to local issues. They include Members of Parliament, State Government departments, the City of Port Phillip, Victoria Police, developers, the Environment Protection Authority, and Ports Victoria.  

Current issues:
Some of the recent issues BCNA has been involved in are:
•    Hoon driving and excessive vehicle noise around Station Pier and Beacon Cove.
•    advocating for air quality monitoring near Station Pier.
•    advocating for the redevelopment of the Waterfront Place precinct.
•    the enforcement of planning controls.
•    protecting the foreshore from overshadowing from developments.
•    An upgrade of the Princes Street stormwater drain.
•    Port planning.

Communicating to members:
The committee reports on progress with current issues by short news items on the organisation’s Blog website at www.beaconcove.org.au.  Members can receive these news items by subscribing to an email news service. In addition, a hard copy newsletter, The Beacon, is prepared twice a year and delivered to about 2800 mailboxes in the area.  

Encouraging a sense of community:
In addition to the email news service, BCNA organises social events. Often these are dinners at local restaurants. The events are popular and attract around 60 plus attendees.  They are a good way for newcomers to meet neighbours and to hear about local news.    

Membership:
Membership is open to individuals. You do not need to live in the area. An application form is shown on the website at www.beaconcove.org.au.  Current membership stands at 461.  

Further information about BCNA can be found on the website www.beaconcove.org.au 

Or contact:
The President at president@beaconcove.org.au
The Secretary at secretary@beaconcove.org.au 

Did you know the ball with which one bowls in lawn bowls is “biased”. This means one side is flattened. As if life isn't hard enough!

The nuance of the physics in this distributed weight anomaly is beyond this author. But the result is that the bowl follows a curved horizontal trajectory when rolled, something like the curve of a banana laying down. 

Could it be that the inventor of bowls always bowled off to one side and so invented a non-spherical ball (termed bowl) to compensate? Subsequently, all those that followed had to deal with this. The ever dependable Encyclopedia Britannica informed me that a form of bowls was played in ancient Egypt. Moving forward a millennia or two, the ruling body of today's form of lawn bowls - the International Bowling Board - was founded in 1905. 

But back to the balls, or in this case the bowls. The concept of a biased bowl leaves this author somewhat discombobulated. Can you imagine the same physics being applied to ten pin bowling? The lanes would have to be three times wider. What about playing golf with a ball that is biased. One spends too much time looking for a ball the size of your eye as it is - whereas in squash one spends time avoiding being hit in the eye with a ball just the right size to replace it.

Some counties in England play a variation named Crown Green Bowls. In this version, a square area with a raised hump (aka crown) is located in the centre of the green. If that doesn’t add sufficient challenge, the surface of the green can also be uneven – just for a little more random excitement. At least here in AUS our greens are flat, true and generally surfaced with beautifully manicured grass or Astro turf. I must say the latter sounds a little like something the Jetsons would be using to play this game.

Whatever they were thinking (or drinking) when the governing body decided the rules, the result is a sport which is not only highly enjoyable but also very social. I tried my luck at bowls as did my children. We found ourselves engaged in what was for us initially a game of chance, largely due to the fact we had no skill in this discipline. But it was great fun from the first bowl to the last. And social! I cannot think of another ball game where one can equally enjoy the social aspect throughout the experience as well as the sporting competition.

All in all, can I recommend bowls to others? You bet! Would I recommend bowls as a family activity? You bet! So armed with this considered research, why not pick up the phone, call your local Middle Park Bowls Club on (03) 9690 4048 and give the casual “Barefoot Bowls” a try.

https://www.middleparkbowls.com.au/ 

Opposite the Middle Park Hotel - Canterbury Road, Melbourne VIC 3206

When free information is not free.

In pursuit of a cause or action one typically requires information. Information is key to our understanding. Understanding oneself, others, the immediate world in which we immerse ourselves. Without information we can know that something exists, but not why. Without knowing why we are helpless in effecting change. Life is like this in many ways. The actions of those we encounter are generally based on information. If we are not privy to the relevant information, then causation is unknown, and we are left with baseless reactions as our only means of effecting change.

Now to the matter at hand: Some time back I attempted to change a decision made by the local council. To be successful in this endeavor my proposition had to be logical and substantiated by fact. I was going well until encountering a hurdle on the second point, substantiated by fact. I figured the council archives would hold the information I needed. So, I approached the council to supply me with the necessary information. Being a member of a family residing in their own home, within the same local government area as the council to whom I was to submit my FoI request, I figured this would be a no-brainer. But alas, no! This is where the “Freedom of Information” Act A.K.A. “FOI” comes in.

The FOI Act provides the public (me in this case) with certain rights. The rights to request and be granted access to documents about the operation of council, government departments, and documents in the possession of government Ministers or agencies, and by law the holders of the information must undertake to satisfy the request. At least as far as is possible?

But, as it turns out, Freedom of Information does not equate to the free provision of information. Only that an applicant is free to request it. Under the Act, the provider of information can charge the applicant (in this case me) for the free information. Hardly free is it? Here are two examples.

Port Phillip Council charges applicants a fee of:
$30.10 to process a request.

Casey charges applicants’ fees of:
$22.50 per hour (or part of an hour)
PLUS
Supervised viewing of documents fee: $5.60 per 15 minutes (if applicable)
PLUS
Photocopying: 20 cents per black and white A4 page

Here’s the thing, could council be seen here to be fiscally Double Dipping?
Surely, if you live and pay rates in the area subject to your FOI request, the council should not charge you FOI fees. After all, local ratepayers already finance council services through the rates they pay. The term fiscal double-dipping is the best way to describe this.

FOI Was Not Named “A tax on Information”.
To this author, it seems that FOI legislation was initially named “Freedom Of Information” for a reason. The act was not named “A tax on Information” or “Information for those who can afford it”.

In Summary.
The restriction of information to those who can pay only serves to obfuscate issues raised by the public. The unfettered, free provision of information is of benefit to all. Perhaps councils may read this article and reconsider their position by, at minimum, proving FOI services at no charge to local ratepayers.

Further FOI Act reading.
https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-information/the-foi-act
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2019L00348
Port Phillip FOI Fees: https://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/about-the-council/governance-performance-and-advocacy/freedom-of-information
Casey FOI Fees: https://www.casey.vic.gov.au/make-freedom-of-information-request

Author Emma Cutting

Hello Lovely Local!, My name is Emma Cutting and I have been a resident of City of Port Phillip for 20 years. I am also the Founder of The Heart Gardening Project, a community initiative that brings humans and nature together through street gardening. We turn barren, undernourished pieces of public land into gardens of wriggling, buzzing beauty for everyone to enjoy (around 70 so far and counting!).

I am writing to let you know (if you didn’t know already!) that the City of Port Phillip’s (CoPP) new draft Nature Strip Guidelines (NSGs) have just been released for community feedback and, if there isn’t a strong community response to change them, these would mean the end of street gardening for the vast majority of residents in the City of Port Phillip.

There are so many issues with this document but the main two are that…
• Tree squares are not allowed to be planted in
• ‘Clearance areas’ are so enormous that only a few plants at the most can be planted in even the hugest of nature strips

Not only that, but CoPP declares that gardens which don’t adhere to the new guidelines are also subject to removal. This means that, again, the vast majority of existing street gardens, many of them decades old, would be subject to removal at council’s whim.

While there is a definite need for updated, clear and safe Nature Strip Guidelines in the City of Port Phillip, CoPP has demonstrated overblown, short-term thinking around the safety of council assets. These new NSGs effectively deny residents the many positives that can come from street gardening including community cohesion, the ability to contribute to the natural beauty of our city and also individually respond to climate change and declining urban biodiversity.

We need to act now and tell our Councillors and Council Officers that this is not good enough. We need these draft NSGs rewritten to be inclusive, researched properly and empowering. Basically, if you love street gardening, are appreciative of your local street gardener, enjoy walking around your local street gardens, think that street gardening is more beneficial than not for your community, think we need more beautiful gardens, believe that increasing biodiversity is important and/or think we need to do more to fight climate change then please do the following…

• Read council guidelines at
  https://haveyoursay.portphillip.vic.gov.au/nature-strip-guidelines 
• Sign the petition at
   https://www.change.org/keepourstreetgardensgrowing 
• Contact your local ward Councillors directly
• Get out and create a street garden!!
• Place the small sign below (or something similar!) in your front window

Thank you! Love Emma

For more info on street gardening:
www.theheartgardeningproject.org.au 

For lots of pics of street gardens: Instagram
@theheartgardeningproject 

Email The Heart Gardening Project at:
info@theheartgardeningproject.org.au

 Rising Sun Hotel

 Prince Bandroom

 Middle Park Hotel

 Prince Alfred

 Esplanade - St Kilda

 Inkerman Hotel

 George Lane

 Iddy Biddy

 Republica

 Cornerstone

 Jimmy ONeils

 Captain Baxter

 Palais Theatre

 Memo Music Hall

 Recital Centre Melbourne

 Alex Theatre - St Kilda

 Arts Centre - Melbourne

 Crown - Southbank

 Astor - St Kilda

 Palace Dendy - Brighton

 Classic - Elsternwick

 Hoyts - Docklands

 Palace - Brighton Bay

 Village - Jam Factory

 Gasworks

 Whats On in St Kilda

 Jewish Museum of Australia

 Whats On in Port Phillip

 Events @ South Melb Market

 Markets in the Area

 Special Events

 Middle Park Bowls Events

Terminology

Agenda – topics discussed at a meeting that has occurred or the topics proposed for discussion in an upcoming meeting.

Declaration of Conflict of Interest – a person who is voting on a decision notifies others that they have some form of interest (usually beneficial to them) on the outcome of the vote. In many cases a person who declares a Direct or Indirect Interest will not be permitted to vote or be involved in discussions on the topic.

Direct or Indirect Interest – a person who is voting on a decision notifies others that they have some form of interest (usually beneficial to them) on the outcome of the vote. In many cases a person who declares a Conflict of Interest will not be permitted to vote or be involved in discussions on the topic.

Minutes – a summary of the topics discussed, voted upon, approved or disapproved or requiring amendment or further consideration at a previous meeting.

Motion – generally means that one or more people involved in voting at the meeting should consider a specific matter and subsequently vote to approve or disapprove the matter or require amendment on the matter.

Purpose – generally describes the reason(s) the topic is being discussed and voted upon.

Recommendation – generally means the topic that is being considered by meeting officials to either approve, disapprove and require amendment.

Records of Meeting – often means the notation (writing down) of the discussion held at the meeting.

Second a motion – in some cases a topic that is to be discussed (or approved) requires that two officials present at the meeting agree to discuss the matter or approve it. To "second a motion" means that a second person at the meeting agrees the matter should be discussed or approved. 

The City of Port Phillip website contains information on the history of Port Phillip. The following is an extract about the history of Port Melbourne

Port Melbourne was first called Sandridge after the ridge of sand dunes along the beach. In 1839 Wilbraham Frederick Evelyn Liardet arrived with his wife and family and set up home at the beachfront. Liardet has been called the father of Port Melbourne for his many innovative and entrepreneurial ventures which included building the first rudimentary jetty and providing a mail service to Melbourne from the port.

In 1850 the first land at Sandridge was sold, although the area had been surveyed as early as 1839. The most distinguishing feature of Sandridge at the time was the great saltwater lagoon as large as the settlement itself. The importance of Sandridge as the port for the metropolis was underlined when the first passenger railway in Australia was opened on September 12, 1854. It ran from Melbourne to Sandridge.

On 13 July 1860, after some agitation for self-government, Sandridge was proclaimed a municipal district. William Morley, a local coal merchant, became the first chair of the Council. Sandridge became a borough in 1863, and in 1884 changed its name to Port Melbourne. In 1893 Port Melbourne became a town and, on 14 May 1919, was proclaimed a city.

In June 1994 the City of Port Phillip was formed from the old municipalities of South Melbourne, St Kilda and Port Melbourne.

The first Council offices opened in 1861, located on the corner of Bay and Graham Streets, Port Melbourne. The first community hall was built in 1869 on the current site of the Port Melbourne Town Hall. In 1881 the addition of the grand building in front of the hall brought the council chambers and offices to the site.

Source: https://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/explore-the-city/history-and-heritage/port-phillip-history

A team is at work researching and writing a history of Albert Park. The book will be the latest in a series published by The Middle Park History Group.

The first was THE HEART OF MIDDLE PARK: Stories from a suburb by the sea. It was designed to take readers on ‘ a voyage of discovery of iconic places, people and milestones in the life of an Edwardian suburb by the sea.’

It was followed by MIDDLE PARK: From Swamp to Suburb, a much larger volume tracing early history and the development of swamps and lagoons into the suburb that is Middle Park.

In the latest MIDDLE PARK: The way we were, the reader is introduced to daily life, as it used to be,  in the area. This ranges from the milkman and his horse to small industries, clubs, corner shops (lots of them) memories of the Greek community, even violence and crime.

The Avenue Bookshop in Albert Park has long urged the publication of a history of that suburb prompted by interest in the Middle Park volumes. Now it is underway.

The Middle Park History Group comprises a dedicated band of amateur and professional historians, writers, researchers and enthusiastic local residents

https://middleparkhistoryg.wixsite.com/mphg 

Image: courtesy of State Library of Victoria (Rose Stereograph Co. (1920). ARMSTRONG STREET, MIDDLE PARK, VICTORIA).

Sited at the western end of Glen Huntly Road, at Point Ormond in Elwood, Victoria, is the locale of Victoria’s very first quarantine station dating back to 1840 – not five years since John Batman proclaimed that “This will be the Place for a Village” on the 8th June 1835:

” . . . In looking over an old journal of my Predecessor, Dr Hunt, then stationed at Williamstown, I find that prior to November, 1852, the Quarantine Anchorage was off the Red Bluff, near Brighton, and that the Government Emigrant Ships Manata, Lady Evelyn, and Chance, were detained there in September and October the sick being transferred to a [?] Hospital . . . “ **

In fact, the suburb Glen Huntly, and the road that connects Point Ormond to this suburb being Glen Huntly Road – bear the name of the very first ship to arrive in Port Phillip Bay displaying the dreaded yellow flag in 1840 . . .

” . . . The first yellow-flagged ship arriving in Port Phillip was the ” Glen Huntley,” from Greenock, with immigrants, on the 17th April, 1840.  Typhus fever had shown itself on the voyage, and out of 157 passengers there were no less than fifty on the sick list . . . “ ***

The barque ‘Glen Huntly’ was a 450 ton emigrant ship which left Greenock, Scotland in the December of 1839 under the charge of Captain Buchanan with 157 passengers on board.  The voyage would prove to be ill-fated – beginning with a collision with a coaster during the very first night at sea.  Hampered by thick fog which encased the English Channel, she then struck a submerged rock, straining her timbers even further.  Whilst sailing the North Atlantic, she collided with an American Packet Ship which removed her figurehead and tore away her lower spars.  Shortly after crossing the Equator, Typhoid Fever raged through the ship.  It was common place for the merchants of the time to overcrowd their ships; provide minimal food, comfort and sanitation for their passengers.  As is common place in history, the merchants were more concerned for their profit and those on board.  Hence, it was easy for a plague to engulf the weakened physical state of these poor immigrants.  Ten passengers died at sea, whilst at least a third of those on board grappled with the disease.  When they arrived at Port Phillip on the 17th April 1840 with the yellow plague flag flying, the authorities directed the ship to anchor off the swamp where Elwood now stands.

” . . . Great was the consternation amongst the townspeople on the appearance of so unexpected and unwelcome an importation as a probable pestilence, and no time was lost in arranging for the establishment of a Quarantine Station.  The then umbrageous, picturesque territory, now thoroughly civilized and known as St. Kilda, was designated by the Aborigines ” Euro-Yroke ” from a species of sandstone abounding there, by which they shaped and sharpened their stone tomahawks.  Its first European appellation was the ” Green Knoll” (the eminence, then much higher, now recognized as the Esplanade), until Superintendent Latrobe named the country St. Kilda in compliment to a dashing little schooner, once a visitor in the Bay.  St. Kilda was considered a smart walk from town, and adventurous pedestrians made Sunday trips there in the fine weather.  About a mile further, looking out in perpetual watch over Hobson’s Bay, was a point known as the Little Red Bluff, afterwards improved into Point Ormond, and here some four miles from Melbourne, a pleasant enough spot, was organized our first sanitary station, where tents were pitched, and crew and passengers sent ashore.  Ample precautions were taken to intercept communication with the interdicted world by land or sea, and Dr. Barry Cotter, Melbourne’s first practising medico, not being too full handed with patients in a small, healthy, youthful community, with a magnanimity that did him credit, volunteered his services to take charge of the newly-formed station.  There was a military detachment located there, from which a guard was assigned to protect the encampment on the land side, whilst the revenue-cutter, ” Prince George,” from Sydney, was stationed seaward to shut off communication by boat or otherwise.  The Surgeon-Superintendent entered upon his duties with a becoming sense of their importance.  By an amusing perversion of terms he styled the place ” Healthy Camp,” and whilst lording it there, issued regular bulletins upon the condition of the invalids and convalescents consigned to his care.  Three of the immigrants died there, and were interred near the Bluff.  Their lonely graveyard was afterwards enclosed with a rough wooden railing, but has been destroyed by time, and from oversight or culpable neglect has not been replaced, and so their mortal remains have rested in peace, unprotected and undisturbed . . . “*****

**Source:  Excerpt – ‘Queenscliff Sentinel, Drysdale, Portarlington and Sorrento Advertiser’ (Vic) – Article “Ye early history of the Quarantine Station, Point Nepean” – published 22nd January 1887

*** Source:  Excerpt – ‘The Chronicles of Early Melbourne – 1835 to 1851 – Vol II’ – by Garryowen – published 1888  

*****Source:  Excerpt – ‘The Chronicles of Early Melbourne – 1835 to 1851 – Vol II’ – by Garryowen – published 1888

Extracted from page: https://poi-australia.com.au/points-of-interest/australia/victoria/elwood/quarantine-station-c-1840-point-ormond-elwood-melbourne-vic/#post_content