February news!

By Rob Moore 

Firstly, congratulations to the publishers for an excellent first edition of Inner City News. From chatting around Parkville, the feedback was very positive and everyone thrilled to have Parkville back on the publishing map again!

Being a shorter month, our main activities were once again trying to slow down the “rat runners” as with more young families in the area speeding vehicles cause serious issues. The council will be trialling flat speed humps in Degraves St which had the biggest traffic increase in 2020. At the last AGM, the Lord Mayor mentioned the possibility of a 30kmp/h limit in South Parkville and the room certainly was in favour. This is a work in progress.

Things are hotting up with the development of Melbourne’s Metro Tunnel Parkville with the service lanes from the Elizabeth St roundabout to just north of the Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) closed. Anyone in Parkville with issues please contact me as I sit on the Metro Tunnel Community Reference Group (CRG) and can pass concerns on.

March finally sees the amendment to C278: Sunlight to Public Parks hearing which has been planned for some time. This hearing is for the City of Melbourne to ensure sunlight to public parks therefore protecting winter sun in all city parks from overshadowing. The Parkville Association has made a submission and we will present later in the hearing. This runs from March 9 to 30.

During the month, the AGM of Melbourne North Police Community Consultative Committee, of which the Parkville Association (PA) is a member, was held. The objective of the group is to establish a positive working relationship between police and local communities. The geographical area covered is Parkville, Carlton, North Melbourne and Kensington. With limited numbers the team at North Melbourne Police Station do a great job and it enables us to work with them on matters that affect Parkville. I was asked to chair the committee going forward so any issues in Parkville you wish to raise please let me know.

Our friends in Ozanam House are now back to running relatively normally and several of our residents have recommenced volunteering to serve meals in the evenings. It is great to help our neighbours and look after their great bunch of clients. If anyone is interested in doing shifts I can put you in touch with them.

The AGM of the Parkville Association will be held virtually on March 30 and I am thrilled to advise Prof Peter Doherty, one of our members, will join us to reflect on 2020 and take a few questions. Invitations will be emailed to all members in early March.

Finally, on a very sad note Beverly (Bev) Kennedy, a life member of the Association and great contributor to Parkville passed away on February 13. Our thoughts are with her family at this sad time •