Grant Reynolds recaps some of the major issues in Maribyrnong during 2011.COULD 2011 have been any more tumultuous for the communities who call Maribyrnong home?
The heavens opened in mid January, soaking the inner west and causing minor flooding of the Maribyrnong River. River levels peaked at 2.21 metres on January 16, well below the historical high of 3.31 metres but enough to have the SES sandbagging the Anglers Tavern an warning residents nearby they may get there feet wet.
The water had barely subsided and the west’s South Sudanese population were celebrating the chance to cast their on independence for their homeland.
The Whitten Oval was a voting centre and Sudanese — many of them refugees from the civil war between the majority-Muslim north and mainly Christian south that has claimed an estimated 2 million lives — came from as far away as Adelaide to vote.
Community leader Ambrose Mareng captured the moment, which for some was a day of celebration, for others it was a sombre reminder of a horrific past.
“We will keep in our records that this is the day the new country was born, as a child is born,’’ he said.
Traders finally won a long battle with Maribyrnong Council over its parking cameras in Footscray, which were removed in March. But not before relations between the parties had soured.
The council bowed to pressure and the cameras came out just in time for Footscray to join the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival in March. Foodies flocked west to get a taste of some of Melbourne’s best and most authentic Vietnamese dining while being towed about in rickshaws.
Speaking of festivals, 2011 went without one of the biggest cultural events in the form of the East Meets West Lunar New Year.
An investigation by the Weekly uncovered that the council has attempted to take over organising and managing the festival from the Footscray Asian Business Association then proceeded to drop the ball and the 2011 festival didn’t get off the ground.
Early in the year we were told what many suspected: that the older, working-class west was making way for an influx on white-collar professionals. Later in the year a liveability survey would spill the secret those in inner west had been keeping to themselves: the inner west is one of Melbourne’s best places to live.
That liveability however is coveted by others as developers line up to turn old industrial sites such as Kinnears rope works and the Bradmill textile factory into high-density residential estates.
The transformation of places like the iconic Little Saigon market into a multi-storey residences has been welcomed by some, but for others it’s a worrying trend than points towards overdevelopment of places like Footscray.
Alarm bells went off when the Minister for Planning Matthew Guy approved a 25-storey tower in the Joseph Road precinct, double the height recommended by the council.
Cue council a public spat between the council and the minister. Private meetings soothed ruffled feathers but people wonder what’s coming next.
Others were already dealing with the downside to progress. In the background was the ongoing stress and anxiety caused by the $5 billion Regional Rail Link.
Residents on Buckley Street lost homes to progress as the state government bought and razed their properties for the new rail tracks, leaving a physical and emotional scar on the community and the landscape.
Quiet achievers and community heroes were honoured.
Footscray Community Legal Centre’s Denis Nelthorpe received a Queens Birthday award and became a Member of the Order of Australia for services to social justice.
Maribyrnong Residents Association stalwart Alan Ross was a Maribyrnong Citizen of the Year, recognising his 29-year campaign to protect residents’ rights.
There are battles left to be won.
At the top of the list would be getting the state government to act on the dilapidated Western Region Health Centre’s dental clinic, which serves some of Melbourne’s most disadvantaged communities.
There’s still calls for action on trucks on residential streets, despite deafening silence from the state government who have since put a freeway and tunnel under Footscray back on the agenda.
If 2011 was turbulent 2012 shows no sign of respite.
Email a friend