Princes Street Storm Water Drain

The storm water drain from Princes Street into the bay near Station Pier continues to attract attention. The BCNA has long had concerns on health and appearance issues associated with this drain, which is owned by Melbourne Water, and continues to advocate for enhancements in keeping with Melbourne’s status as a “liveable city”.

On 31 March this year, representatives from the BCNA met onsite with John Thwaites, Chairman of the Board of Melbourne Water, and Tim Wood, General Manager of Asset Management Services at Melbourne Water. The BCNA outlined the issues associated with the drain, noting its propensity to stagnate with associated health issues, and suggested it presented a poor face to cruise ship visitors at the gateway to Victoria. The BCNA noted the recent upgrade to Melbourne Water’s Shakespeare Grove storm water outlet, just south of Donovan’s restaurant in St Kilda, and suggested this was worthy of consideration for Princes Street.

Melbourne Water indicated the drain was a major capital asset and had an estimated further life of 25 years. They proposed to undertake consultation with the CoPP regarding near term enhancements such as pumping arrangements to reduce pooling. The BCNA will continue to advocate for improvements to this important location.

Extension of Webb Dock East

The Port of Melbourne is reporting that construction work is getting underway at Webb Dock East to reduce port congestion, improve efficiency and accommodate larger ships.

The project involves demolishing a redundant section of concrete and extending the quay line by 71 metres, restoring Webb Dock East’s intended design capacity to a two-berth terminal.

A short video announcing the project can be found here and one showing more details of the extension can be found here.

Council Supports Anti-hoon Measures

At its meeting on 6 April, the City of Port Phillip considered the introduction of anti hoon Local Laws as well as other measures to stop hooning in Port Phillip. This was in response to petitions Council received from the BCNA and the Hon. Josh Burns, Federal Member for Macnamara.

The BCNA has advocated for the introduction of anti hoon Local Laws as introduced in other municipalities. Recently, Victoria Police formally requested that the City of Port Phillip develop a hooning Local Law.

Council agreed to consider the following:

• A hooning Local Law as part of Council’s Local Law 2023 Review;
• The purchase of a mobile CCTV trailer;
• Installing a temporary raised pedestrian crossing at the existing pedestrian crossing at Waterfront Place as a 12-month trial; and
• Investigating options with Victoria Police to collaborate on joint enforcement of metered parking in the Station Pier carpark.

The BCNA welcomes these measures and thank Gateway Ward Councillors – Mayor Marcus Pearl, Peter Martin and Heather Cunsolo for their support and work on this issue over many months.

It is important to continue to report hoon activity, as this helps police to target ‘hot spots.’  Victoria Police has asked residents to report information involving hoon driving to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or via the web site. When a hoon event is occurring, always call Triple Zero (000). All information provided to police is assessed and investigated.

Spirit of Tasmania – Move to Corio Quay

The CEO for Ports Victoria, Brendan Webb, was recently interviewed on ABC News radio and provided the following update about the impending move of the Spirit of Tasmania.

The enhancements to Corio Quay (north Geelong) are on track to be completed this winter and it is expected the Spirit will start to operate from that location by October 2022. This will mark the end of traffic queues for the ferry in Port Melbourne and significant reduction in truck movement through Bay and Graham Streets.

The new replacements to the existing two Spirit of Tasmania ferries are being constructed in Finland and are currently expected to start service between Corio Quay and Devonport in late 2023. The new ferries will each have a capacity of 1800 passengers vs existing Spirit capacity of 1400.

Additional details can be found here.

Our Latest Newsletter is Out

Volunteers are currently dropping copies of our newsletter in mailboxes throughout Beacon Cove. It is a special issue focussed on hoon driving.

To get it (in PDF form), click on this link.  And please send it onto others in Beacon Cove who may not see our webpage or get the email notification.