May 2011: MRRA website tops 500,000 hits  

Welcome to MRRA's website and thank you for visiting us.  MRRA is a voluntary, community organisation, established in 1995.  The MRRA website is another way in which the Association can communicate with members and Macedon Ranges' residents on issues that affect them.  Current and previous items on this site can be accessed through the main menu bar (above).  Any problems?  Email us on mrra.sec999@gmail.com 

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Season's Greetings from MRRA

Thank you all for your support in 2011. 

MRRA wishes everyone a wonderful Christmas, and a safe, wondrous 2012.

We will be taking a break, and will be back in February 2012.

Villawood / Davies Hill / Braemar / Settlement Strategy

Romsey Bendigo Bank  (New Link)

June 2011:

Statement of Planning Policy No. 8 To Be State Policy By End Of Year

RED ALERTS

Breaking News, Action Required   See also Events Calendar (below)

NEW  Election Of Macedon Ranges Mayor For 2012

(24/12/11 - C)  Will 2012 be better or worse than 2011?  More...

NEW  State Govt Introduces Sweeping Changes To Bushfire Planning Provisions In Amendment VC83

(24/12/11 - P)  New Bushfire Management Overlay [BMO] takes consideration of fire hazard further More...

NEW  Amendment C84: Local Planning Policy Framework (MSS) Exhibited

(24/12/11 - P)  Here we go again.  Council's 2011 Christmas gift to the community - submissions closed December 19  More...

NEW  Braemar Comes To Its Senses And Divorces Itself From Villawood

(24/12/11 - P)  The long journey for the school to recover reputation and community support begins...  More...

CURRENT  Community Website - Romsey Magnolia - Raises Concerns About New Bendigo Bank Site

(23/10/11 - P)  Romsey residents concerned development application hasn't satisfactorily tackled the big issues  More...

CURRENT  Minister For Planning Says State Government Won't "Micro-Manage" Davies Hill/Villawood Proposal

(23/10/11 - P)  Processes are in place that should resolve the issue without Government interference.  More...

CURRENT  Davies Hill Goes Down As Council (And The Weather) Rains On Villawood's Parade

(7/10/11 - P)  Council votes 8 to 1 to NOT support speculative development proposal for Golf Course Hill, Woodend  More...

CURRENT Council's New Garden Waste Bins Roll Out

(7/10/11 - C)  Good idea, but there's some confusion  More...

CURRENT  Kyneton Mechanics Institute: Refurbishment Cost Overruns Approved By Council

(7/10/11 - C)  It's not just cost over-runs, but what's being paid for, and how it's approved, that is of concern.  More...

CURRENT  New Regulations For Bushfire Prone Areas In Force From 8 September 2011

(23/9/11 - E)  Regulations and maps released by State government  More...

CURRENT  State Government Finalizes New Rules For Wind Energy Facilities

(23/9/11 - E)  Turbines now 'off-limits' in Macedon Ranges  More...

CURRENT  MRRA Meets With MR Sustainability Group Re Wind Farm In Macedon Pine Plantation

(17/8/11 - E)  A project with some big hurdles to overcome...  More...

CURRENT  Action Required  Planning Goes Backward As Council Abandons Planning Committee Meetings

(22/5/11- C)  Less accessibility, less light, less accountability is a recipe for returning to the dark days of the past  More...

CURRENT Echoes Of AAMI Call Centre Fiasco As Council Falls Over Maccas In Gisborne

(13/4/11- P) Rubbish process and rubbish result:10,693 objections weren't enough to put community - and competition - first  More...

CURRENT  Gisborne AAMI Call Centre:  FOI Reveals State Govt's Pivotal Role In 'Making It Happen'

(14/11/10 - P)  No honour, no transparency, no process, no democracy - in fact, no stone left unturned to get approval  More...

CURRENT  Are You Going To Finish Strong?

(30/5/09 - O)  The try, try and try again principle, beautifully repackaged. More...

ALERT   Who Is Behind The Massive Development Push At Woodend's Iconic Golf Course Hill?

(17/4/07 - P)  MRRA looks at who is behind Davies Hill Pty Ltd - the company selling land to Braemar and no doubt looking in future to rezone the current Farming zone to clear the way for massive residential development.  It turns out that Woodend local lawyer Mr. HEP (Chinka) Steel, and local development consultant Paul Tomkinson are major players...  More...  Click here to see MRRA's archive on Golf Course Hill

BULLETIN BOARD

Humour

NEW  Latest (#24) Environment Defenders Office News

(24/12/11 - E)  Submissions to make, and recommendations to consider...  More....

EVENTS CALENDAR

NEW  Council Meeting Dates For June 2011 to June 2012   More...

CURRENT Woodend Landcare Workings Bees

(29/6/10 - CC)  Get aboard!!  More....

SAY NO TO SUBURBIA CAMPAIGN

See 2010 Election Result:  Baillieu Government gives Macedon Ranges State Level Protection (14/12/10)

See MRRA Media Release

See Say No To Suburbia Noticeboard

See also "Keep Macedon Ranges Rural" archive

CURRENT  MRRA Meets With Minister For Planning, Matthew Guy, June 22

(17/8/11 - SP)  Statement of Planning Policy No. 8 to be State policy by end of 2011 More...

CURRENT State Government Sets Up Peri Urban Planning Unit Within Department

(13/4/11- P)  First step towards making State Protection a reality for Macedon Ranges  More...

CURRENT  Council's Settlement Strategy: Submissions Extended Until End Of January 2011

(23/12/10 - P)  There's still time to tell them to do it again...  More...

CURRENT  Macedon Ranges' Settlement Strategy Out For Consultation Until December 17th

(14/11/10 - P)   Don't be fooled into thinking this is either about, or good for, Macedon Ranges.  And once again, all we are getting is over 477 pages of information, and crap consultation processes, just before Christmas.  Now that's usually a sign something's wrong... More...

CURRENT  'Committee For Melbourne' Thinks Macedon Ranges Is The Place For A Suburb

(14/11/10 - P)  CFM aspires to include Gisborne and Riddells Creek (and Macedon) into the Metro area  More...

CURRENT State (Labor) Govt's Regional Strategic Plan Puts Growth Agenda In Place For Macedon Ranges: Council Endorses Plan Without Community Consultation

(13/8/10 - P)  That puts around another 20,000 people and 7,000 houses in the Shire by 2036.  And the State Labor government's VC66 amendment has already been put in place (also sans consultation) to implement it.  Hello suburbia!  More...

CURRENT MR Settlement Strategy: Is Macedon Ranges Making The Decisions, Or The State (Labor) Government?

(29/6/10 - P)  Meagre consultation, shabby process, a whiff of State government agenda and heaps of population growth should be ringing LOUD alarm bells  More... 

Urban Growth Boundary Changes

MRRA  MEMBERSHIP & MEMBERS' FORUM

Note: Access is available to Members through Members' Forum

CURRENT  MRRA Is Back

(30/6/11)  MRRA website back after Distribute IT hacking attack  More...

CURRENT  MRRA Submission - President's VCAT Review Consultation Paper

(13/7/09 - P) Please, go back to planning, get the lawyers out of it, and start healing rock-bottom public confidence  More...

CURRENT  MRRA Submission On Environmental Regulations

(30/5/09 - SG)  We say, think about tomorrow, not just today More...

CURRENT  MRRA Submission On New State Residential Zones

(30/5/09 - P)  Association stands up for rural areas  More...

FEATURES

"From the Vision Splendid to The Vision Sullied"

(25/6/05 - SP) A suburban, industrialized future for Macedon Ranges, home of Australian icons,  Mount Macedon and Hanging Rock More...

The Urban Conversion:  'Victoria In Future' Growth Projections and The Hidden Agenda For A Suburban Macedon Ranges

(29/4/05 - SP)  If you've been wondering why the State government hasn't delivered its seven year old promise to protect Macedon Ranges Shire, wonder no more.  More...

COMMUNITY CLIPBOARD

Clipboard

CURRENT Action Required  Reminder From Planning Backlash

(2/4/09 - P)  Are you looking at www.marvellousmelbourne.org?  More....

Community Groups In The Spotlight

Bendigo and District Environment Council Inc (BDEC) (26/4/05 - CC) More...

Bendigo Bushlinks  (26/4/05 - CC)  More...

Central Coast (NSW) (10/6/06 - CCG) Central Coast SOS Save Our Suburbs  More...

Macedon Ranges Wildlife Network (19/11/08 - CC) More...

Macedon Ranges Landscape Guardians & Victorian Landscape Guardians (7/8/05 - CCG)  More...

Melbourne 2030 Portal (1/4/06 - CCG)  A Community Resource   More...

Planning Backlash (2/3/10 - CCG)  Planning Backlash is an "umbrella" for co-ordinated action by a wide range of groups across city, country and coast concerned with inappropriate planning in Victoria. www.marvellousmelbourne.org

Point Lonsdale Civic Association (10/3/06 - CCG)   More...

Save Our Suburbs (NSW) (10/6/06 - CCG)  More...

Southern Peninsula Rural Protection Group [SPRPG] (21/10/06 - CCG)  More people wanting to keep rural land RURAL, this time in Mornington Peninsula  More...

Sunbury Conservation Society (31/1/06 - CCG)   More...

Sunshine Residents and Ratepayers Association (21/6/09 - CCG)  More...

Sustainable Population Australia (Victoria) [SPA] (12/9/06 - CCG)  SPA asks: Can Australia afford to just keep going on the growth spiral?   More...

Victorian Coastal Alliance [VCA] (7/9/07 - CCG)   An alliance of community groups formed to protect Victoria's coastline. UPDATE 24/4/09 Latest Description and Objectives More...

Victorian Landscape Guardians (VLG) Give An Insight Into What They Stand For (3/7/06 - E)   "The landscape is a finite resource.  There is no more of it.   Things which are finite deserve our ultimate respect and we should do all in our power to protect them for future generations."   Randall Bell, President, Victorian Landscape Guardians. More...

Watershed (previously Your Water, Your Say) : First Newsletter (17/9/07 - CCG)  Addresses processes (or lack of them) surrounding the proposed desalination plant on the Bass Coast  More...

Political comment on this website relating to elections is authorized by Louise Whitefield, Public Officer, Macedon Ranges Residents' Association Inc., 2 Dalrymple Road, Gisborne, 3437.

Disclaimer