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On the 28th June 2011 the Hon Minister Matthew Guy held a Media Conference on the site of the proposed Caulfield Village Development to announce the State Government approval of the C60 Amendment. Attached is the Minister's media release.



(Media Release)

With the Approval of the Caulfield Village Planning Scheme Amendment by the Hon Minister Matthew Guy on the 28th June 2011, and in keeping with the Club's commitment to keep the Local Community informed. The Club will again be hosting a Community Information Session, the date for which will be announced shortly.

Following Council's Approval of the Park Plan below the Club is now awaiting the approval of the Planning Permit by Glen Eira Council.
Advertising of the Permit Application will be posted around the Racecourse in July.

The time frames in planning process are never certain, but once the Club has the required approvals in place, works will commence post haste.

In the interim the Club has commenced the works required to relocate the horse training warm up ring from the northern precinct.

The works to create a new Park on Booran Road at the Glen Eira Road roundabout are progressing well.
The physical works to demolish the buildings and prepare the site are almost complete.
The next stage is to complete the Town Planning process and required Landscape works prior to the Crown taking possession of the land and creating a Public Reserve.
Allowing for Planning and Landscape works we expect the Park to be opened in 2012.

Melbourne Racing Club today welcomed the approval by the Glen Eira Council this week relating to the Caulfield Village development and the creation of new parklands in the Caulfield Racecourse Reserve.

On Wednesday night, Glen Eira Councillors approved a new $1.8 million public park in the racecourse infield. The Melbourne Racing Club will pay for the design, landscaping, facilities and ongoing maintenance of five recreational precincts. The infield public park will include new BBQ and picnic areas, a kid's play area, shade and toilet facilities, a boardwalk around the lake including areas for fishing and a junior football pitch.

Melbourne Racing Club CEO Alasdair Robertson said “the Club and Council had worked closely together to deliver an outstanding result for the Community”. “On Thursday night, the Glen Eira Council approved the Caulfield Village C60 Planning Scheme Amendment after a lengthy public consultation process”, Mr Robertson added. Mr Robertson thanked the Council for its work and commitment to the project to realise the development of Caulfield Village and provide the Community with a project that will deliver employment opportunities and bring significant investment into the area.

Click Image to Enlarge.

 

At the request of Glen Eira City Council, the Minister for Planning referred the Caulfield Village proposal to an Independent Panel.  The three member panel of experts in planning convened the hearing over six days, held between 18th May and 28th May 2010.

Community members and other stakeholders including Council, Monash University and Melboure Racing Club were given an opportunity to present to the Panel their views and concerns across a wide selection of topics including car parking, traffic, building heights, the scale and types of buildings and the development process.

Expert testimony recommended to Panel that whilst there would be an increase in traffic, these issues could be managed through the new road network and car parking arrangements.

Overall the submissions made to the Panel recommended Caulfield Village as a positive response to Melbourne's expanding population and demand for services close to public transport.

Council's closing statement described Caulfield Village as "a reasonable response to the opportunities and constraints afforded by the land and the area" and that "a development of the magnitude proposed has the capacity to bring about significant public realm benefits and contribute significantly to the achievement of community 'betterment' leading to a clear net community benefit".

It is expected the Caulfield Village development will generate approximately 3,000 jobs during the 7 - 8 year construction period and provide over 2,000 ongoing jobs upon completion.

The Panel Report was released by Glen Eira City Council on the 30th July 2010.  A copy of the report can be downloaded from the following link: Planning Scheme Amendment C60 Panel Report - July 2010

Melbourne Racing Club are delighted to announce details of a land exchange that will see the creation of a new public park in the City of Glen Eira.  The park will be located on Booran Road, at the Glen Eira Road entrance to the Caulfield Racecourse Reserve.  The parcel of land is currently well populated with mature trees, characteristic of an era when the racecourse was established over 135 years ago.



The land exchange is required to fulfill both Local and State Government Planning Policy for the development of the Caulfield Major Activity Centre.  The Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) who administer land exchange processes, have selected three parcels of the Club’s freehold land totaling 7,229m² in exchange for 5,865m² of Crown land known as the Tabaret car park.  Part of the exchange includes the creation of the park which will be professionally landscaped with costs being met by the Melbourne Racing Club.

DSE policy requires that the Land Exchange meets the following criteria:-

• Freehold land to be exchanged must have greater public values (ie environmental, conservation, resource protection, historical or cultural)
• That the monetary value of the exchange must favour the Crown
• A valuation of the land be carried out by a qualified Valuer under the guidance of the Valuer General
• The process must be vetted by the Land Monitor

Subject to formal approval by DSE and the Parliamentary process, the Club expects to complete the landscaping works by the latter half of 2010.

Glen Eira City Council recently raised concerns in regard to the suitability of the area for a park and in response to this the Club sought advice from @leisure, a market leading and award winning recreation consultancy firm to assess the area. In summary the report finds the land exchange is highly desirable in terms of creating a valuable asset to the community and preserves an area that has significant cultural and historic value.  The report addresses Council’s concerns relating to the suitability of its location on a busy five way intersection, parking, access to other public land area, crime prevention and concludes that the proposed park will not only meet these criteria but is immanently suitable for that purpose.  Please click here to read the @leisure report.

As part of theming and naming of the park, Melbourne Racing Club is encouraging the community to register their interest and suggestions through the Contact Us page of this website.  One of the ideas put forward is to celebrate the history of the Caulfield Racecourse Reserve and its use during World War II.