Mayors speech by Cr Lambros Tapinos Ceremonial Meeting of Council on 11 November 2013

Honoured Guests; Jane Garrett, State Member for Brunswick, former mayors Anthony Helou, John Kavana h, !scar "ildi#; and former Mayor of the $ity of Brunswick, Glenyys %omanes, fellow $ouncillors, $ouncil !fficers, citi#ens of Moreland and friends& Good evenin , ' am (roud and honoured to stand here as the elected Mayor of this reat, vibrant and diverse city& My fellow councillors bestow a reat (rivile e and res(onsibility u(on me& ' e)(ress my sincere a((reciation to them for (lacin their trust in me to lead this $ouncil in *+,-& ' commit to servin the (eo(le of Moreland to the best of my ability with vision, enthusiasm and ener y& ' am determined to lead $ouncil in achievin the as(irations of our community& ' (ay my res(ects to the local indi enous (eo(le of Moreland, acknowled in that we are on the traditional tribal lands of the .urund/eri (eo(le& ' offer my res(ects to their 0lders and to all Abori inal and 1orres Strait 'slander (eo(le& 1o all (revious Moreland Mayors who contributed their own uni2ue achievements, ' thank you for your contribution to our city& 'n (articular, to the out oin Mayor, !scar "ildi#; ' acknowled e your ood work this year; you have certainly (ut Moreland on the ma(; (articularly with your work on the Ministers 3ocal Government Advisory $ommittee& 1o the residents of Moreland4 et involved in your local overnment, take (art in the (rocesses of consultation and $ouncil meetin s, have a stron voice, and be heard& Moreland is a reat (lace to live, but to ether we can make it even better& %esidents now ri htly e)(ect to be consulted and listened to, as (art of the decision5makin (rocess& 't is incumbent on $ouncil to listen, act and deliver on the basic thin s that matter most to the local community& ,

1he Mayor is one of eleven $ouncillors, who share e2ually in the decision5makin (rocess& 1he statements and views e)(ressed by the Mayor must always re(resent the views and (olicies of fellow $ouncillors& 1o ether we are a team; we all have uni2ue talents and (ers(ectives and we are all committed to servin the best interests of the Moreland community& Social and cultural diversity is still one of our definin characteristics; our community has always been (roudly multicultural and diverse& My own back round also reflects the diversity of the munici(ality ' now lead& My (arents mi rated to Australia from Greece, with very little money and no knowled e of the 0n lish lan ua e& 1hey settled in Brunswick and worked hard to contribute to the new country they now call home& 6eo(le, like my (arents, continue to arrive in Moreland, brin in their food, their dress, their lan ua es and their customs, and with each enhancin the richness of our lives and community& .e welcome refu ees from around the world to Moreland as a safe (lace to start a new life& Melbourne is a city in transition& 't is rowin ra(idly and is e)(ected to add another two million citi#ens by *+7+& 1hirty thousand of those (eo(le, it is (redicted will be livin in Moreland& 1his will brin new challen es& But we are no stran ers to chan in times& !ver the last two decades we have witnessed the decline of manufacturin in our suburbs and increased (ressure from overdevelo(ment& 1he most recent $ommonwealth $ensus also tells us that our (o(ulation is chan in , ettin youn er for the first time in decades, with many youn er families movin into the area because of its (ro)imity to the $B8, (ublic trans(ort, reat sho(s and restaurants& $ouncil is and always has been the closest tier of Government to the community and the most visible& Makin sure the bins are (icked u(, the roads maintained and ensurin the community ets value for their rate dollar remains at the heart of what we do& 3ibraries and (ools are also core business, and are heavily (atronised in Moreland& 1he Home and $ommunity $are $ouncil delivers to our elderly citi#ens and the meals on wheels service allows many (eo(le to stay in their own homes much lon er than in the (ast& *

1he number of babies and new families in Moreland has increased dramatically over the (ast few years, makin our Maternal and $hild Health nurses an invaluable source of comfort for mothers and infants& !f course, our $ouncil does many other thin s that su((ort our vibrant and diverse community 9 the $ounihan art allery in Brunswick, the Moreland 0ner y :oundation and the $eres 0nvironment 6ark 9 all of which define us as uni2ue in urban Australia& .e are re(airin the historic Brunswick 1own Hall, creatin a better library service and an arts and cultural (recinct in Brunswick& .e will continue to su((ort the arts and our local artists& .e reco nise the im(ortance of our herita e& 1he (assionate cam(ai n to (reserve our bluestone laneways and commitment to make Moreland a Bluestone $ity demonstrated the de(th of this sentiment& .e must balance our bud et and not over burden the community with e)cessive rate increases& 1o do all of these thin s, as well as (ossible, there are a number of thin s we must do better& 1he community demands that we do better on (lannin matters& .e must deliver better (lannin outcomes& .e must im(lement our structure (lans in Brunswick and $obur with mandatory hei ht controls and retain third (arty a((eal ri hts, so our community can have confidence in our future develo(ment& .e must (rotect our nei hbourhoods from overdevelo(ment in the new residential #ones& .e must im(lement our ; ood desi n code< to im(rove the 2uality of new buildin s and we must consult with the community& :rom the structure (lan to the (lacement and si#e of the new residential #ones& 1hese are hi hly si nificant decisions that will affect the lon term sha(e of Moreland& .e need to make real (ro ress with our $obur 'nitiative 6ro/ect4 the likelihood of a ma/or hos(ital develo(ment in Bell Street, alon with commercial and residential develo(ment in the $obur local sho((in area, will not only im(rove amenity but will create local /obs for local (eo(le& 7

.e must im(rove our delivery of ma/or (ro/ects& 6ro/ect mana ement and delivery has fallen behind in the last cou(le of years& 1his has in (art been a result of the si nificant increase in the scale and bud et of some (ro/ects undertaken by Moreland& 1he Brunswick Baths (ro/ect at =,>&> million is the lar est sin le work ever undertaken by $ouncil& 8elays at Brunswick were beyond $ouncil<s control but we must lift our ame in (ro/ect delivery if we are to meet the community<s demands& !ne of the ma/or solutions to these issues is better communication with the community and reater trans(arency about (ro/ect mana ement& By the end of the financial year information on all (ro/ects will be (ublically available& $ouncil sees this as vital to make the or anisation trans(arent and accountable to you, the rate(ayers& 1here is a worldwide (ush for o(en and trans(arent overnment and we want Moreland to (lay a leadin role in this area& .e are takin advanta e of many of the new di ital channels to en a e with the community, be it :acebook or 1witter, $ouncil understands it needs to be in the (laces residents communicate with each other& .e are also aware many of our citi#ens are not usin di ital media and that we need to maintain traditional methods to stay connected with them& But it is not /ust $ouncil that needs to think about Moreland<s future& 1he whole community is bein asked for its in(ut& 1his (ast year, $ouncil, for the first time, has directly asked the community for its views on (riorities for the ne)t ,? years& .e held community meetin s and set u( listenin (osts to ca(ture that feedback about what Moreland should look like by *+*?& .e received many thousands of res(onses and ideas which are now takin sha(e as the first Moreland $ommunity 6lan& .e want the individuals and rou(s that have contributed to the (lan to stay connected with each other, and with us as $ouncillors and the $ouncil officers, so that the way we steer the or anisation remains ali ned with your wishes& Much has been achieved in the (ast year, the first year of the current $ouncil term& 1he re/uvenated Brunswick Baths will be a si nificant community asset for decades to come& 1he multifaceted work at the $&B& Smith %eserve in :awkner will be com(leted this financial year and will deliver a multi5(ur(ose s(orts hub and valued community facilities& 1he -

(urchase of the Glenroy 6rimary School and the @orthern Golf course will also add to the munici(ality<s rowin stock of (ublicly owned o(en s(ace& .e are also creatin a new kind of (ublic s(ace in Brunswick, in a small street that runs between Sydney %oad and the A(field railway line& .ilson Avenue will be landsca(ed and have an urban climbin wall built& .e are creatin (ublic (laces that (eo(le want to o to& .e will continue our reat work in the area of carbon neutrality 9 in 8ecember last year we were the third $ouncil in Australia to become carbon neutral& 1here is still much work to be done in this area, and in the comin year we will see savin s for the community and the environment alike, as we install more efficient street li htin technolo y& .e remain determined to redevelo( the a2uatic facilities at !ak 6ark and will work hard to enlist the su((ort of other tiers of Government to develo( it into a ma/or recreational facility& 1here are also many small (ro/ects which make a bi difference& 0)tendin and enhancin our bike (aths in @orth $obur with ardens and community art (ro/ects; and our natural resources (ro rams to reve etate and restore land alon our beautiful waterways, wetlands and conservation areas& .e need to work on hi hly im(ortant infrastructure a(s, for which we need the hel( of the State Government& 1hin s like rade se(aration in both Glenroy and $obur 9 and better (ublic trans(ort& .e say yes to (ublic trans(ort and no to the 0ast5.est tunnel& .e will cam(ai n for im(rovements to our (ublic trans(ort system, like increasin the ,B tram line to :awkner, more bus services, (articularly on weekends; more train stations in #one one and more fre2uent train services on the A(field line& Moreland is on the brink of a new era of (ros(erity and rowth 5 different from its industrial roots and with new challen es& "our $ouncillors have a keen understandin of the bi strate ic issues that we must work in (artnershi( with the State and :ederal Governments and the (rivate sector to et results for the community& But we also never for et the ?

hi hly im(ortant local issues that only $ouncil can address& .e know both areas are e2ually im(ortant, and we look forward to servin the community in *+,- and beyond& 1hank you& $r 3ambros 1a(inos Mayor *+,7C*+,-