City safety, security and amenity

On Thursday, November 7 at Residents 3000’s monthly forum the City of Melbourne’s (CoM) city safety, security and amenity director, Dean Robertson, provided some statistics updating the group on the status of this important aspect of Melbourne’s community and economic health.

Current media is abuzz with MAGA, the Trump campaign catchcry. Maybe we need to have our own; MMGA – Make Melbourne Great Again. We’ve lost our most liveable city status and COVID damaged the city’s economy.

People say that if Melbourne is buoyant then the rest of the state follows. If you walk the city streets you will notice that new businesses are springing up, foot traffic is increasing and there is a feeling of creativity happening. These are good signs.  

The recent CoM elections brought out the community’s real concern about city safety and amenity. If the city is to be a great city again it needs to sell itself as a wonderful place to visit, a place to build innovative businesses, to create earth-shattering art and cultural events, and to be an exciting place to learn and engage.  

However, the city needs to look the part. Clean streets, well-behaved traffic (no wheelies in vehicles without mufflers), logical bike lanes, more trees and plants, and intriguing laneways to entice people to come and enjoy.   

But this aim is impossible if we cannot increase safety, deal with homelessness, cut out graffiti and work with protesters to ensure they can get their message over in a responsible manner.

The following statistics are helpful in allowing a greater understanding of the problems that need to be addressed to MMGA. Just five important areas were presented at the last meeting.

CoM social indicator survey

More than 50 per cent of people surveyed do not feel safe at night. The sentiment is down 11 per cent since the last survey in 2018. Safety is a high priority for the newly elected council. There were more than 26,000 police calls in the past year for various crimes, but the consensus is that more police presence is required in the CBD. 

The new council is planning to introduce a team of City Safety Officers available 24/7, augmented with better lighting and more security cameras. Residents support this move and will be monitoring progress. 

Graffiti removal

The statistics show that the CoM has increased its efforts to remove graffiti from twelve months ago. Does this mean that there is less graffiti being applied? Maybe not. The data shows that an enormous amount of effort to remove mainly offensive tagging is a large burden on the community budget.  

Many ideas have been floated to resolve this perennial problem. Tagging (bad) as opposed to street art (good). Get help from the street artists to help stamp out tagging. Work with building owners. Increase surveillance cameras. Taggers need to be fined. What if they were required to spend some time working with the graffiti removal team?

Rough sleepers and beggars

The statistics show a significant improvement. The Make Room project coming online at 602 Bourke Street, providing 50 self-contained studio apartments for people experiencing rough sleeping or chronic homelessness in the CoM. The project aims to provide professional help for up to 12 months to assist these distressed people transition back into society. 

Begging is illegal but there are approximately 400 currently around the city. Note that 92 per cent of them are housed. They are generally begging for income support. Police and CoM safety officers need more powers to be able to move them on.

Protests

There is still a regular occurrence on weekends, but numbers are diminishing and disruptions lessening. Protesters are moving location, which is helpful.

Dogs off leash in leash-required areas

There were 142 attacks last year, with about a dozen resulting in serious injury. The solution suggested is to create more secured off-leash areas for the CBD. Maybe encourage dog training sessions in the off-leash areas. Such an activity would encourage dog owners to meet up while making sure that dogs are taught how to be well behaved in the city. Many are, of course.  

Next Residents 3000 event – festive season celebration

Residents 3000 is hosting its final event for 2024, inviting members, friends, sponsors, supporters and businesses to celebrate a busy and eventful year. 

The date is Thursday, December 5, 2024, 6pm for 6:30pm start at the Kelvin Club, 14-30 Melbourne Place (off Russell Street).  

Special guest speakers will be Gina Donazzan, Kim Davey, Suzie Inglis, Will Caldwell, and their colleagues from bespoke residential property firm, Melbourne Boutique Property. Their presentation will provide updates on property market sentiment, trends in apartment sales from buyer and vendor perspectives, and updates on the apartment rental market. Further details are posted at residents3000.org.au

Congratulations to Rafael

President Rafael Camillo has been elected as a councillor for the City of Melbourne, and was sworn in on November 19.  For the time being, he will continue to serve as the president of Residents 3000.  As a community group of volunteers, we are delighted to have Rafael communicate the views and aspirations of our members through his new role on the council. •