Work on the Altona Sports Centre – Hobsons Bay’s premier basketball and netball stadium – in Altona Meadows is progressing well. Long sections of the exterior concrete walls have been erected and the first of the roof trusses secured. Four new courts are being added to the stadium, taking the number of indoor courts to 10. The tender, won by …
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Hobsons Bay Council plans to begin the restoration of one of its iconic buildings, the Williamstown Mechanics Institute, in the coming years. But what level of refurbishment and amenity may be dependent on external funding. The building dates back to 1860, when a timber hall, library and reading rooms were built on the site between Electra Street and Melbourne Road. …
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Hobsons Bay has nearly 27,000 trees in its parks and another 45,000 in the streets. There are thousands of other trees on private land and in conservation areas. All up, it is estimated by RMIT the Hobsons Bay municipality has a canopy cover of 7.9 per cent of its total land area. That makes it one of the worst in …
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Work should begin on the park in front of the Mosque in Blenheim Road, Newport, this financial year. Council has allocated $250,000 in the 2020-21 Budget to begin the upgrade after conducting two community consultation sessions last year to ascertain local residents’ views. This year’s Budget allocation includes the installation of public toilets on the park. The work should carry …
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The Level Crossing Removal Project proponents have snubbed the Williamstown community over a sensible design for the Ferguson Street crossing. The Hobsons Bay City Council adopted a design for the North Williamstown station precinct at its August 11 council meeting, based on the Williamstown community’s aspirations for the area. Importantly, it included retention of the heritage east station building and …
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The pecking order for the renewal of our roads is based on fixing the worst ones first. Over the years, Council would allocate about $6 million a year to road renewal. But this year, it has been ramped up to $11.6 million and in 2021-22, the plan is to increase that to $13 million. While much of the focus in …
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The extension of the basketball/netball centre in Altona Meadows is on track. When this project was being planned, Hobsons Bay City Council engaged Otium Planning Group about four years ago to analyse our needs. Otium told us that the growth in basketball participation – our fastest growing sport – meant that Hobsons Bay City Council would need to build two …
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I have become alarmed at the tactics used by the new owner of the land on the corner of Melbourne Rd and Birmingham St in Spotswood. This land is well recognised by the old Way and Works building on the site. There have been a number of proposals for this land during the past couple of decades, including for affordable …
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One of Williamstown’s historic maritime icons will get a facelift this year. The Tide Gauge House in Commonwealth Reserve will have its masonry cleaned and the mortar repaired as part of a conservation project. It will also include installation of interpretive signage. The Tide Gauge House was built about 1857 with labour from prisoners held on the prison hulks moored …
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In early 2018, I was approached by the late Alan Lewer about renewing the old box lacrosse court in Paisley Park, Altona North. Alan was highly regarded in the lacrosse world and was passionate about reinvigorating the old facility. He had seen how popular box lacrosse was in the US and in Europe and the magnificent stadiums they built in …
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