Stop calling me a "squealing pig" - community rallies against paid parking

There's a good thing that happens when governments and councils do things the communities they represent don't like - the community bonds and you meet your neighbours.

We don't need #nopaidparking.
© 2014 divacultura

This morning Melbourne's inner west villages of Yarraville and Seddon rallied and marched against plans by the Maribyrnong Council to introduce paid parking. On my way to the village, I joined with Caroline and her dog Kaiser and we chatted and walked together to the rally point. At the rally I spied Erin from my dance class and we walked together with Dave and Holden the dog (he has the world's softest ears). We talked about our community - the place where we live - and discovered we share many views.



Melbourne presented us with perfect rally weather - around 20 degrees Celsius, slightly cloudy with a light breeze - and I was told by one of the local councillors that 400 people had been counted in the march from Yarraville to Seddon.

The council claims that paid parking will increase turn over and therefore provide more parking. There are currently time restrictions on parking but I don't see them being well enforced.  I've seen no evidence that supports the idea that paid parking will improve turn over. It may free up parking as people choose to go down the road and shop at the Coles supermarket or Highpoint Shopping Centre where parking is free and plentiful.

Unhappy rate payers.
© 2014 divacultura

I've lived in Yarraville since 2007 and love the village feel. I often tell people that it's like living in a country town with all the convenience of being in a big city.  I generally walk to the village, but on occasion I'm in my car - usually when I'm on my way to or from somewhere else. I drove over on Thursday because I had a wine delivery to collect from the post office. I parked for 5 minutes and was gone. It would take me twice as long to find coins and walk to the machine, pay and put the ticket back in my car if I had to pay.



Retailers are naturally concerned that forcing people to pay to park will drive their customers away. A community-led study has been conducted and shows they have reason to be concerned.

It was great to see two of the local Councillors representing the Yarraville ward at the rally. Martin Zakharov and Michael Clarke were vocal in their concern, while clarifying that the law prevents them from stating which way they will vote when the proposal is brought to Council. Armed with the mobile numbers of all Councillors I contacted each of them by text message. Councillors Zakharov and Clarke received a thank you to acknowledge their presence. Each of the others received this message (including my full name):

"I'm disappointed that you're not here to talk to Yarraville and Seddon community about why you think paid parking in our villages is a good idea. Where are you?"

So far, one councillor, Sarah Carter has responded. She had just landed from an overseas flight. I will follow up with an email.

Hear! Hear!
© 2014 divacultura

There's one aspect of the community organising that I don't understand. Councillor Catherine Cummings has been quoted and reported to have commented about local residents "squealing like pigs". The parking study revealed a highly educated population, so why we would be asked to buy into this and squeal like pigs at the rally is beyond me. I'm not a squealing pig; I'm a concerned resident who is engaged with my community and has heard no good reasons for the introduction of paid parking. I'm worried about the damage this will do. This does not make me, or any of us, squealing pigs.

Walking back home after the march, I discovered a new shop and ran into Councillor Zakharov (you can see him on saxophone in the first photo above). We walked together for a while and talked about the events of the morning. It was great to have the opportunity to acknowledge him in person.

Council meets this Tuesday. We need to continue to be visible and vocal.

UPDATE:

I received a response to my text message from Councillor Cummings after publication of this post. She tells me that she decided not speak so Councillors from the Yarraville ward could speak. She writes that she was there to listen and help her decision making process.

Don't know how she could vote "yes" then!

Pop up park in action

I wandered into the village today to run some errands and escape the heat in the Sun Theatre.  Here's what I saw before I disappeared into the darkness:

I love how the blue of the planter boxes matches the blue of the sky.

Before the movie screened, a short film showing the installation of the park was shown.  It really is hard to imagine cars driving on this piece of Ballarat Street when you see people lounging around and enjoying the park.

I really do hope it will be made permanent.

* The movie I saw was "Shame".  It is extraordinary, but probably not to everyone's taste, being, as it is, about sex addiction.

Supermarket shopping

The second supermarket in the village has been taken over, renovated and is open for business.  When I first moved here, I went to that supermarket because it seemed bigger and that seemed to be what I was looking for in a supermarket.  I didn't find it to be very appealing though and went to the other one.  It was brighter and very cold inside - excellent in summer but not in winter.  It didn't take long for me to never go to the bigger supermarket and always go to the cold one because the cold one had lots of good stuff, even if it was a bit chaotic.

Whenever I was out of the village and had to shop at one of the Big Two supermarkets I noticed that their stock provided a lot less choice and I would quickly return to the village and happily pay the slightly higher prices in order to support the local community.

I've lived in this community since 2007 and had never been back into the "other" supermarket.  One day late last year, I noticed that all the windows were papered over and the shop was closed.  I felt bad.  I hoped it wasn't closed for good because even though I never shopped there it seemed important that there was a second supermarket.  I soon discovered that it was closed for renovations.  What a good sign.

I planned to give it another go when it opened for business again.  While it was closed, I noticed that my regular supermarket started to get some new lines in.  Things were moved around a little bit.  There was a whole new nut section in the green grocery department.  Competition can be a good thing for consumers!

The other supermarket did indeed open again and I could see that it was much improved even before I went in.  I went in just to have a look.  I wasn't committed to buying anything yet.  The atmosphere was better.  Things looked cleaner, brighter and more inviting.  There were staff everywhere and no other customers, but all the staff greeted me with a smile and the request that I let them know if there was something particular I was looking for.

On my way out a man stopped me and introduced himself as Mark.  He was the new owner of the supermarket and he was keen to find out what I thought.  I told him truthfully that I regularly shopped at the other supermarket as I had never found this one appealing.  He listened and he told me that he was still working on his lines, so if there was ever anything I was looking for that he didn't have I was to let him know.

I was impressed.

Other things were great too - no plastic bags are offered at all.  You can take a box away, bring your own bags or pay a small price for paper bags (20 cents I think).  They will be holding tastings once a month which should be an interesting community event as well as smart business on Mark's part.  They have a recipe up the front, invitingly displayed with the ingredients required to make it.  Today's recipe was a grilled peach, Persian feta and mint salad.  Yum!

I told my friends who live in the village about my experience and encouraged them to go in.  We'd all shopped at the other supermarket as a matter of course.  Other friends have also reported meeting Mark and having conversations with him about their shopping needs and his hopes for the business.  So it wasn't a one off.

Today I was looking for a particular item and couldn't find it.  I asked one of the women working there for help and she directed me to where I needed to go.  As I walked to the checkout she asked me, genuinely, whether or not I had found the item I wanted and whether it was the brand that I was looking for.

I think the other supermarket might be getting a run for its money.

What do you look for in a supermarket?