Moreland Mayor's Speech 2013

8/13/2019 Moreland Mayor's Speech 2013

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Mayors speech

by Cr Lambros Tapinos

Ceremonial Meeting of Council on11 November 2013

Honoured Guests; Jane Garrett, State Member for Brunswick, former

mayors Anthony Helou, John Kavanah, !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 (rivilee 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 enery& ' am determined to lead $ouncil in

achievin the as(irations of our community&

' (ay my res(ects to the local indienous (eo(le of Moreland,acknowledin that we are on the traditional tribal lands of the

.urund/eri (eo(le& ' offer my res(ects to their 0lders and to all

Aboriinal 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 outoin Mayor, !scar "ildi#; ' acknowlede your ood work this

year; you have certainly (ut Moreland on the ma(; (articularly with yourwork 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 meetins, have a

stron voice, and be heard& Moreland is a reat (lace to live, but

toether we can make it even better& %esidents now rihtly 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 thins that

matter most to the local community&


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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& 1oether 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

backround also reflects the diversity of the munici(ality ' now lead& My

(arents mirated to Australia from Greece, with very little money and no

knowlede of the 0nlish lanuae& 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, brinin their

food, their dress, their lanuaes and their customs, and with each

enhancin the richness of our lives and community& .e welcome

refuees 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

challenes& But we are no straners to chanin 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 chanin,

ettin youner for the first time in decades, with many youner 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

loner than in the (ast&

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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 thins that su((ort our vibrant

and diverse community 9 the $ounihan art allery in Brunswick, the

Moreland 0nery :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 reconise the im(ortance of our heritae& 1he (assionate cam(ainto (reserve our bluestone laneways and commitment to make Moreland

a Bluestone $ity demonstrated the de(th of this sentiment&

.e must balance our budet and not over burden the community with

e)cessive rate increases&

1o do all of these thins, as well as (ossible, there are a number of

thins 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 heiht controls and

retain third (arty a((eal rihts, so our community can have confidence in

our future develo(ment& .e must (rotect our neihbourhoods from

overdevelo(ment in the new residential #ones& .e must im(lement our

ood desin code< to im(rove the 2uality of new buildins and we must

consult with the community& :rom the structure (lan to the (lacement

and si#e of the new residential #ones& 1hese are hihly sinificant

decisions that will affect the lon term sha(e of Moreland&

.e need to make real (roress 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&

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.e must im(rove our delivery of ma/or (ro/ects& 6ro/ect manaement

and delivery has fallen behind in the last cou(le of years& 1his has in (art

been a result of the sinificant increase in the scale and budet of some

(ro/ects undertaken by Moreland& 1he Brunswick Baths (ro/ect at =>&>

million is the larest sinle work ever undertaken by $ouncil& 8elays at

Brunswick were beyond $ouncil


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(urchase of the Glenroy 6rimary School and the @orthern Golf course

will also add to the munici(ality


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hihly 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*+-

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Moreland Mayor's Speech 2013