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The weeds are as high as …
Today, the Bureau of Meteorology released its October statement. The headline: ‘wetter than average’. There were 20 days with rainfall this month, with Olympic Park recording a monthly rainfall total...
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Lock out of tugboat workers averted at the 11th hour
No ships crossed the horizon this morning as no vessels were entering or leaving the Port of Melbourne at the direction of the Harbour Master. This was because of a high stakes drama unfolding in ports...
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Election eve in Albert Park
It is late afternoon on Friday 25 November. Election Day tomorrow. The result may already have been decided after a record number of early and postal votes were recorded by the Victorian Electoral...
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Voting Centre in Fishermans Bend
An early start on election day, Saturday 26 November. Only three A frames from each party were allowed which eliminated ugly contests over fence space. It also meant there was time to chat. Two former...
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2022 – a year in Port places
January How the year began . . . Queuing on Johnson St to access the Montague PCR testing facility, 11 January 2022 In early January, people queued for PCR tests at the Montague St testing site....
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Port Places: year in review 2022
Here goes. Diving right in . . . A round up of what’s happened in Fishermans Bend and Port Melbourne in 2022. Fishermans Bend Lorimer 150 – 188 Turner St Acciona’s application for a five-tower project...
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The future of heritage piers
Central Pier in Docklands will soon be demolished. Sheds 14 and 9 on Central Pier resting on their insecure foundations will soon be demolished The pier was first closed, mid function in one of the...
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More pier stories
Continuing Heritage Victoria require that Development Victoria prepare an interpretation plan as a condition of demolishing Central Pier in Docklands. This week there has been extensive media coverage...
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Shipping in transition
continuing In April 1905, the vessels Roanoke and Sophocles were berthed at Town Pier at the end of Bay St. The Roanoke must have been an impressive sight. She was a four masted barque built on the...
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Below and above Williamstown Rd
Hot air balloon from Garden City Reserve photo courtesy of Sherrie Taylor Early on Monday morning, hot air balloons glanced over the roof tops of Garden City before coming to rest in Murphy’s Reserve....
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The First Quarter 2023
Port Melbourne and Fishermans Bend In the first quarter global and national pressures have been felt oppressively. Inflation, the cost of living, volatility in the economy – all have made themselves...
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Father Bob
This morning I walked past the headquarters of the Father Bob Maguire Foundation in Victoria Avenue, Albert Park. He also lived there following his enforced retirement in 2012. Home and work. There was...
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Canterbury Rd urban forest
As the Westgate Bridge approached completion in the late 1970s, intense work began on how the freeway would connect with the wider road network. Ferrars St/Canterbury Rd, Montague St, Graham St and...
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Patching the urban fabric
Can a footpath garden make a positive difference to biodiversity? Lenore Fahrig, speaking at a recent City of Melbourne Urban Nature symposium, challenged the idea that biodiversity richness could only...
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The Tea House and the River
The Tea House is a familiar landmark in Southbank. It stands distinctively among Southbank’s high rise buildings. It is one of the few remaining industrial 19th century warehouse buildings in...
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Safe Crossing in Port Melbourne
A raised pedestrian ‘wombat’ crossing was recently installed in Liardet St, Port Melbourne. It is now pleasanter, and safer, to cross the street. The crossing connects two well used parks: Edwards Park...
View ArticleThe bank houses in Port Melbourne
The bank houses in Port Melbourne, now so highly valued, were built to house people on modest incomes. How did this unusual pocket of housing come to be built in Port Melbourne? After the First World...
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Housing history in Port Melbourne
The (State Savings) Bank houses project was aimed at supporting low, but steady, income earners into home ownership. The houses were out of reach of the many people in Port Melbourne who were...
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Sewer, Scienceworks, Spotswood and STEM
This week an event at Scienceworks in Spotswood marked the next phase in the Hobsons Bay Main sewer project. Shafts having been completed, the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) will soon to begin its 670m...
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The Council!
The Council! Those two words are most often expressed with negativity, frustration and annoyance. The Council is to blame both for what it does, and does not do. The Council is held responsible for the...
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