NORTH CENTRAL WARD
Candidate responses
Julie Williams: Independent
Independent!! Labor does not align with my morals and values any more.
1. To date, what actions have you taken to support the saving of the Preston Market? Please list your actions.
As the mayor in 2022-23 I went to parliament steps to hand over a petition of over 20,000 signatures to keep the market, social media post, attended events, met with Save the Preston Market group, the traders, and chatted with shoppers regularly.
As a councillor l have personally moved or second NOM’s in the chamber for the last 8 years, including supporting the heritage overlay and a number of other NOM’s that have come to council.
The Preston Market is an iconic landmark that we all love. It is the heart beat of Preston, it is the peoples market, it is worth protecting and fighting for.
2. Public acquisition of Preston Market will ensure the improvement, greening & community management of Preston Market. Do you support the public acquisition of Preston Market?
Yes if the state government can afford it, because council can’t.
3. The Victorian Planning Authority acknowledges that the planned Preston High Street Activity Centre will create up to 15,300 new dwellings & put more pressure on already lacking public open space in Preston. Do you agree that public acquisition of Preston Market is crucial to addressing this problem?
The City of Darebin is grappling with several key issues: housing, open space, parking, and retaining the Preston Market. Each of these factors is interconnected, and the absence of any one in the activity centre will affect the other.
Building over 13,000 new dwellings can take years, it is crucial that the Preston Market's parking area doesn't turn into a construction zone during this time. Such a disruption could have a devastating impact on the market throughout the construction process.
4. If you are elected, will you move a motion within the first 6 months to support & advocate for the public acquisition of the Preston Market?
I have no doubt Gaetano Greco will move this motion, more than happy to second the motion.
Carmen Lahiff-Jenkins: Independent
1. To date, what actions have you taken to support the saving of the Preston Market? Please list your actions.
I wrote an article on the Preston Market and plans of the owners for the Rezzadent, Reservoirs’ local newspaper. Reposted regular updates on the ‘Preston/Reservoir Community Voice’ page that I administrate.
2. Public acquisition of Preston Market will ensure the improvement, greening & community management of Preston Market. Do you support the public acquisition of Preston Market?
I definitely support the public acquisition of the Preston Market, with caveats that is cannot be sold again to the Private sector, upgrades that include better disability access and access from Preston station, more bike parking, better toilets and bathroom facilities and much better facilities and stalls for traders.
3. The Victorian Planning Authority acknowledges that the planned Preston High Street Activity Centre will create up to 15,300 new dwellings & put more pressure on already lacking public open space in Preston. Do you agree that public acquisition of Preston Market is crucial to addressing this problem?
This seems a very simplistic response to a very complex and multilayered issue. We need more housing in Preston, we also need much more canopy and green spaces AND the land around the market is very poorly allocated. My concern would be that council and state government would do the same thing to the market once it was publicly acquired. Public acquisition with a community board made up of community, traders and council would be a more desirable outcome.
4. If you are elected, will you move a motion within the first 6 months to support & advocate for the public acquisition of the Preston Market?
If that is the community’s priority at that time, absolutely. I love the market and have been a regular there for nearly 25 years. I know many of the traders, often meet people there at Rhubarb, and in a cost-of-living crisis the market is an important place for people to shop. I believe that a strong unified community has a better chance of surviving problems. I would also like to see the same care and interest placed in business trading on Broadway and Edwardes Street in Reservoir, we have many similar unique and low-cost shopping options, and wonderful community connections. I support this asset coming back into community hands and would love to see it as a place community can come together. Imagine having Bridge Darebin, or DIVRS running events and programming community activities hand in hand with local commerce!