Gaetano Greco: Independent

1. To date, what actions have you taken to support the saving of the Preston Market? Please list your actions.

For about a decade now I have been taking action on Council and in the community with activist from the former Save the Preston Market Group and the current Save the Preston Market Action Group to mobilise people around saving our iconic Preston Market. These are some of the specific things I have done.

* Blocked the developer's original proposal about a decade ago that tried to amend the old Structure Plan which would have allowed them to knock down the market and build up to 28 storeys on the market site. Fortunately, back then in the 2012-2016 Council term and with the support of fellow Councillors I helped stop this process in its tracks.

* In the early days, with a very small band of people, I organised the first public meeting to save Preston Market which was attended by over 150 people. The event was held at the Preston Tafe lecture theatre. At the time, in the 2016-2020 Council term, the meeting was supported by DADA, Preston Progress Association, DECC and the traders' independent representative. The purpose of the meeting was to try and stop the developer's planning permit application to build three towers on the market site.

* Around the same time i successfully moved a Council motion to reject the developers planning application to build two 10 storey and a 14 storey building on the site. Later the Council unfortunately lost the case when the developer appealed Council's decision at VCAT.

* Moved a motion at Council to support a well documented community application to have the market registered on Victoria's Heritage listing. During the heritage listing hearing i also made a personal submission to support the community application for heritage listing. Sadly the motion i moved was lost as it was voted against by the Greens dominated Council in the 2016 - 2020 Council term which was a great disappointment to many community members. In fact, due to my motion not succeeding Council advocated to not support the heritage listing at the hearing.

* Moved motions calling for a heritage study and further work to document the cultural and social significance of the market. But these were consistently voted down by the Greens controlled Council in the 2016 to 2020 Council term. 

* Managed to successfully move a motion on Council requesting a market expert to address Council on the cultural and social significance of the Preston Market.

* Throughout the 2016 to 2020 Council term I fought on Council to adopt a position to keep the market where it is and not have it knocked down and moved as promoted the Greens dominated Council. Each time I did this it was always rejected which left the market open to being knocked down and moved.

* Early on in the current Council term of 2020 to 2024 I was finally successful, with the  strong support of the community, to move a motion demanding the Council take a new position to KEEP the market where it is now. This was absolutely critical in finally getting the Council to back the community campaign to save and defend the market against the developer's proposal to knock down 80% of the Market as part of the SAC hearing. 

* As part of the  VPA's "consultation" process in the lead up to SAC hearing I was the only Councillor to publically call out the VPA's sham process.

* Was a key player in starting the community petition calling for the market to be saved and publically acquired which collected over 15,000 signatures.

* Advocated for Council to adopt a proactive role in launching a petition and to materially support the community led campaign.

* Helped organise stalls on Saturday mornings for over a year to collect signatures for the community petition.

* Helped organise and participated in countless meeting with community members to help arrange events to save Preston Market, e.g. Picnic outside the town hall, Saturday stalls, leafletling inside the market and scrossscroll the community. Also maintained communication with traders and helped with the town hall meeting, hands around the Market and spoke at rallies all in support of the saving the market.

* In the last state election I ran strongly on the issue of saving Preston Market which received a lot of media attention and community traction.

* Most recently I have been advocating on the link of public acquisition with the need for public open space given the huge urban densification that is planned for the Preston activity centre.

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, most definitely contrary to the position of current councillors.

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?

YES, most definitely. It is absolutely critical, first and for most for the safe keeping of the market in public hands and also because the market will provide critical open space for the new residents in apartments and exsiting residents living around the Market. It should be noted that the Preston Central area currently has a huge deficiency in public open space which will be exacerbated with up to 15,300 new dwellings.

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?

YES, I already did propose to move a motion to start to investigate the public acquisition of Preston Market at the July Council meeting (see agenda papers of July meeting below). However due to medical reasons I was not able to attend the July Council meeting so I could not actually move the motion. In order to not allow the motion to lapse I tried to re-present it at the August Council meeting but it was rejected by the acting CEO apparently with the excuse that it was to close to the care taker period of the Council election. Therefore it was not allowed to listed on the agenda for debate.

If i'm re-elected public acquisition will be one of my top priorities.

This is the motion

11.2 PRELIMINARY REPORT ON PUBLIC ACQUISITION OF PRESTON MARKET

Councillor: Gaetano GRECO
NoM No.: 17/2024

Take notice that at the Council Meeting to be held on 22 July 2024, it is my intention to move:

That Council

1) That Council notes the community submissions regarding compulsory public acquisition of Preston Market as part of the 2024/2025 budget process.

2) That a report be tabled at the 26 August 2024 Council meeting, broadly outlining the scope, timelines and cost for a new operating project that undertakes an early feasibility scoping study for the public acquisition of the Preston Market. This feasibility
scoping study should address, but not be limited to, addressing the following issues:

a. Initial Planning amendment processes provisionally calling for compulsory public acquisition of the Preston Market site.

b. Notifications requirements to affected parties

c. Necessary planning documentation and range of reports needed to fulfill the requirements of public acquisition process.

d. Criteria and requirements for Council or the State Government to call for and apply public acquisition rules in regards to Preston Market.

e. Approximate timelines for the process of compulsory public acquisition.

f. Initially accessing the appetite by the State Government to publicly acquire Preston Market

g. Possible governance and administrative models for the public ownership of Preston Market

h. Broad financial modelling options for Council and State government to consider

i. Preliminary consideration on how the Preston Market site could alleviate identified large deficiencies in open space requirements in the Preston central area, which will be intensified in coming years due to the state Government’s big build precinct plans currently underway for Preston Central area.

Notice Received: 8 July 2024
Notice Given to Councillors 8 July 2024
Date of Meeting: 22 July 2024

Rationale

Preston Market is an icon of our city and the broader northern region. Reports have stated that it is only second to Victoria Market and one of the only Market that is not publicly own in Melbourne. A petition with over 13,000 signature demonstrates the community’s strong desire to put the market in public hand. To do so preliminary consideration needs to be given to numerous factors in order for the Preston Market to be considered for public acquisition. This notice of motion seeks a report to that effect.

Thank you for the opportunity and iI look forward to working with the Save the Preston Market Action Group.