Greenvale Residents' Association
(A000 2795U)
Facebook: Greenvale Residents Association@GRA3059
Website: gra3059.blogspot.com
Email: gra3059@gmail.com
Minutes
Minutes
of Meeting – 20 November 2025 at 7pm
Community Room 1.
Greenvale West
Community Centre ~ 7 Ventura Way, Greenvale
Attendance
(In Person):
|
Tamara Nolan (Chair -
President) |
Caroline Dowling (Vice-President) |
Stephen Woodhams (Secretariat/Treasurer) |
Lidia
Omisel |
|
Joan Audino |
Leanne Pascoe |
Nesta Pardo |
Vivien
Miles |
|
Teresa Whitmore |
John Rutherford |
Priscila Barbaro |
Biance
Barbaro |
|
Jim Overend |
Steve
Gagen |
Ethan Nolan |
Sophia
Kelso |
|
Jeni Jackson |
Danielle Prentice |
|
|
Meeting
opened at 7:05 pm.
|
Apologies: Evan Mulholland MP, Iwan Walters MP, Basem Abdo MP, Cr
Carly Moore, Sophie Panigirakis (WCS) |
Minutes
of the last meeting:
Tamara reviewed the
previous minutes. The minutes of the last meeting were accepted as a true
record.
|
Moved |
Vivien Miles |
Seconded |
Leanne
Pascoe |
Correspondence
Received
·
Women’s Shelter for Hume meeting update
·
Liberal Invite to “Shape Victoria”
·
Invite to reopening of Greenvale Reservoir on 9
December 2025
·
Opening of new car park area at Greenvale
shopping centre
·
Advice that Aitken College will seek to apply
for a permit/grant from HCC to host Christmas carols next year in 2026
·
Invite from Hume council to shape 2026/27 budget
·
Advice that the bus route 543 will now be
extended to Craigieburn Central
·
Craigieburn Residents Association advice that
monitors are on Mickleham Road checking for speed and counting cars.
Treasurer
Report:
|
Opening balance: |
1,757.59 |
|
Expenses: |
0 |
|
Closing balance |
$1,757.59 |
AGM Nominations and Voting on Committee
Members
All committee positions were opened for nominations. No nominations were
received. Tamara Nolan stated that the current committee members will continue for
2026, however, the committee is seeking new members to volunteer for key
committee positions in the future to assist. The development of the Hume
Women’s Community shelter is an important project initiative for the current
committee, and therefore, will continue for 2026.
If GRA and community members area unable to volunteer support for the
running of the GRA, the current committee may consider ending meetings in 2027.
Tamara mentioned that this would be disappointing as so much is happening in
the Greenvale area.
Guest
presentation: Bianca Barbero - Hume Youth Council
·
Bianca has been elected on the Hume Youth
Council
·
She has been elected to serve the community and
work alongside the Hume City Council
·
Hume council has donated $10k to invest in a
program which benefits the community. The 12 people on the Youth Council are
considering where the donated funds should be used.
·
Bianca sees her role to provide opportunities to
others.
Guest
presentation: Sophia Kelso, Jeni Jackson and Danielle Prentice – Hume Waste and
Education Management Plan
·
Program
created in 2024 on a permanent basis
·
The
division is empowered to teach residents how to dispose of rubbish through
pop-up stalls.
·
The
division interviews Hume residents and provides workshops to determine the
services that Hume offers and the services that the area needs.
·
There
are posters translated into 5 different languages
·
There
are media campaigns on CCTV footage
·
Fine
levels are set by the EPA. There are 3 levels of fines depending on the amount
dumped. The levels can be seen on the Hume website.
·
There
are 14,500 reports of dumping a year. Most of the dumping is from people
outside of the area.
·
Demolition
/ construction material dumping does not happen often, but it can contain
asbestos.
·
From
2026, the council will run kerbside data collection. There will be visual
inspection of bins on collection day. When wrong items are placed in bins it
often results in the whole load being sent to landfill.
·
Dumping
on Somerton Road near the Historical Park was discussed. This area is VicRoads
responsibility.
·
Hume
city council are not planning to introduce bins for glass. The State’s deposit
scheme is working well.
President’s
Report:
Women’s Community Shelter – Hume (Sophie
Panigirakis - by email)
By way of update on the Hume shelter for your report:
·
We are
planning the Community Forum for the first quarter of next year. It’s difficult
for us to commit firmly to March at this stage given how full the end of year
period is.
·
We are
currently working with the philanthropist regarding the vesting of land to WCS.
·
We’ve
also been meeting with sector providers to process our operating approach for
the Greenvale shelter.
Providence Shopping Village development (David Bills – by
email)
In
relation to Providence Village, I confirm the following key milestones
associated with the current Stage 1 planning application before Council:
- Urban Design Framework (UDF) endorsed by
Council on 6 March 2025, following VCAT proceedings
- Planning permit application formally
lodged with Council on 8 July 2025
- Council’s Request for Further
Information (RFI) received on 5 August 2025
- RFI response submitted to Council on 10
October 2025
We
have since followed up with Council regarding the status of its review of the
RFI response. In correspondence dated 28 October 2025, Council confirmed that
it will be referring the application back to all relevant authorities and
internal departments. As of 27 November 2025, Council’s internal referral
departments that have provided further referral response have indicated no
further concerns or provided draft conditions.
Outstanding
items remain within Council’s own internal referral processes, specifically
Urban Design, Traffic, Civil, Landscape, Subdivision, and Environment. Council
officers have advised that responses are either being reviewed internally or
for those not provided are expected early next week, with no major issues
anticipated. Importantly, the Council officer has indicated that any
outstanding matters can largely be conditioned, supporting the timely issuing
of a permit.
Melbourne
Water has confirmed it does not oppose the proposal or land acquisition that
will be discussed post permit.
DTP
has not raised concerns with the application and are committed to providing a
formal response shortly.
As
of 2 December 2025, Council is waiting on final comments from DTP who are the
determining referral authority, so permit approval cannot be finalised until
the response is received.
Iwan Walters MP update (email)
Mickleham Road Stage 2
Mickleham Road
Upgrade Stage 2 from Greenvale to Craigieburn has been fully and jointly funded
by the Victorian and Australian Governments with a $250 Million investment.
The upgrade
will:
·
add extra lanes, increasing Mickleham Road to
three lanes in each direction
·
add traffic lights at the Mickleham Road and
Dunhelen Lane and Cookes Road intersections
·
build walking and cycling paths.
·
interface with the proposed signalisation of
Garibaldi Road intersection (works undertaken others)
Planning work is
continuing, as the upgrade moves towards construction. Key activities to be
undertaken include:
·
detailed on-site environmental investigations to
further understand flora and fauna which might be impacted
·
on-site investigations including identifying
underground utilities and testing ground conditions, refining the upgrade’s
design;
·
preparing a Cultural Heritage Management Plan
(CHMP)
·
Environment Protection and Biodiversity
Conservation (EPBC) Act Referral
·
appointing a construction partner.
Greenvale
Reservoir Park
Since prior to my
election in 2022, I’ve been working on behalf of residents to secure the
funding needed to bring the southern section of the park back to life. With
that funding secured last year, works are progressing well with the southern
section on track to be reopened in a couple of weeks. The works have delivered
new and upgraded walking and cycling paths and roadways, shelters, BBQ
facilities, toilets, and entry points.
Pedestrian and
cyclist access only will remain possible from Venezia Promenade, and the works
currently underway inside the park will enable pedestrians and cyclists to move
between the southern and northern section internally via new paths, but not
cars.
Montenegro Rd
The connection
between Providence and Aspect is designed to provide residents with better
access to public transport and emergency services, while reducing the complete
reliance on single access points to Mickleham Road. Importantly the new
extended 543 bus route, which began in October, has been rerouted through this
road, allowing residents in the Aspect Estate to access this bus route for the
first time.
I understand the
concerns about the increased traffic volumes and speeding on this connection
and I have raised these with Hume City Council and the Mayor directly on behalf
of residents who have shared concerns about dangerous driving behaviour.
Mickleham Road
traffic
I continue to
advocate regularly to the Minister for Roads and Road Safety and the Department
of Transport and Planning (DTP) regarding the congestion on the southern
section of Mickleham Road and the challenges that motorists are experiencing,
especially during weekday peaks and when disruptions elsewhere on the network
have a knock-on effect to Mickleham Rd users.
DTP is currently
reviewing Mickleham Road under the Signal Network Optimisation (SNO) program.
The review is almost finished and is expected to result in travel time
improvements in weekday peak periods due to the following changes:
·
Coordination of traffic lights during peak
periods along the section of Mickleham Road where VIDA Roads completed their
works earlier this year (mostly through the suburb of Greenvale);
·
Improved traffic light coordination along the
southern section of Mickleham Road (from Westmeadows to Gladstone Park) during
peak periods; and
·
Improved traffic light coordination in the PM
peak for traffic exiting the Tullamarine Freeway at Mickleham Road and heading
north towards the Broadmeadows Road roundabout.
Aside from more
efficient road use and better traffic flow, I am continuing the advocacy that
we’ve previously discussed to seek further investment in local public
transport, including exploring opportunities to connect key activity centres
including Greenvale, Gladstone Park and Airport West.
Bus Route 543
The extended Route
543 commenced services in October. Buses are now running through Greenvale and
Greenvale North all the way to Craigieburn Central, making it easier to get to
jobs, shops, schools and services. This upgrade also delivers 183 extra services
every week, buses every 20 minutes in peak times (6–9 am and 3–7 pm) and better
train connections at Roxburgh Park Station. Many new stops were also
constructed, including on Somerton Road. I’ve advocated strongly for these
improvements and I’m pleased they’re now been delivered for our community.
Education
Stage 2 at Mary
Queen of Heaven Primary School, supported with a $5M Victorian Government
investment, is effectively complete and ready for students in 2026.
Community
Safety
The safety of our
community in Greenvale is of paramount importance to me. It's why I've
been speaking regularly with the Police Minister and the Premier regularly
about the need for both strong deterrents to crime and also real consequences
for offenders.
It’s why I was so
supportive of recent major changes to bail laws, designed to prevent
reoffending and reduce crime. It’s also why I’ve been advocating for further
changes that increase penalties and consequences for brazen, violent and repeat
criminal offending, including youth crime.
Every person in
Greenvale and across Victoria deserves to feel safe in their home and in their
community. This type of legislative change takes time for its effects to be
felt, and there remains more to do, but I do note that the numbers of people on
remand have increased markedly across the past year.
Greenvale
Secondary College
At the time of the
recent incident, the school enacted its safety procedures immediately. I’ve
been working closely with the school leadership at Greenvale Secondary, which
has also been strongly supported by specialist Department of Education case
management teams, with a particular focus on impacted staff and students. I
also visited Greenvale Secondary last week to speak with various year levels
and classes.
More Police
and PSOs on the Ground
The new Chief
Commissioner Mike Bush has requested more powers and more investment as part of
the next phase of his major overhaul of Victoria Police – and the Government is
backing it entirely. It includes:
a targeted policing
operation which will see PSOs and Police inside major shopping centres over
summer, for a visible police presence in the busy places where families and
kids shop and spend time;
filling desk jobs
with reservists to free up hundreds more frontline police, so they spend less
time at their desk and more time in the community;
providing police
with more than 800 handheld metal detectors to find more knives and machetes in
public.
Adult Time for
Violent Crime
The maximum length
of a jail sentence that can be imposed in the Children’s Court is 3 years – for
any offence. But the County Court can currently impose a jail sentence of up to
25 years for aggravated home invasion and aggravated carjacking, and up to 20
years for intentionally causing serious injury through gross violence. As part
of this plan, the Government will further increase the maximum jail sentence
for aggravated home invasion and aggravated carjacking. The following
crimes will be subject to Adult Time for Violent Crime:
·
Aggravated home invasion
·
Home invasion
·
Intentionally causing injury in circumstances of
gross violence (includes machete crime)
·
Recklessly causing injury in circumstances of
gross violence (includes machete crime)
·
Aggravated carjacking
·
Carjacking
·
Aggravated burglary (serious and repeated)
·
Armed robbery (serious and repeated)
Retail crime
Every Victorian
deserves to feel safe at work – that includes people serving customers, driving
trams and buses, or working in restaurants and shops.The Crimes Amendment
(Retail, Fast Food, Hospitality and Transport Worker Harm) Bill 2025 will
deliver on new offences to crack down on rising abuse and violence in
workplaces across Victoria. Ram-raids will be recognised as aggravated burglary
– carrying a higher maximum penalty of 25 years and unlocking the powers of
Adult Time for Violent Crime. Victoria will press ahead with Workplace
Protection Orders against violent individuals – like a personal safety order
but different: instead of protecting one person, it protects a whole workplace.
Violence
Reduction Unit
Victoria will join
Scotland and London as a world-leader in reducing violent youth crime through
early intervention. Our Violence Reduction Unit is based directly on the VRU
model in Glasgow and London, which successfully reduced violent crime over time
by targeting the problems early. It will report directly to the Premier
and:
·
use police intelligence and data to find and
address the root causes of violent crime
·
coordinate all existing crime prevention
programs across Government
·
take a different approach, and engage directly
with the community and young people
·
develop and deliver new programs to address gaps
and emerging crime trends – with the first VRU program about connecting at-risk
kids with mentors who are former youth offenders now living positive lives.
Evan Mulholland MP update (by email)
Buses
We
have had some great community wins regarding better buses recently. Thanks to
my advocacy online, in Parliament and in the media, PTV closed the dangerous
bus stop on the corner of Ravenhill Boulevard and Somerton Road to make much
needed safety improvements on what was a particularly inaccessible bus stop. We
also saw the government announce eight bus routes to see expanded services in
the North, no doubt thanks to our advocacy.
Community Forum on Crime
It
was great to hold a community forum and welcoming Shadow Minister for Police
David Southwick to Craigieburn to listen to a great crowd of local residents,
hearing concerns ranging from crime and local infrastructure.
I
continue to hear from residents concerned about crime in Greenvale. Every 30
minutes a crimeis committed in Hume City Council, with a 20% increase in crime
overall in the area. The Liberal's and Nationals have committed to a $100
million plan to restore community safety. That means getting weapons off our
streets, giving police the powers they need, and toughening our state's bail
laws. Alongside our 'Break Bail, Face Jail' policy, we recently committed to another
policy in 'Jack's Law', which will give police more powers to crack down on
machetes and other weapons.
Craigieburn Community Hospital
Thanks
to our advocacy, the Craigieburn Community Hospital has also now opened. Well
sort of. Despite Labor having promised that the Craigieburn Community Hospital
would have after hours and urgent care service, the Northern Star weekly has
reported neither of these services will be available. This is simply not good
enough, and I will continue to advocate for these services to be included.
I
have also continued my advocacy on Johnstone Street and Broadmeadows Road,
which remains a significant safety concern for many residents in Westmeadows.
After
our successful joint campaign on the issue, the Greenvale Reservoir Park is set
to reopen
in
late 2025 once upgrades are complete. This is good news, and a big win for
residents,
particularly
your association, to get it reopened.
Councillor Report - Cr. Steve Gagen
·
Bradford Avenue Reserve Upgrade
– community engagement open 10 Nov – 19 Dec 2025 on the play space
improvements.
·
Kirkham Drive Reserve Upgrade –
construction contractor appointment underway. Construction to commence early
2026.
·
Splitter island on Greenvale
Drive was installed to block illegal right turns out of the shopping
centre. We identified some problems with
levels, and this is currently being rectified.
·
Designs being finalised with
Department of Transport and Planning for:
·
Signalisation of Somerton
Road/Section Road intersection
·
Pedestrian signals on Mickleham
Road near Elphinstone Boulevard
·
Council’s planning team is
assessing Stage 1 of the Providence Shopping Centre. The first stage of the
project includes a major supermarket, a medical centre, several shops, cafes
and restaurants, car parking, new access roads, landscaping, and public spaces.
·
Pathways to Clean Air program,
partnership between Hume City Council and the Burnet Institute with CSIRO,
Monash and Melbourne Universities. Five Hume sites, including Splash and
several community centres.
·
Council is examining community
budget ideas in the lead up to the 26/27 budget consideration.
·
Current priorities for council
include Rubbish, improving Active Transport, Grass cutting, Shade in Parks,
Traffic. Hooning. Barrymore Road proposals:
·
a raised treatment along the
frontage of Greenvale Secondary College on Barrymore Road between Glencairn
Drive and the POS 2027/28.
·
Provide a raised pavement on
the eastbound approach to the Barrymore Road / Norcal Court roundabout
·
Council intends to expand the
deployment of mobile CCTV by 65% to enhance detection and deterrence of
littering and illegal dumping; dob-in-a-dumper campaign and Keep Hume Clean;
Work with the Chain of Ponds Collaboration; Active Living Plan; Implement an
updated approach to capturing community views through annual surveys and
engagement practices.
·
Greenvale Reservoir Official
Opening Date is Tuesday 9 December 2025. Visitor facilities are being
constructed and upgraded as part of the reopening of the southern section.
There will be vehicle access off Somerton Road and parking within the park.
Toilets, tables, gas barbecues and sand pads (for cooking with your own
portable grill) will be available.
Other
business
Greenvale
Drive Median Strip – Vivien raised the issue that
the Greenvale Drive Median Strip is inadequate and dangerous as motorists are
still driving over the top of the median to turn right out of the shopping
centre. It was also recently ripped up and replaced. Cr Gagen explained this
was due to an incorrect level of the median strip. Residents are seeking for
the median strip to be improved to stop cars from turning right when exiting
from the shopping centre. Vivien asked Cr Gagen to follow up the issue of the
median strip.
Mickleham Road
Lane Closure - Vivien raised the issue that Mickleham Road has been reduced
to a single lane for months now causing significant inconvenience and impacting
thousands of drivers who use this road daily. There appears to be slip lane and
road infrastructure delays for this project. Vivien asked Cr Gagen for follow
up action to remove the barriers immediately.
Meeting
closed at 8:44 pm
2026 GRA Meeting
Dates - 7pm GWCC
·
19 March
2026
·
23 July
2026
·
19
November 2026
