The Voice of Montague, the Montague Community Alliance

The local council elections have been and gone and we have three elected representatives of The Montague Precinct, Gateway Ward to represent the local residents and business owners - Marcus Pearl, Oggy Simic and Bernadene Voss.

It is good to see fresh faces being elected and as an optimist I would hope that the two new councillors will work fully with the Montague community, to engage in understanding the unique aspects of our growing precinct and listen to our experiences and knowledge of the area.

We know that we have a lot to learn from our Southbank neighbours on how to successfully live and work with constant growth, building works and a frustrating lack of infrastructure, so reading about your experiences in the Southbank Local News is invigorating as well as informative.

Here in Montague (other than via the distribution of Southbank Local News) we do not receive any local papers or even the City of Port Philip’s council magazine Divercity.

So we are delighted to both have our voice heard and to read experiences from all of you in this valuable local paper to Southbank and South Wharf and now Montague.

The Montague Precinct currently has approximately 250 residents and more than 500 registered businesses.

It is not a greenfield site as so many politicians and planners keep insisting that it is.

We are already a vibrant community who know each other, look out for each other, and use each other’s products and services.

We consider the area our home and our work places and we know that through good community engagement we can make it a great place for present and future residents and workers.

There are at least 205 apartments and up to 2000 new residents and businesses emerging in Montague in just the next six to 12 months and this data, coupled with the new South Melbourne Primary School opening in 2018, puts pressure on our political representatives of all sides of politics and at all levels, local, state and federal to support the existing residents and businesses and work with us to welcome our new neighbours into a thriving community.

The State Government’s plans for Fishermans Bend includes the Montague Precinct as well as Lorimer under the City of Melbourne, Sandridge, Wirraway and Fishermans Bend commercial zone all under the City of Port Philip.

For those of you interested in learning more about this, there are a number of drop-in sessions you can attend and a community workshop on Wednesday, November 23 at North Port Oval.

You do need to register for the community workshop at www.fishermansbend.vic.gov.au by November 16.

The drop in sessions are: Wednesday, November 16
, 10am to 12pm, Life Saving Victoria State Centre, Perce White Reserve, 200 The Boulevarde, Port Melbourne Wednesday, November 23, 1pm to 3pm, North Port Oval – Sandridge Room, 541 Williamstown Rd, Port Melbourne Sunday, November 20, 1pm to 4pm, North Port Oval – Sandridge Room, 541 Williamstown Rd, Port Melbourne Sunday, November
 27, 1pm to 4pm, Port Melbourne Primary School Fete, 415 Graham St, Port Melbourne.

If you would like to find out anything further about us please contact Trisha Avery [email protected].

Trisha Avery Convener - Montague Community Alliance