Council bites back at Bulldogs By Tim Kirby 2:43 PM Sat 26 July, 2008 THE WESTERN Bulldogs have come under heavy criticism from the City of Maribyrnong, with claims that the club mishandled the management of the Whitten Oval redevelopment. As reported in Saturday’s Herald Sun, the council felt they’d been used as a scapegoat by the Dogs to cover up their own “bungled” processes. The Bulldogs asked the State Government to intervene in a planning dispute over the proposed Elite Learning Centre at the Whitten Oval. Dogs chairman David Smorgon had suggested on an interview with the Nine Network on Thursday night that if it wasn’t for State Government intervention, the club faced major financial troubles. The dispute centred around the plan for Victoria University to run courses in the redeveloped John Gent Stand. But allegations that the council refused to provide planning permits were strongly rejected by the City of Maribyrnong Mayor Michelle MacDonald. “The Bulldogs were well aware that in line with council’s need to follow due process, including community consultation, we would not be able to make a decision on the application until this September,” she said. “For the sake of our community we want this project to occur. However, the Bulldogs organisation has bungled the management of the redevelopment.” Smorgon rebuked the allegations saying the administration could not understand why the council persisted with the delay as there had been no objections from the local community after they applied for the permit. “We are therefore puzzled as to why the council would insist on such an extensive and protracted period of public consultation across the whole of the municipality, rather than in the immediate and surrounding area,” Smorgon said. http://afl.com.au/tabid/208/Default.aspx?newsid=64195 That's it... come next year, WB Family Day, the Mayor will get booed when they get up to speak.

It's interesting that the Bulldogs administration couldn't work the politics with the Maribynong council however had the contacts to push it through at the state level. Booed? who's bringing the eggs? Free Range one would hope after viewing the Jamie Oliver Foul Dinners program the other night.

Do we have to stop at eggs?

They copped a decent spray from the guys that do the pre/post match chat in social club. "Send a letter to your council etc etc"

They did in our room too. I am glad I don't pay rates in that area. Smorgo in the Prez's room yesterday: Smorgon praises takeover Lyall Johnson | July 28, 2008 http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/smorgon-praises-takeover/2008/07/28/1217097068677.html WESTERN BULLDOGS president David Smorgon publicly thanked the State Government yesterday for taking control of the planning process of the Whitten Oval redevelopment. Smorgon told the president's lunch that the State Government's decision to remove control of the $26 million project from the Maribyrnong City Council was a "very brave and bold decision". The Bulldogs, with the help of lawyer and No. 1 ticket-holder Peter Gordon, last week sought the Government's intervention in the redevelopment after 18 months of what Smorgon described as "procrastination and the delays and the frustration". According to the Bulldogs, the council had virtually halted the more than half-completed redevelopment by refusing a vital permit to set up a Victoria University learning centre in one of Whitten Oval's condemned stands. The council has in turn accused the club of bureaucratic bungling. Had the redevelopment continued to be delayed, the public funding for the initiative — which includes $8 million from the former Howard government — would have been frozen. The club, with its multimillion-dollar debts, would have become insolvent. Smorgon said the Government's move had allowed the project to proceed. "Thanks to the work of Peter (Gordon) and Cam (Rose, Bulldogs chief executive) and other advisers. We say thank you to the State Government, to the Premier, to all the other ministers involved, to their advisers, for making a right decision …" Smorgon said the club had spent hundreds of hours in meetings and discussions with the council over the past 18 months, but "finally, though, our patience ran out".

Typical council level politics, it would be one or maybe a very few playmakers wanting to push some private agenda. Very poor form MCC...

This is getting a little too close for comfort now. This council should still be kissing our... Bulldogs' woes grow Cameron Houston http://www.theage.com.au/national/bulldogs-woes-grow-20080730-3ng1.html?page=-1 July 31, 2008 A BITTER feud between the Maribyrnong Council and the Western Bulldogs is set to intensify, with the council expected to withdraw $1 million in funding for the Whitten Oval redevelopment and walk away from the project's Committee of Management. More than $8 million in funding from Victoria University is also under threat after delays by the Bulldogs to relocate 48 poker machines from the site. The council has called an emergency meeting next week to discuss its involvement in the deal, after the State Government's shock decision to seize planning control of the $26 million redevelopment amid growing concerns about the Bulldogs' financial future. Mayor Michelle MacDonald said: "They (Western Bulldogs) see council as an impediment to the development and if that's true, then I think it's appropriate for council to withdraw from the Committee of Management and allow the State Government to manage the Whitten Oval project." Cr MacDonald confirmed the council's $1 million contribution would also be reviewed, after the State Government intervened last Thursday. Maribyrnong councillor Janet Rice said the council was informed of the Government's decision at 5pm last Thursday, just hours before it was announced on Channel Nine's The Footy Show. She said the council had not been contacted by the club since. "The Bulldogs' behaviour has been disgraceful and they seem to think they can ignore the local planning process that applies to every other development in Maribyrnong," Cr Rice said. A Western Bulldogs spokeswoman refused to answer specific questions about the project last night. "If that is correct … it's disappointing, however we will wait to hear from the council," she said. The council only became aware of Victoria University's plans to occupy part of the redeveloped John Gent stand in August 2007, but did not receive planning permits from the club until April this year. A final planning decision could not be made until September to allow for community consultation, which would have derailed the project and left the Bulldogs with a crippling debt of about $6 million. Relations between the club and the council have deteriorated further, after a planning application for a $25 million hotel-and-gaming development in the nearby Edgewater estate was unanimously rejected by the council two months ago. The council's decision stalled plans by the Bulldogs to relocate 48 machines from Whitten Oval to the new Edgewater venue, which now jeopardises Victoria University's $8 million sports campus on the site. The university's funding is contingent on the removal of the machines, according to Victoria University academic James Doughney. "We can't have poker machines on a university campus, that's not a good look for us," he said. A Bulldogs spokeswoman said the club was committed to the removal of machines from Whitten Oval and an overall reduction of pokies in the City of Maribyrnong.

I'm so sick of hearing about bloody pokie machines. If some d*ckhead wants to put his whole pay in one, he doesn't deserve the cash in the first place. How about a little bit of personal responsibility? It's got nothing to do with the pokie machines at all, rather with internal politics and power plays within the council.

Irony is that we can't move the pokies because the Council blocked the Bulldog Hilton! Meanwhile every other club in Victoria is exploiting the West by opening up hotels and pokie venues. So long as the only club that actually supports the west is denied, the world is going to plan.

Now I would normally link to the WB site, but this is fairly alarming, I'd say: Madden says Bulldogs have become a 'political football' 1:31 PM Tue 28 October, 2008 http://westernbulldogs.com.au/tabid/4112/Default.aspx?newsid=69337 The Victorian Opposition’s collusion with the Greens is putting in jeopardy a major redevelopment in the western suburbs – and the future of the Western bulldogs Football Club, the Planning Minister Justin Madden said today. Mr Madden today visited the $30 million redevelopment of Whitten Oval which is now under threat after the Liberal Party agreed to let the Greens Party oppose the project in the State Parliament. Greens Party MLC Colleen Hartland will tomorrow move a disallowance motion to stop the Planning minister being the responsible authority for the development which struck an impasse at Maribyrnong Council. Ms Hartland is moving this motion with the endorsement of Liberal Party Upper House Leader David Davis. Ms Hartland is seeking to move a disallowance to Amendment C75. “I am deeply disappointed that the Western Bulldogs are being made a political football by a backroom deal between the Liberal and Greens parties,” Mr Madden said. “The Greens are only able to bring on this frivolous disallowance motion because they have the support of the Liberal Party on this issue. “It shows again that Ted Baillieu and the Liberal Party oppose everything and stand for nothing. “Mr Baillieu and his Liberals certainly do not stand for investment in the western suburbs or the long-term viability of the Western Bulldogs – the Liberals think the western suburbs and the Western Bulldogs are just political playthings. “The Brumby Government is standing up for the Western Bulldogs, the western suburbs and Victorian football clubs. “The Opposition Leader Mr Baillieu must back down and order a stop to the Liberal Party’s disgraceful deal with the Greens political party, which is threatening the long-term security of the Western Bulldogs.” Mr Madden said the Western Bulldogs enjoyed a proud tradition at the Whitten Oval since 1883. “If the Opposition support this disallowance motion, they will put the Western Bulldogs Football Club in a precarious financial situation,” he said. In July, Mr Madden intervened at the request of the Western Bulldogs Football Club, the AFL and Victoria University to secure the future use of Whitten Oval redevelopment, would see improved sporting and community facilities brought to the people of the western suburbs. Mr Madden said the disallowance motion brought forward by the Greens party was frivolous and grounded in extreme political ideology. Western Bulldogs President David Smorgon thanked Minister Madden and his goverment for their continued support and agreed that the Western Bulldogs financial future was reliant on the completition of the Redevelopment. "What would we do with this if we can't complete it?" he asked today while standing in the John Gent Stand that has now been gutted in preparation of construction of the new Club headquarters and home to Victoria University's School of Human Movement.

I am trying to work out the reasons as to why the Libs and in particular the Greens have moved to block this but the article offers little. I guess its on the Official Site so we can't expect anything more than one-sided reporting. That said, the Greens are little more than the town bike in politics (draw your own conclusions on that one). Disappointing development for WB supporters.

Libs say they won’t move to skittle Bulldogs 28 Oct 08 @ 04:15pm by BRAD RYAN http://hobsons-bay-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/greens-plan-could-skittle-dogs-says-smorgon/ Justin Madden says the Greens are ''nuts'' for blocking the development. THE Greens’ plan to block approval of a Whitten Oval university campus now appears destined to fail. The State Opposition says it will side with the Government when a rare disallowance motion is moved by Western Metropolitan state Greens MP Colleen Hartland in Parliament tomorrow. If successful, the motion would have returned planning power over the project to Maribyrnong Council after it was seized by Planning Minister Justin Madden in July. Earlier today, Western Bulldogs president David Smorgon said that could have sent the club broke because funding was dependent on the approval and the club could not afford any further delays. ``The club would probably not survive, given the financial repercussions, if the motion was passed,’’ Mr Smorgon said. But this afternoon Opposition planning spokesman Matthew Guy said the Liberal-National Opposition would not support the motion. Mr Guy said Ms Hartland’s concerns over a lack of community consultation were valid, but passing the motion would place the football club at risk. ``I think it would be a very bold Parliament to start picking off individual projects one by one,’’ Mr Guy said. Ms Hartland said Mr Madden’s takeover of planning control was ``dodgy’’ and she was moving the motion because she believed in democratic process. ``(Maribyrnong) Council had issued one permit, had committed a million dollars to the project, and were working at full speed on the next permit when the Minister intervened,’’ she said. Mr Madden said he stepped in to act as a ``circuit-breaker’’ when communications between the football club and the council broke down. ``The reason why I intervened in the first place was because the stalling of the project, and of course the cash flows related to the project, would put the football club in jeopardy,’’ he said. Plans for the Victoria University campus at the oval include a 140-seat lecture theatre, classrooms and offices. Whitten Oval development faces a parliament vote Dan Silkstone | October 29, 2008 http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/whitten-oval-parliament-vote/2008/10/29/1224956046247.html DEPENDING on who you asked yesterday the Western Bulldogs were facing extinction, or maybe just adding a little political grandstand to the facilities at the redeveloped Whitten Oval. Victoria's Parliament will today vote on a motion from Greens member Colleen Hartland to overturn the State Government's intervention in the planning process for the oval's redevelopment. If passed, the motion would send the planning process back to a hostile Maribyrnong Council. But yesterday there were dramatic claims the Bulldogs could face extinction as the club and government worried whether Liberal members might support the Greens' bid to scupper the government's intervention. "We know that delays cost money," Planning Minister Justin Madden said yesterday. "If this gets up this will put the club in dire circumstances … it could put in jeopardy the Western Bulldogs Football Club." Bulldogs president David Smorgon said that the motion, if successful, would trigger "a total financial crisis for the Western Bulldogs" and said the club would "probably not survive" if the Greens were successful in sending the $30 million project back to the council. Opposition Leader Ted Bailleu's office later announced that the Liberals would not support the motion. At the heart of the Greens' concerns is the minister's supposed failure to follow due process when intervening in the redevelopment and taking authority for the project away from the Maribyrnong Council. The Greens believe the Bulldogs approached Premier John Brumby directly and that Brumby then instructed Madden's office to intervene for political reasons. But Madden said he had intervened because delays in council's planning process meant that Victoria University was threatening to withdraw the funding it had committed to the project. The Age understands the council is sceptical about some of the community benefits offered by the redevelopment. The council is also in dispute with the club over the proposed relocation of poker machines to a facility at Edgewater Estate. Hartland accused both parties of trying to bully her by claiming the club was at risk. 'There's a basic democratic principle at stake," she said. "The planning process should never have been taken away from council." Hope this ***** fries today in parliament. ******* Greens. It's going to be a long day. :angry:

Well UP YOURS Colleen Hartland, you LOSE!!!!!! The re-development will continue on as normal.