2023 – a year in Port places

January

The newly installed floating wetlands anchored off Yarra’s Edge in Docklands.

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February

24 February: anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

The Port Rail Transformation project will increase rail terminal capacity and improve rail terminal operations around Swanson Dock east and west.

 A 600 metre long train can carry 84 Twenty-Foot Containers (TEU) compared with a B-Double truck which has an average capacity of three TEU.

March

The urban meadow between Pickles and Cruikshank St in full joyful flower. The meadow expresses an emerging approach to gardening to allow the full cycle of succession from flower to seed without intervention. Less maintenance and more delight all year round, not only for insects, but for the neighbourhood.

Porter Davis went into liquidation on 31 March affecting about 1700 homes. The large showroom in City Rd closed soon afterwards.

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April

Father Bob Maguire died on 19 April. ‘Comrades!’ was his rallying cry. So would he begin any talk or sermon which always revolved around social justice.

Here he is at Princes Pier for the Allan Whittaker commemoration in 2016.

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May

Shrieking cockatoos visited the plane trees in Port Melbourne’s parks and reserves, leaving a carpet of shredded leaves and seeds.

June

Trailing Suction Hopper Dredge Gateway conducted maintenance dredging of the Port of Melbourne shipping channels from May to July. Material removed was taken to the Dredge Material Ground in Port Phillip Bay.

July

Tunnel boring machine Lucey began her journey under the Yarra River from Spotswood (Scienceworks) to Westgate Park. Melbourne Water is building a duplicate sewer which will allow sewage flows to be diverted while they rehabilitate the existing sewer. This will increase capacity of the sewerage network for many decades to come.

Six new automatic stacking cranes, each 35 m wide and weighing 215 tonnes, arrived at the Victorian International Container Terminal at Webb Dock. They will significantly increase VICT’s capacity.

August

Final days of a long running campaign against the demolition of the Barak Beacon estate. This block was demolished shortly afterwards.

September

The future alignment of Turner St in Fishermans Bend is revealed. Turner St will connect Ingles St through to Todd Rd. Between Salmon St and Todd Rd pedestrian and cycling movement will be prioritised. Cars and delivery vehicles will have access via Salmon St and Todd Rd, but it will not be a through route for cars.

Extensive works to rehabilitate and remediate the former GMH site are approaching completion.

October

7 October: Hamas attack on Israel

The referendum

The proposal “to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice” was defeated in the referendum held on 14 October. Nationally 60.77% voted No, 39.23% voted Yes.

In the electorate of Macnamara, 63.77% voted Yes, 36.23% voted No.

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November

The Building Communities Consortium was appointed to re-develop four public housing sites – in Port Melbourne (Barak Beacon), South Yarra, Hampton East and Prahran. The 502 existing dwellings across the four sites will be replaced with a total of 1,370 homes. The site is clear apart from a few retained trees.

The Container Deposit Scheme started on 1 November. It got off to a rocky start with the machine frequently breaking down and seemingly unable to handle the volume of returned containers.

Disquiet and unease about the loss of life in the war in Gaza intensifies.

December

Tunnel boring machine Lucey re-emerged in Westgate Park having completed her 670m journey under the River as part of the Hobsons Bay Main Sewer project. Connections will now be made to the existing sewer.

The Pavilion in Lagoon Reserve was demolished to make way for a new two storey pavilion. The oval will be rehabilitated as part of the works.

Three groups of cygnets have hatched from the floating wetlands at Yarra’s Edge this year.

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