The Save Coburg group has already registered a win.
The group was formed at a public meeting of about 60 residents, facilitated by newly elected Socialist Alliance councillor Sue Bolton.
The main concern at the meeting was the scale of a development proposed by Moreland Council, which will create two huge corridors of 10-storey buildings on Louisa, Waterfield and Bell Street.
Residents were unhappy about the lack of consultation on the plan. Many residents who would be directly affected by the development were unaware of the plan, or its January 31 deadline for submissions. Even people with experience in previous consultations were surprised by the scale of the planned developments.
Despite the large number of migrants who have lived in Coburg for many years, there is no multilingual information available about the plan.
A working group was formed at the meeting, which would aim to tell as many residents as possible about the development plan to encourage submissions against the proposal. It would also call on the Moreland Council to extend the deadline and organise town hall meetings to discuss the plan.
About 3000 residences were leafleted, after which many last-minute submissions were made, and complaints to councillors rolled in.
As a result, Moreland Council has agreed to extend the deadline to March 1 and organise a day-long community consultation on the plan on February 23.
The residents group has planned an action before the next council meeting. The pre-council meeting is open for those with concerns about the plan and who want to keep up the pressure for appropriate development and community consultation.
[The meeting will take place at Coburg Town Hall on February 13 at 6pm.]