More than a hundred people attended a public meeting in Coburg on March 10 to oppose the construction of residential towers, including a 19-storey tower, on the Pentridge prison site. Save Coburg organised the meeting.
A number of resolutions were passed at the meeting, including one to set up a community campaign group. This is a vital step as state government and local council have proved themselves incapable of defending the rights of the community on this issue and have allowed developers' greed to rule.
The next action of the campaign will be a protest at the site of the Spotted Gum Tree No 5 on Champ St, near the prison entrance, which the council plans to chop down to make way for one of the developer's roads.
The protest will be at 6pm on April 13 and it will then march to the council meeting that will be held that night.
It is only when people come together as a community that you can fight developers' greed. In an earlier era, it was industrial action by the Builders Labourers Federation which saved the Queen Victoria Markets, the City Baths, the Rialto Theatre and many other iconic buildings.
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