New live camera should be back tomorrow but here is an old favourite. This is very similar to what has just been done in the middle box. Two weeks work condensed to 2 minutes.

Millie is now in front of McDonalds and Alice is in front of the Old Police Building.

We also had a confidential briefing on the next stages of the designs…. V disappointing. The structure in front of us has become two and will look a bit like this…more to come in this space

Still waiting on the replacement camera but in the meantime, you can watch “the greatest hits” here

I have been notified by CYP as follows

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At the start of the project you might remember we set in place a process for advising relevant CRG members if we’ve found any asbestos on site – fortunately we haven’t found any for quite some time

We’ve just identified a small section of old pipe within the excavation in the middle box site that will need to be removed. It’s non-friable and currently poses no risk to human health. We will have our specialists on site first thing tomorrow to remove it.

Just letting everyone know in case there are any calls or questions regarding the team on site in their asbestos removal suits.

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Any concerns – call their 1800 105 105 number

I have two cameras, one away being replaced under warranty and the spare one failed this morning….sorry.

I was shocked to hear from the City of Port Phillip that people are dumping the wrong stuff in the yellow top recycling bins…no of course I wasn’t shocked at all, I see it all the time in our bins.

Don’t put that styrofoam stuff in…that seems a common mistake.

All you have to do is walk out into the basement carpark and use one of the bins that don’t have a yellow lid…it’s not that hard.

…and given that the yellow top bins fill pretty quickly, it would help if you broke cartons down and generally squashed your stuff…please

Here is the letter from CoPP

After some confusion, for me at least…CYP have sent this out today

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Good afternoon everyone,

We hope you have all been keeping well.

We wanted to get in touch with a tunnelling update.

You would have received a letter last Friday indicating that our second TBM, Alice, would be travelling past your building from this Friday 19 June.

Alice has been making very good progress in the station box, which means that she will be near the Botanica earlier than we had anticipated.

It is expected that Alice could arrive at the D-Wall at the southern end of the station box (directly in front of the Botanica) as early as tonight. At this point she will pause tunnelling for a check on the cutterhead – the length of this pause will depend on any work that needs to be done on the cutterhead, this could be between one to two days before she restarts.  When she recommences, she will make her way through the southern end of the station box and continue onwards.

We apologise for the confusion that Friday’s letter may have caused. We do endeavour to provide the most accurate information we can to residents so they know what to expect. At the time of printing, the estimated arrival date for Alice was accurate.

If you are experiencing levels of vibration that are making you uncomfortable, please contact us on 1800 105 105 and we can arrange for alternative accommodation while the TBM moves past your property.

We have been given assurance by Quest St Kilda Road and Quest Southbank that they are not hosting any enforced COVID isolation cases. They have also assured us that they are taking every precaution with cleaning in their hotels.

As always, thank you for your ongoing patience as we build the Metro Tunnel.

It seems that earlier advice was a bit wrong and that Alice, the second TBM, is now in front of 390 St Kilda Rd heading towards us.

We had quite a bit of window rattle yesterday.

CYP tell me that they don’t expect us to feel it but if you do you should call 1800 105 105 and let them know!!

Here is a short video explaining the tunneling process.

Jan and I had a confidential update from CYP on the latest design for Anzac (Domain) Station.  I have permission from Rob Mair at CYP to share this with residents, but I was not permitted to use any of their diagrams. They are only preliminary still.

Chiller Plant

The biggest design issue we have had was the bluestone covered chiller plant out the front of The Botanica.  There is good news and not so good news.

The good news is that it will now be covered in Corten steel, some will be solid panels (facing the side of the road) and the ends will be more open weave patterned steel (allowing airflow).  I think this is MUCH better and less imposing than the bluestone.  I understand that the Office of Victorian Government Architect was also involved and said that the chiller plants must not look like monuments and this was part of the reason for the changes.

Various drawings from the previous design are shown below – which we understood to mean that there would be one structure with two vents.

The bad news is that the two vents have now been spread.  We were not permitted to have the current equivalent diagrams but each structure is about 12.5 metres long and 6.25 metres high.  A gap of 17.5 metres will be between the two units and the southernmost unit will be in front of 412 St Kilda Rd (Old Police Building).  The reason for the change was to increase noise dampening and increase air intake.

To give you an idea of size, an A Class tram like the one below, is 15 metres long and 3.3 metres high.  So each chiller plant will be like one of these trams stuck on top of another with a tram between the two plants.

We were not told at the meeting but were subsequently told it was also to assist with the ‘working in confirned spaces’ safety work practices.

A bit like this

In the next diagram, I’ve tried to draw them from our front steps.  The size and position is close but certainly not exact.

Street trees

We had five elms trees and we currently have five temporary street trees, we are disappointed to discover that the new design only has four trees.  They will be like for like and we have been assured that they won’t just be plonked in a hole.  We have also been assured that there is sufficient room above the station box lid for satisfactory tree growth.

The current plan also has plantings between the trees, but not sure exactly what that will look like.

The previous version of the plan has five elms clearly marked. See below

The current plan has a bike hoop in front of 402 St Kilda Rd which we said made no sense.  There are bike hoops outside 412 St Kilda Rd, riders to our building can leave their bikes in our carpark.  We strongly pushed for the bike hoops to be relocated to the commercial building at 390 St Kilda Rd.

CYP said that, as part of this design process, they need to show City of Port Phillip locations where bike hoops may be installed in the future.  That makes no sense to me at all.  They clearly should not be installed there now or ever.

The location and number of the central street trees were less clear but we requested that strong consideration be given to camouflaging the chiller plants.

Footpath

We have been assured that it will be level and drain properly but will not be bluestone.  For some reason the bluestone will stop at Bowen Lane.

Driveway access / car parking / bike lanes

No decision yet has been made on central or kerbside bike lanes.  In front of The Botanica the plan is for one bike lane, one lane of car parking and two lanes of traffic.  The lanes are effectively interchangeable and so the bike lane, currently kerbside (Copenhagen style), could be moved to the centre.

No decision has been made yet on whether our parking will be off peak only or full time.

After the meeting Rob said that I had misunderstood this and that our parking will be off-peak only.

We again had the conversation about safe access to our St Kilda Rd driveway.  The design as presented has gone back to the very sharp and dangerous entry across a bike lane and footpath.  Rob confirmed after the meeting that they have committed to remove one parking bay  and will ensure a safe entry and exit.

Vents

There have always been some vents in the middle of St Kilda Rd, in front of 390 St Kilda Rd.  These remain but have been made slightly smaller.

The designs will go out for public comment later in the year, I will let you know when that occurs.

As you should already know, we need to replace all of the fire sprinklers in every apartment. We have already done 13 apartments as they have been vacant.

Can you please talk to Paul to book in a weekday that works best for you.

The process takes the best part of a day. The work is generally done by one person operating alone and he is very ‘COVID aware’.

All apartments MUST be done.