I know that a lot of you are interested / concerned about the massive chiller plants in front of our building. We have arranged for CYP to bring their expert along to tell us all about them.

• Are they safe?
• Will we get Legionnaires from them?
• How noisy will they be?
• What is emitted from them??

Lock in Tuesday November 19 starting at 530pm

All Botanica residents are welcome, you don’t have to be an owner.

More details to come but we will also put on some drinks and nibbles after the talk.

After a number of emails and a late evening call – they now agree that they need to do something!!

They will have a traffic controller for our driveway BUT the driveway will not be usable for part of the morning

• Peak Runner Flow exiting the City is 7.00am – 8.45am – no Exit could happen during this time as runners are on the road
• Peak runner Flow returning to the City – 8.45am – 11.30am – exit would be possible under direction with runner flow
• Road re opens at 12.00noon

I know it is not great but better than every other year!!

We are pleased to invite residents of The Botanica to an exclusive, free, tour of the Metro Tunnel’s new Anzac Station.

This free event is scheduled for Saturday 12 October.

Tour ticket availability

To ensure the safety of attendees, tour slots are strictly limited, with the event ticketed and registrations required. Tour tickets will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

So that as many residents as possible have the opportunity to see the station, tickets will be capped at two per household.

How to register

Registration is online only, and will open from 12pm, Tuesday 1 October.

Residents can register for a tour by visiting https://metrotunnel.vic.gov.au/anzac-open-day and using the code RQPUN to access The Botanica’s unique event registration webpage.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if you have any questions or issues registering:

By email

At metrotunnel@railprojects.vic.gov.au

By phone

Call us on 1800 105 105, and leave your name, number and preferred time for us to call you back.

Please also find the terms and conditions of the station tour attached.

We would like to thank you for your patience, cooperation and support while we constructed Anzac Station, and we look forward to seeing you at the tour.

Kind regards,

Metro Tunnel Project

Metro Tunnel Project Office

Anzac Station Open Day Terms & ConditionsDownload

We had someone try and buzz in to Level 1 at 9pm last night. He tried again several times around 5-6am. This is his photo

He has managed to get into the lobby and Mouad (Reeve fill-in) handled him very well and got him out of the building. He clearly thinks that his friend lives here but Mouad checked the name – no-one of that name is here.

Mouad also called the South Melb Police and they weren’t interested unless the guy was trying to break in – then call 000.

Be careful and don’t let people in

As many of you know, CYP have been struggling to ascertain the optimum mowing schedule for the grassed areas of St Kilda Rd. I did try and help by simply mowing the grass myself at a time that fitted my own personal schedule. They sent me a cease-and-desist order.

I also suggested that they use some form of generative AI that could use live images from my cameras. They didn’t even reply to that suggestion.

After an exhaustive international study, I have discovered that there is a widely accepted measure of grass length. It is quite technical, so I’ll try and simplify. Essentially it is a ratio of the height of the mower and the height of the grass.

This shows a grass length of around 50% of the mower and is not acceptable.

In this case the grass height exceeds the mower height by a considerable margin and may be an indication of

• There is a watering system leak
• It is not a real lawn mower in there
• The photo is AI generated and there is no problem
• CYP can’t get their act together
• ….all of the above.

Fortunately a LinkedIn connection of mine, Jack Williams, read of my problems and mowed a large section of the grassed area today for us. While he managed the area immediately in front of The Botanica well, the more distant areas are a bit patchy. Thanks for your efforts Jack.

A free event is scheduled for Saturday 12 October.

RPV will be sending out invitations to residents of The Botanica over the coming week.

So that as many residents as possible have the opportunity to see the station, tickets will be capped at two per household.

Please be aware that this guy has been around our building most of the afternoon and acting very odd. He also tried to get into Melbourne Grammar across the road.

The police have been and spoken to him. They asked that residents are careful not to let him into our building.

DO NOT LET HIM IN

Call 000 if an emergency

Trams

Some of you may have noticed that Yarra Trams did some work on Monday night near the Anzac Station platform and it has meant that things have become very noisy.

Here’s a video of them working https://www.youtube.com/live/QywP9Vp_mXA?si=MXdoc_L1a9NoF3hz&t=18744

Fortunately, I still had the phone number of Charlie the Tram Whisperer. He came out today and agreed that it is not right. They will rectify in the next 72 hours.

Chillers

CYP are doing some testing on Monday night September 30 on the chillers. They will have sound recording devices on my balcony.

I have asked that they come and give a presentation to all Botanica residents about the Chillers. It should talk about actual and expected noise levels, health issues and the devices in general. That is planned for early November.

Great to see the weeding being done – this seems to think it is already complete 🙂

Good afternoon all,

Welcome to this week’s construction update for the Domain Precinct and Anzac Station.
Anzac Station has been in the news this week, with the announcement of completion of major construction work. The station platform and concourse level are complete and looking great – we’re in the testing and commissioning phase of the systems that will be needed for day one operation.

We’re also quickly approaching the finish line for the surface works too – with the final paving and asphalting happening around the site.  The one-way road connection between the driveway for 1 Albert Road (The Domain) and St Kilda Road will open next week (Thu 19 Sept) – and the reopening of Domain Road to traffic is on track for mid-October.

Onto the ever-shrinking list of works for next week:

Overnight Works:

No overnight works planned.

Works next week

Albert Road Reserve forecourt and Station Entrance

The focus for next week will be the completion of the cladding on the terrace seating leading down to the reserve. Once that is done, it will primarily be an exercise in landscaping – with much of the topsoil already being trucked into site.

Shrine Entrance and Domain Road

The pavers have wasted no time in laying down bluestone over at the Shrine entrance – and with the completion of curbs along the edge – the entrance has very quickly transformed from a dirt patch, into to a station forecourt.

Up Domain Road, the team will switch from the heavy asphalting works of this week, to the installation of tactiles on the dual bus/tram stop, and eventually move onto street furniture installation over the coming weeks.
Next week we’ll have some works to connect in the final lighting along Domain Road, which will be followed shortly after by the final layer of asphalt along the southern footpath.

Edmund Herring Oval (EHO) Reinstatement

Edmund Herring Oval continues to tick over, with much of the focus on the reinstatement of the heritage stone wall around the perimeter of the oval. These works continue next week.

Rectification Works

With the heavy works nearly complete up on Domain Road, we’ll be putting resources into the rectification works around site. Today we completed weeding between Bowen Crescent and Bowen Lane, and some of these finishing touches will continue over the coming weeks. The repair works on the bluestone pavers at the top of Albert Road near St Kilda Road are still on our radar – we may have to water blast off the wax that skateboarders have used to facilitate better board slide on the bluestone.  We’re just working through a plan for this now. Once that is done, we’ll immediately install the skate deterrents on the bluestone.

Friday Flashback

I thought this week we’d travel back to one of the first batch of photos in our archive – the 2018 construction of the new track alignment for the trams on St Kilda Road. This relocation of the tram tracks and road enabled the start of main works.
Following two more tram realignments, construction and destruction of an acoustic shed, the assembly and launch of TBMs to the north and then to the south – we’re now in sight of the finish line for major construction – and looking forward to train passenger services in 2025.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Thanks, Rob