Dear Residents,
Last night we had someone attempt to be let into the building. He buzzed the intercom and even claimed to be a police officer but had no id.
He was NOT let in.
Please be careful with security and do not let people in that you don’t know.
Best regards,
Mouad
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
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
Good afternoon,
Welcome to this week’s construction update for the Domain Precinct and Anzac Station.
Overnight Works:
No overnight works planned.
Works next week
Albert Road Reserve forecourt and Station Entrance
Next week we’ll see asphalting the final section of Albert Road where our existing access point to the site.
This will require the closure of the west-bound lane of Albert Road and the closure of the left turn from St Kilda Road into Albert Road. This will be in place next week – Wednesday and Thursday (11th and 12th). Access to turn in and out of roadway leading to Ramsay Clinic and 1 Albert Road (The Domain) will remain open. (See below for a map showing the closure)
Elsewhere, the landscaping and paving will continue in the reserve, while the bike hoops I mentioned last week should be installed.
We were also very pleased to this week open up the section of the project between Kings Way and Albert Road South. This area has now been handed over to the City of Port Phillip.
Shrine Entrance and Domain Road
The asphalting will continue all next week as we complete the final pole installations and asphalt the section of the footpath the north of Melbourne Grammar’s Wadhurst entrance.
The roadway itself is nearly complete and we’ll be focussing on the furniture install associated with the dual tram/bus stop on Domain Road next week.
Next week our travelling roadshow of pavers will start plying their trade in front of entrance adjacent to the Shrine of Remembrance, along with the cladding for the recently poured retaining wall around the forecourt.
Edmund Herring Oval (EHO) Reinstatement
Next week at Edmund Herring Oval we’ve started reinstatement works for the heritage retaining wall around the perimeter of the oval. On the oval itself we’re focussing on the irrigation and laying of sand
Rectification Works
The repair work on the bluestone pavers at the top of Albert Road near St Kilda Road have been pushed back. There will be some very minor pedestrian detours while these works take place, we may be in a position to complete the works late next week.
The next rectification works of note are likely to be in mid-September in the garden bed opposite The Botanica (400 St Kilda Road) where we’ll be back in to adjust some of the gradients in the garden bed. We’ll take the opportunity to also do some weeding through this area.
Friday Flashback
This weeks Friday Flashback we’re staying in 2019, but this time a shot from a drone that we flew over the site. With many areas of the job nearing completion in 2024, this shot shows the site split by St Kilda Road and the tram tracks, with the diaphragm wall construction happening up on both sides. You can see how the site was built around St Kilda road – as St Kilda Road was later realigned to allow us to finish the roof and wall section underneath the road and tramway you can see in this shot.
Thanks, Rob
The AGM is next Tuesday September 10 at 6pm at Flo at 412 St Kilda Rd- all owners welcome
It is a great opportunity to chat to other owners and share a drink and some nibbles
You should have received an info pack from Bluestone
A number of you have asked about the ‘lawn mowing’ saga.
I have lots of news
* CYP (contractor building the tunnel) send me a ‘cease and desist’ email. They thought that I MAY have been involved and asked me stop. They asked me to simply request that they mow the lawn and they would arrange.
* I asked the woman who chairs the stakeholder meetings, why they had not been able to do any planting, weeding, fixing footpaths, fixing car parking or providing street lighting – but they had time to stop me helping them. She said – it’s a red flag to them, it makes them look like they can’t do their job…hmm yes you’re right and so why??
* A month ago, I requested a mow….You will be shocked to learn that they have done NOTHING but the lawn has continued to grow. Amazing, perhaps we need an AI system that could predict grass growing coming into Spring
* The bad news continues, today it seems that someone got into my shed and took my mower. My first thought was that it was someone trying to stop me mowing but who knows. The only thing removed was the mower.
* There is good news however, it seems that they used the mower to mow the lawn in front of our apartment…A bit like someone in suburbia mowing their nature strip / verge even though it is council land.
* The even better news is that they have returned my mower and sent me this photo of the lawn before they mowed.
Good afternoon,
Welcome to the update on all things Metro Tunnel construction.
Overnight Works:
No overnight works planned.
Works next week
Albert Road Reserve forecourt and Station Entrance
The DDA drop-off parking bay for the station is almost completely paved as I type, while up on the concourse level, you might have noticed a honeycomb of holes in the pavers – these are the installation points for the array of future bike hoops that will soon be installed adjacent to the station entrance.
Next week we’ll see more of the paving and landscaping works through this area.
Shrine Entrance and Domain Road
Next week is concrete and asphalt week out on Domain Road. The concrete is being poured for the new dual tram/bus stops on Domain Road. The outbound raised stop was poured this week, while the inbound stop to be poured next week. Following on closely behind is the final layers of asphalt for Domain Road and both the new stops.
Edmund Herring Oval (EHO) Reinstatement
Up at Edmund Herring Oval, it’s another week of strategically re-arranging dirt. (The lead engineer was away today – so I’ll have a slightly more technical update next week)
Rectification Works
I provided an update a few weeks back on the process for completing and opening sections of the job that are complete. It is a in-depth exercise, with each area and design element requiring walk-throughs and inspections with the future asset owners (e.g. councils and Department of Transport). As part of this process there are often minor rectification works that are identified, which the team progressively tick off and closes out with the future owner and the independent project auditor.
Next week as part of rectification works, we’ll be doing some repairs on the bluestone pavers at the top of Albert Road near St Kilda Road where local skating enthusiasts have caused quite a bit of damage to the bluestone. The repair works will include spray cleaning the bluestone and installation of some skate deterrents on the bluestone to prevent further damage. There will be some very minor pedestrian detours while these works take place.
In future, if you’re looking to practice your back-side grinds – you’ll need to jump on the tram and head to RiverSlide skate park adjacent to the Yarra River for all your gnarly grinding needs.
The next rectification works of note are likely to be in mid-September in the garden bed opposite The Botanica (400 St Kilda Road) where we’ll be back in to adjust some of the gradients in the garden bed. We’ll take the opportunity to also do some weeding through this area.
Friday Flashback
This weeks Friday Flashback takes us back to February 2019, when the crews had to carefully transport the diaphragm wall (D-wall) excavating machinery from one side of St Kilda Road to the other. This took place in the middle of the night when trams weren’t running and the road was closed.
The team had to carefully navigated underneath the tram wires that you can see in the shot (As you can imagine – they had the power isolated for the duration)
Thanks, Rob
The Botanica 
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