Sharon Harrison Councillor for Boulevard Ward

15/10/2026

NOTICE OF MOTION – CREATING SAFER PLACES GRANTS – VICTORIA STREET CORRIDOR
The usual suspects have gone on the offensive, attacking me for how I voted. I provided a very clear explanation as to why I voted against Councillor Meca Ho’s Notice of Motion. I am very happy to stand on my own record. The relevant section of the recording can be accessed here:
https://www.youtube.com/live/On2qtHQIY_g?si=EQbEQf1J7bZgLzAX&t=9525
The CEO’s advice during the Council Meeting is that the proposal for Council to apply for funding for CCTV cameras through an application for the Creating Safer Spaces grant scheme would be inconsistent with the Victoria Street Revitalisation Plan.
The CEO is correct. The Victoria Street Revitalisation Plan states that Council would advocate for ‘the installation of police operated CCTV cameras on Victoria Street between Church and Hoddle Street, and on Lennox Street between Elizabeth and Victoria Street’ (see screenshot below).
It is worth going back and reviewing the background to Council’s advocacy priorities as set out in the Victoria Street Revitalisation Plan. Priority 1 iii) did not come out of nowhere. It was added to the Plan through an amendment that was moved by Councillors Eva Aston and Meca Ho at the Council Meeting on 11 August 2026 (see screenshot below).
And finally, it is also worth mentioning that representatives of the Victoria Street Business Association, Mr Ha Nguyen and Mr Andrew Phu, and other Victoria Street Traders attended and made submissions at the Council Meeting when the Victoria Street Revitalization was adopted. They were therefore in attendance with Councillors Aston and Ho moved the amended motion.
On a side note, Councillor Davies left the room without explanation at 9.07pm when the discussion of Agenda Item 7.2 Victoria Street Revitalisation Plan commenced and only returned at 9.48pm after the vote was complete. Councillors Jolly, Aston, Ho, Harrison and Gomez voted in favour of the amended motion, while Councillors Wade and Crossland voted against the amended motion.
So, it appears that Councillor Ho brought his Notice of Motion because he was seeking a backdoor fix that would undermine Council’s stated position on the operation of CCTV cameras in the Victoria Street Revitalisation.
For the record, my concerns about Councillor’s Ho’s Notice of Motion Creating Safer Places Grants – CCTV Victoria Street Corridor are as follows:
• My primary concern was that the Notice of Motion was proposing that Council apply for a Creating Safer Places grant funding for the project that does not meet the criteria. As was highlighted by my questions at the Council Meeting, the rules of the Creating Safer Places funding scheme require that Council own and operate any CCTV that is funded. Council should not take on the responsibility of owning and operating the CCTV.
• As someone who works in research management, I have a very strong understanding of how grant schemes work. If you apply for the funding, you must comply with the rules of the grant scheme. If Council applied for the funding, it would be obliged to install and manage any CCTV cameras installed on Victoria Street. This would have involved significant ongoing work and cost for Council. I believe the requirements around CCTV would have been very onerous. This is simply another example of State government cost shifting onto Councils.
• And what about safety concerns in other parts of the municipality? Tragically, sixteen-year-old Ater Good was gunned down in a drive-by shooting near the intersection of Brunswick and King William streets in Fitzroy just after midnight on 3 January this year. Council is also undertaking a CPTED Study in Collingwood.
• I am becoming increasingly concerned about Councillors who are advocating aggressively for their Ward and do not seem to consider their obligation to consider the interests of the municipality as a whole. The firebombing on Victoria Street in July was devastating, impacting 10 businesses and numerous employees who lost their livelihoods. However, we have also had the firebombing of multiple to***co shops on Bridge Road, and a firebombing that has affected 3 businesses on St Georges Road in Fitzroy North only this week. We also heard from a Brunswick Street resident who received a warning from Victoria Police regarding an imminent threat to the flat where he lives. As a Councillor, I am required to represent the whole municipal community not just particular lobby groups, Activity Centres or just my own Ward.
With regards to submitting an application/s for the Creating Safer Places funding, I expect that Council Officers will prepare applications for this funding scheme. Victoria Police prepared a CPTED report that was funded by the North Richmond Precinct and Council has done CPTED work in Fitzroy, with another study underway for Collingwood.
I see no reason why Council would not apply for a grant for some of the CPTED work that Council has planned in North Richmond. Such a proposal would be eligible for the Creating Safer Places funding scheme and, given that the CPTED study has already been done by Victoria Police, I believe that Council would be able to make a strong case for the proposal. Council needs to prioritise the proposals that are most likely to be funded.
Unfortunately, Councillor Ho did not consult with other Councillors regarding his Notice of Motion. The first thing that I heard about the Notice of Motion is when the Council papers were publicly released on Wednesday last week. I had already been following up with Officers from early September when the issue of CCTV came up due to an enquiry from the Bridge Road Traders and I had been liaising with the Council Officers about the CCTV Policy that they are drafting. If Councillor Ho had consulted with other Councillors we would have been in a position to provide advice or assist with the drafting of the Notice of Motion and ensure that it had support.
I make no apology for voting against Councillor Ho's Notice of motion. This is not pontificating, it is acting with integrity and in line with my legal obligations as a Councillor.

28/09/2026

It has been widely reported in the media over the last couple of days that Richmond resident Jordan Yap has gone missing while hiking in Peru. Jordan's family and friends last had contact from him on 14 September 2026. They have launched a dedicated social media page:

334 Followers, 4 Following, 6 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Search for Jordan Yap ()

22/09/2026

BARKLY GARDENS PATH UPGRADE
Thank you to the residents who raised this issue with me. I am always keen receive feedback from residents about improvements that are needed. I advocated for this project to be included in Council's 2026/2027 budget and its great to see these renewal works completed.

14/09/2026

GOVERNANCE, TRANSPARENCY & DEMOCRACY AROUND PLANNING APPLICATIONS
I also brought a Notice of Motion highlighting concerns around Ministerial Planning Application approvals, advocating for changes to ensure improvements to governance, transparency and democracy.
This Notice of Motion was a joint effort with Councillor Edward Crossland who also started working on a Notice of Motion around these issues. The motion was passed unanimously. This is a reflection around the consensus among many Councillors around how Ministerial Planning approvals and serious concerns around governance and transparency.

14/09/2026

MANAGEMENT OF MAJOR CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN THE DOONSIDE, RIVERSIDE & VICTORIA GARDENS PRECINCT
At the last Council Meeting on 8 September 2026, I moved a Notice of Motion on managing the issues like traffic, parking and safety for residents around major construction projects. With over 2,000 apartments either under construction or planned, there will be multiple major projects underway across this precinct and it's vital that this is properly managed.
If you would like to provide feedback about issues you are already experiencing or are concerned will become a problem, please reach out to me via email ([email protected]) so that I can pass on this information to Council officers.
I would like to extend my thanks to the residents who waited long into the night at this very long Council Meeting to speak in support of this motion.

08/09/2026

PROPOSED NAME CHANGE FOR ADOLPH STREET IN CREMORNE
I spoke on the 3AW breakfast radio program this morning regarding the name change request that has been proposed by a group of community members in Cremorne.
This is on the Council Meeting agenda tonight. Officers have recommended that Council resolve not to proceed with a name change following feedback from Geographic Names Victoria.

A caller told the 3AW Breakfast Rumour File an inner-city Melbourne council would debate renaming a street on Tuesday night. Yarra deputy mayor Councillor Sharon Harrison told 3AW Breakfast hosts Ross Stevenson and Russel Howcroft the item was unlikely to be at the top of the agenda. Press PLAY to h...

26/08/2026

PLAYGROUND UPGRADE - GOLDEN SQUARE BICENTENNIAL PARK

It was my great pleasure to formally open the upgraded playground at Golden Square last Saturday.

The upgraded playground includes equipment for children of all ages and stages, as well as new mature trees and plantings.

If you haven't already visited, I thoroughly recommend checking it out.

The reaction of the children on Saturday said it all. My speech could barely be heard over the noise of all the children putting the new playground equipment to use.

A big thanks to everyone who worked hard to bring this project to fruition.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BegfT4DXK/

23/08/2026

MEGA-CITY MESS?

There is an article in The Age today on the topic of planning. Planners are rightly asking whether Labor’s pledge to halt urban sprawl will result in a mega-city mess?

The Planning Institute of Australia’s Victorian president Patrick Fensham says he is very disappointed that since 2023, fast-tracking housing approvals has been done “at the expense of good strategic planning and serious thinking about the future of Melbourne”.
On Plan for Victoria, Fensham adds: “Actually, it’s not a plan at all. It’s a statement about where you might like housing to go without an accompanying infrastructure plan.”

The approval of the Harry the Hirer development confirms that planners are right to be concerned about Labor’s Development Facilitation Program pathway that allows developers to bypass Councils and go directly to State Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny who can override the Local Planning Scheme. This is leading to very poor outcomes and Yarra’s will be paying the price in the future.
With regard to infrastructure, there are key examples of the lack of infrastructure.

The flood modelling released by Melbourne Water last year confirms that Glass Street in Richmond is a flooding hotspot. Council has been advocating for the Swan Street Main Drain to be upgraded for a long time, but Melbourne Water do not even have this work in their work plans for the next 5 years. We will be lucky if there is an upgrade in the next 10 years. The sum total of what Melbourne Water has done is to install one sensor in a drain to monitor water flow.

And what about the transport infrastructure for the thousands of apartments that are planned for the Victoria Gardens, Doonside and Riverside Precincts in Richmond? There’s no provision for this either. Anyone who travels on a tram on Bridge Road and Victoria Street in the morning and afternoon peaks knows that you can barely get on a tram. When will this be addressed?

Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny draws a policy battleline about our city’s future shape, as we investigate how and where to house Melbourne’s booming population by 2101.

23/08/2026

WHAT’S GOING ON AT THE HARRY THE HIRER SITE?

Last Monday evening a local resident sent me a photograph of sink holes on the footpath on Appleton Street in Richmond adjacent to the Harry the Hirer site.

When I reported this to Council Officers, they advised that they were not aware of the construction works that were underway at the Harry the Hirer site. They had no record of a building permit for the demolition works that had been underway for weeks at Gurner’s site. The Relevant Building Surveyor had not filed a copy of the building permit he had issued in late May 2026, even though it is a requirement under Section 30 of the Building Act to lodge a copy of the building permit documentation within 7 days.

Council’s Officers undertook an inspection on Tuesday morning and ordered urgent remediation works to repair the Council footpath, addressing the immediate risk to community safety.
Another resident got in contact to raise concerns about the lack of hoarding at the site – dust from the works that underway is affecting properties in the area. This has also been raised with the Relevant Building Surveyor.

So, who is the Relevant Building Surveyor? The site owner has appointed Anastasios Galanos of Gardner Group to oversee the demolition works. One only needs to do a quick Google search to see what kind of building surveyor Mr Galanos is.

He was the Relevant Building Surveyor for the Lacrosse Building:
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/lacrosse-builder-faces-disciplinary-action-over-flammable-cladding-20160629-gpum17.html

He was also the Relevant Building Surveyor at the Mount Waverley Development were the pit collapsed:
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/building-team-behind-mount-waverley-pit-collapse-face-disciplinary-action-20160429-goi428.html

He has been disciplined by the then Building Practitioners Building and the Victorian Building Authority. Despite a poor track record, he is still a Registered Building Practitioner.

I fear that this is just a sign of things to come and that this part of Richmond will be transformed into a warzone. I would like to encourage residents to raise concerns with this building site with Council’s Construction Enforcement team. I am also happy to hear from residents ([email protected]).

23/08/2026

PLANNING MINISTER SONYA KILKENNY RIDES ROUGHSHOD OVER RESIDENTS

I cannot express how disappointed I was to receive the news early on Friday morning that Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny had already approved the Harry the Hirer Planning Application. Council got wind of this late on Thursday 20 August 2026 and used all available channels to request that the Minister delay any decision until after Council’s Planning Decisions Committee had met on 25 August 2026. This fell on deaf ears.

The Planning Application for Tim Gurner’s planned Harrington Village at the ‘Harry the Hirer Site’ at 81-95 Burnley Street and 26-34 Doonside Street, Richmond, was submitted by the developer via the Development Facilitation Program pathway.

With DFP Planning Applications, City of Yarra is a Referral Authority and is not the ultimate decision maker. These Planning Applications are overseen by the Department of Transport and Planning and the Planning Minister is the Responsible Authority.

On Wednesday 19 August 2026 Council published the agenda for the Planning Decisions Committee that is scheduled for 25 August 2026.

The Minister approved the Application without waiting for Council’s Planning Decisions Committee to pass a resolution on the Planning Application and refer Council’s referral advice to the Department.
For the record, this was not a case of Council dragging its feet, delaying a decision. The Planning Application was submitted to DTP in early April and Council did not receive a copy of the ‘complete’ Planning Application until 23 July 2026. The Department advised that it had to prepare its referral advice by 7 August 2026. It was therefore literally impossible for the Planning Application to be referred to Council’s Planning Decisions Committee.

It should also be noted that Council was well within the 60-day statutory timeframe to for a responsible authority to make a decision on a Planning Permit Application set out in the Planning and Environment Act 1987. The DTP Officer’s report confirms that the decision was made within 47 statutory days.

So, why the great hurry? It seems that as soon as the Council Officer’s report came out a decision was made to bypass Council’s Planning Decisions Committee and the Minister hastily approved the Application.

Council’s Planning Decisions Committee was not the only thing Minister Kilkenny bypassed. The Department of Transport and Planning also bypassed the requirement to notify residents who will be materially affected by this Planning Application.

Council officers advised DTP in writing on two previous occasions that they don’t consider the application to be ‘generally in accordance with’ the Development Plan - in November 2024 when Council officers were invited to provide preliminary comments as part of the pre-application process, and again in April this year when we were made aware of the application having been lodged with DTP.

DTP ignored this advice, providing no public notice to affected residents. That’s right, not a single sign was put up and not one resident received a notification as required under the Planning and Environment Act 1987. I question the legality of this.
Let’s call it as it is. Minister Kilkenny’s approval of this Planning Application without undertaking any public notification completely undermines the statutory requirements set out in the Planning and Environment Act and rides roughshod over residents.

The changes made by Minister Kilkenny with the Development Facilitation Program pathway, includes Clause 53.23 - Significant Residential Development with Affordable Housing) allows DTP to waive any building height or setback requirements of the Planning Scheme. This is the Clause used by developer to bypass requirements set out in Council’s Planning Scheme.

All of this points to the fact that the Labor State government and Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny have thrown out the rule book, and they are ignoring everything that stands in their way.

So, what was the Officer’s assessment of the Planning Application?
The Officer report indicates that the Application is not generally in accordance with the DP masterplan in terms of height, vehicle access, pedestrian walkways and commercial floor space. The is also variation around building setbacks.

One of the key conditions proposed in the Officer report is 'a reduction in building height to comply with the Development Plan'. With the exception of Building C, all Buildings in the Planning Application exceed the Maximum Building Height set in the Development Plan.

The Application does not comply with the requirement to provide 687 car parking spaces under Clause 52.06 – Car Parking. They are proposing to provide just 474 car parking spaces. Barely 68% of parking requirements, where are those remaining cars going to park?

The Officer recommended that Council not support the Planning Application on the following basis:
• The development is substantially not generally in accordance with the Development Plan
• The Environmentally Sustainable Design (ESD) response has substantial deficiencies;
• The apartments will receive poor internal amenity;
• The development will have an adverse amenity impact on the surrounding public realm;
• The development’s public realm response is deficient.

Key conditions proposed by the Council Officer include:
• A reduction in building height to comply with the Development Plan;
• Removal of vehicle access and loading to Harry’s Lane (except for the Restricted Retail Premises);
• Retention of a significant eucalyptus tree;
• Park Lane widened;
• Full compliance with Clause 58 internal amenity standards; and
• Updated daylight and thermal performance modelling.

Council has not objected to more housing being built, just the terrible outcomes that will come with this development.

Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny ought to be ashamed of herself. I fear that there will be many more of these terrible decisions before the State Election in November. As a community, we will be paying the price for these terrible decisions into the future.

Please reach out to me if you with to discuss this further ([email protected]) or come to my Ward meeting at 6.00-7.30pm on Thursday 27 August 2026 at Richmond Town Hall.