More Renewal on Fitzroy Street

This Week in St Kilda #255
First four pop-up tenants open on Fitzroy Street
International Womens Day events and photo show
Bowie orchestrated @ Palais
3XY Top 40 @ Memo
French Film Festival @ Astor
A History of LGBTIQ+ Victoria launch  @ Pride zoom

New TWiSK section: Your Council Q&A

Suggest a question, we’ll ask it
How much does Council spend on Facebook? 
What’s Council got planned for the St Kilda Library?
See below for the full story

A History of LGBTIQ+ Victoria launch @ Lesbian and Gay Archives via zoom
Monday 1 March 2021, 6.30 pm 7.30 pm
Monday marks 40 years since the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Victoria.
An auspicious day to launch a report on local LGBTIQ+ history that identifies 100 objects, places and collections of significance.
Please register in advance

Renew Fitzroy Street  @ 63 Fitzroy Street
From Tuesday 2 March
Check out the four new pop-up enterprises on Fitzroy Street. 
Shop 1/63 Fitzroy Street – FARM GOAT
Shop 2/63 Fitzroy Street – MIKE STRETCH FINDS
Shop 4/63 Fitzroy Street – ARTWORKS St Kilda artists collective
Shop 7/63 Fitzroy Street – Calistags Plants
Pictured top: Tom from ARTWORKS St Kilda artists collective

French Film Festival @ Astor
Wednesday 3 March
The festival opens with Eiffel, France’s biggest production of 2021, directed by Martin Bourboulon.
Tickets on sale

Rebecca Barnard & Billy Miller’s Sing-A-Long Society @ Memo
Wednesday 3 March, 7 pm
Great fun, good venue $25
Tix

International Womens Day @ St Kilda Town Hall
Thursday 4 March, 6 pm – 9 pm
Celebrate the everyday achievements of local women, and get to know the people in our community. A free conversation-based event followed by light refreshments.
Hurry, these book out.
Tix

Blackbirds FC @ Memo
Thursday 4 March, 7.30 pm
Featuring members of The Hollowmen, Helvelln, the Vanda’s and Flicker, Blackbirds FC play their own brand of alternative country rock inspired by the Go Betweens, Beck and Wilco. Big shoes to fill $25/$20
Tix

IWD Breakfast with Rita Arrigo @ The Prince
Friday 5 March, 8.30 am – 9.15 am zoom tix only available
Breakfast at The Prince is sold out, but you can Zoom into the room to hear from speakers including Rita Arrigo, Industry Digital Strategist for Microsoft about emerging technology, and reinventing our working life to make our life more human.
$22 ($5 from every ticket will be donated to Ready Set)
Book for zoom

Waz e James (feat. Andrew Pendlebury) @ George Lane
Friday 5 March, 6 – 11 pm
Waz e James out front is supported by Pendlebury on lead guitar, drummer Scotty Martin and bass Steve. Cool crew.
Hurry limited tix


We Can Be Heroes – The Music of Bowie Orchestrated @ Palais
Friday 5 March
An orchestral tribute to the man who fell to earth, David Bowie. Conducted by George Ellis, the 24 piece Symphony Orchestra will perform the Best of Bowie. Special guest vocalists are Steve Kilbey from The Church, Jeff Duff and Chris Cooke
Tix

IWD photo exhibition @ Melbourne Camera Club
Saturday, Sunday & Monday 6, 7 and 8 March, 10 am to 4 pm
Check out the Melbourne Camera Club’s fourth International Women’s Day Exhibition showcasing women in photography.
Image: ‘Melbourne in Isolation’, Ruth Woodrow
Info
Corner Ferrars & Dorcas Streets
South Melbourne

Hugo Race & Michelangelo Russo @ George Lane
Saturday 6 March, 6 – 11 pm
Globetrotting Australian producer and performer Hugo Race together with Italian multi-instrumentalist and abstract painter Michelangelo Russo.
Limited tix

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Marathon @ Astor
Saturday 6 March, 11 am
Take 540 minutes to celebrate 20 years since the release of The Fellowship of The Ring.
Tix

Noasis @ Espy
Saturday 6 March, 7.30 pm
Cover band with an international pedigree. $38
Tix

3XY top 40 @ Memo
Sunday 7 March, 3.00 pm
Backed by the 3XY All-Stars, the vocal line-up is mega: Brian Mannix, Nick Barker, Bernard Curry, Scott Darlow, Eugene Hamilton, Nina Ferro, George Wilson and Janine Maunder.
Plus one of 3XY’s original DJ’s – John Peters $55/$35
Tix
Soon at Memo
Saturday 13 March: Ron S. Peno & The Superstitions
Tuesday 16 March: Kevin Bloody Wilson In The F.U.P.C Tour 2021
Friday 19 March: Painters & Dockers – Back To St Kilda (Album Launch)

The Shed play the songs of JJ CALE @ George Lane
Sunday 7 March, 4 pm – 8 pm
Classy covers
Limited tix

Charlie and Joel play as Tendrils @ Brightspace
Sunday 7 March, 7 pm
Tendrils are an irregular musical collaboration between two Australian guitarists, Joel Silbersher of Hoss and Charlie Owen of Tex, Don & Charlie.
The current exhibition by Graeme Rowe, Every Picture Tells a Story, will serve as a backdrop for this rare performance.
Bookings Essential  

Soon

Bike Confidence Course @ Peanut Park
Wednesday 17 March,12 noon – 3 pm
Thursday 18 March, 12 noon – 3 pm
Good Cycles present a three- hour workshop including basic bike maintenance, practical riding skills and an instructed on-road group ride to give you a confidence boost. Free
Bookings essential 

Ongoing

Watch out penguins, the humans are back @ St Kilda Pier Breakwater
Three sessions nightly until April from 8.30 pm
Bookings are essential.

Mirka @ JewMu
Until December
Mirka transforms the Jewish Museum into an immersive ‘Mirka-world’ that reflects the artist’s trademark mischievousness and bohemian spirit. $20/$15
Mirka info

“Every Picture Tells a Story” by Graeme Rowe @ Brightspace
Until 6 March, Wednesday – Friday 11 – 5 pm, & Saturday 12 – 4p m
Brightspace
8 Martin Street


Hayley Millar Baker: I Will Survive @ Vivien Anderson Gallery
Until 6 March, Tues – Fri 11 am – 5 pm, Sat 12 pm – 4 pm
Hayley Millar Baker (Gunditjmara, AU) is a cross-cultural research-driven, contemporary artist based in Melbourne.
Gallery website | Hayley’s website 
Ground Floor, 284 – 290 St Kilda Road


Michele Lee’s Single Ladies @ Red Stitch
Until 14 March
Red Stitch is back with reduced capacity, so please hurry to book for Michele Lee’s comedy.
Tix and info


Three shows @ Linden
Until 16 May,
Moving on from the Postcard Show, Linden has works from three impressive artists:
Ash Keating > Duality; Troy Emery > Sonder; and Nicholas Folland > Burn Down The House
Linden New Art
Linden hours Tuesday – Sunday
Session 1 > 11.15am – 1pm
Session 2 > 2pm – 3.45pm


The Innocents: child victims @ Sisters in Crime Zoom
Watch on zoom Free
Join a panel of powerful sisters including seasoned writers Caroline Overington, Katherine Kovacic and Stella Budrikis discuss these particularly nasty crimes with fellow writer Emily Webb.

Got a community interest question for council that deserves a public answer?
Contact TWiSK for inclusion in this new section.

How much does Council spend on Facebook? 
With debate raging about the power of Facebook, we thought it timely to ask how much was being spent by council on social media.
TWiSK question:
Can you disclose the total council spend on social media ‘advertising’, including Facebook for 2018/19 and 2019/20 – and if possible, the budget projection for 2020/21.”
Council answer (in full):
“Our social media spend, including Facebook, is small and is campaign driven rather than based on an annual budget.”
TWiSK observation:
Mmmmm. Nothing to see here, apparently. But wait, in February last year the Council CEO reported a breach of the Local Government Act over a two-year period where the $150,000 threshold was exceeded for untendered activity. And guess what? That $150K plus went to Facebook Australia.
Reference CEO report #62 pp 26 & 49 
The truth is that across the two years to August 2019, Council spent over $150,000 on Facebook advertising and needed to seek Ministerial approval to by-pass normal tender requirements (which was granted until September 21).
TWiSK thinks a more credible answer would be that Council doesn’t know how much it spends on social media.
This is because multiple managers with council credit cards pay for social advertising in ‘small amounts’ below the radar – but as Council learned from the 2019 breach – these small spends can add up to significant amounts.
We’d still welcome an informative answer.

What’s Council got planned for the St Kilda Library?
A ‘Utopian’ vision?
Plans to redevelop the St Kilda Library have been on the books for at least 4 years, yet the latest draft Library Action Plan is vague and devoid of almost any detail. With over $10M ear marked for the project, TWiSK thought you deserved more.
TWiSK question:
The draft Library Action Plan says “The redeveloped St Kilda Library [will be] the City’s largest and most popular library, with creative production capacity such as creative labs, an exhibition gallery and recoding and rehearsal spaces.”
[Is there] a timeline? A budget? Are there preliminary design plans? Will it be multi level? Will it be a hub for library service staff? What proportion of the additional area will be staff accommodation? And also, why Middle Park for 24/7 operations?
Council response (in full):
“The Library Action Plan is a draft, aspirational document, designed to generate ideas and community discussion. While it implies some timelines to set an agenda for priorities, there is work to be done on the detail, and any firm decision on timing and commitment of resources, including any redevelopment of St Kilda Library or changes to Middle Park Library operations, will be made by Council, once it approves the Council Plan and the Library Action Plan.”
TWiSK observation:
Forgive TWiSK for feeling like we’d inadvertently tuned into an episode of the ABC satire Utopia. Humour aside and frustrated by the non-answer, we naturally went looking for some answers to our questions …
The current Council plan earmarks $10.9M for the St Kilda Library redevelopment – so it’s a big deal.
We are told that councillors have seen ‘sketches’ and very broad concepts for the redevelopment. It could see two extra levels added to the library (apparently mostly for staff accommodation). The project could also absorb the small park and the adjacent free-standing building currently occupied by a youth support service.
But this is only ‘gossip’, albeit from ‘informed sources.’
Of course, we’d love to publish real answers. 
But it’s not only TWiSK that is curious or concerned…..
James Woollett, Middle Park local and passionate library advocate, contacted TWiSK about the draft Library Action Plan.
He’s very concerned that our libraries are run-down and shabby because of poor management and lack of love.
After council considered removing the books from the Middle Park Library in 2017, James and others looked closely at the library services in nearby municipalities – they visited 44 libraries in their research!
James and friends found that Port Phillip’s libraries compared very poorly to other councils.
The information they have collated is definitely food for thought.
Read Jame Woollett’s findings here. 
Community feedback on the draft Library Action Plan closes on 7 March
Have your say now, before it’s too late. 

Got a community interest question for council that deserves a public answer?
Contact TWiSK for inclusion in this new section.

Greg Day
Happy to chat anytime 0418 345 829

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This Week in St Kilda respectfully acknowledges the Yaluk-ut Weelam Clan of the Boon Wurrung. We pay our respect to their Elders, past, present and emerging. We acknowledge and uphold their continuing relationship to this land.