A few weeks ago, the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) took place. There were various movies shown all over the city over the span of a couple weeks. Zack and I went to see a documentary called The Triangle Wars. It's about the fight over the very plot of land we can see from our balconies! Can you see the triangle-shaped parking lot in the lower left of the picture? Also, the big white building behind Luna Park is the Palais Theatre. You're seeing the back of it in my picture.
So the movie was about a huge community uprising that took place a few years ago when the Port Phillip City Council was working with a developer to redo the Palais and create a massive shopping/entertainment complex along the waterfront (in the triangle-shaped area). St. Kilda residents didn't want this at all, and they fought against the council with protests, marches, attending meetings, etc. Some corruption within the council was unveiled, new members were elected (ones who were against the development plans), and in the end, the developer pulled out. We enjoyed the movie; it was full of the things we see every day and even showed our apartment complex in a few shots!
They are still trying to figure out what to do with this area of St. Kilda, but now they are heavily including the opinions of the city's residents. I'm not sure anything will get done during the time we're here, but it's cool that the people of this area are so involved and care about where they live. It's just another reason we're glad we live here.
Speaking of being glad we live here, check out this link:
