Wednesday, 30 October 2019

Caulfield Park flower stall

Mr SOUTHWICK (Caulfield) (19:15): (1374) My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change. The action that I seek from the minister for the environment is to step in and do whatever is necessary to save the flower shop, or the flower stall, that currently trades in Caulfield Park.

Caulfield Park is Crown land, and it is under licence to the Glen Eira council. This little flower shop has been around for 45 years. Savas Antoniou, who has been managing this flower shop, has been managing it for 30 years. Savas received a letter from council to say that this flower shop will have to close by the end of December because, I understand, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) have been reviewing a number of their licences. Because there was not an actual licence in place, unfortunately they have been served notice. This flower shop has been paying rent and certainly serving the community. So many people in Caulfield love this flower shop. It is iconic. People go past and they pick up their flowers on Friday. It really does put a smile on many of our residents’ faces, and it is something that we need to save. It is a little flower stall that exists, with a flower cart, in Caulfield Park. Now this is a bit like the Kerrigans, when the Kerrigans went out and said, ‘My home is my castle’, and wanted to fight the big guys and wanted to stay.

Lisa Marmur, who has been managing it for Savas, has started a petition. She has got all the locals behind her. It really is something that I would hope the minister for the environment could assist with to ensure that we can save this little flower shop. It really resembles what we would say is a small business that is having a go.

So I ask the minister to do whatever she can within her powers of managing DELWP. This is Crown land. It is land managed for and on behalf of the people—our great park of Caulfield Park, which is iconic. This flower shop that has been there for 45 years is also part of the furniture. It is not Interflora. It is not a big multinational. It is a little flower cart that I think deserves the support of the government and of the local community.