In the Press 2010

THE AGE

March 3, 2009
The Age, March 3, 2009 - When planning becomes political, we all lose

The Age, February 19, 2010 - The Premier must lift the curse of the cars

The Age, February 19,2010 - Parties prepare for the only polls that count

The Age, February 15, 2010 - Projects built at expense of community
Before the 2002 state election I was asked to chair a meeting of Banyule citizens who had good reason to believe the Bracks government was planning to build a freeway connecting the Metropolitan Ring...

Even in N.S.W. they get the roads in first:  
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/editorial/the-shock-of-the-old-20100222-orni.html   " earlier. We repeat this tedious detail simply to point out that Labor makes promises on transport it cannot keep - unless they relate to the cover's missing button, roads. Labor's Transport Action Plan of 1998 contained six rail projects, seven busways and 11 road projects. All the road projects have been completed - but only one rail project (the airport line) and half another (the line from Chatswood to Parramatta). Two busways have been built."

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Opinion, The Age, February 14, 2010

Forget the spin, be responsible
HARDLY surprising that in an election year the government wants us to believe they are addressing Melbourne's burgeoning traffic congestion (''Transport revolution to get city moving'', 7/2). The release of this new plan is designed to hide the fact that the government still intends to build PeninsulaLink, WestLink, NorthEast Link and other roads. These will require hundreds of compulsory home acquisitions. Vast tracts of parkland will be lost. These roads will cost billions and plunge the state further into debt. Too much spin, not enough responsible social and environmental management, Mr Brumby.
NOEL MARTIN, Heidelberg

Make rail a priority
''A BOOMING population and a limited rail network,'' writes Reid Sexton (''It's a question of give and take'', 7/2), ''mean that urgent action is needed if Melbourne is to avoid the nightmarish traffic jams found in large foreign cities.''

Why, then, isn't VicRoads' first suggestion to construct as many new rail lines as possible? Trains don't vie with cars, trucks and buses for road space. Build them without level crossings, and they won't affect traffic at all.
JUDITH LORIENTE, Hawthorn

Too old for fairytales
REID Sexton, I gave up on the tooth fairy when as a three-year-old I spied my pop putting a florin under my glass of water. It was a shattering of credulity then, just as your commentary on Melbourne transport [is] now.
JOHN DORMAN, Carnegie

Make it safe for all
I SUPPORT planned measures to encourage more popular use of public transport but the plan currently overlooks one crucial issue - security. I do not have a car. I rely on the train. After dark I must use a station that is dark and unstaffed (one of many), and walk from this station to my home using either a dark roadway or a narrow, dark passageway that traverses largely unpopulated areas. I do not feel safe doing this.

Any plans to increase use of public transport must also include realistic measures to ensure its users' safety, beginning with restaffing stations, more lighting and better design of station environments.
KATHY EDWARDS, Prahran

Think smarter
WITH VicRoads' new network operating plan, we at last have official recognition that our city streets do many other things besides moving cars and trucks. Car transport may still dominate in Melbourne, but it's less dominant than it was five years ago. There is every reason to expect and to encourage this trend to continue.

Meanwhile, our governments need to stop making policy that encourages freight to move from rail to road, while their public-relations spin suggests the opposite. Our roads don't need to get any bigger. The VicRoads plan recognises we can get a lot smarter about the way we move traffic in Melbourne.
TONY MORTON, secretary, Public Transport Users Association

Any substance?
YET another transport plan. While we are still being treated to an advertising bonanza for the Victorian Transport Plan, which was released back in 2008 and is subject to doubtful federal funding, this new plan talks of a ''road use hierarchy'', which appears to pick winners and losers on our existing road network. With advertising and self-promotion a feature of most announcements, one wonders whether this will be spin or substance.
MATHEW KNIGHT, Malvern East

The Age, February 7, 2010 - Transport revolution to get city moving

  State government will unveil ground-breaking transport plan, conceding that it can no longer simply build new roads to fix Melbourne's congestion crisis.

The Age, February 7, 2010 - It's give and take for all transport
VicRoads' admission that the solution to Melbourne's traffic woes lies in reorganising the existing system rather than building new roads is what public transport and cycling advocates have been...

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MEDIA RELEASE  (posted 26 Feb 2010)

Matthew Guy, Shadow Minister for Planning "Brumby's Unfair GAIC Bites The Dust" http://www.taxedout.com.au/images/stories/100223_Guy_-_BRUMBYS_UNFAIR_GAIC_BITES_THE_DUST.pdf  Also see Taxed Out's media release "Labor's Arrogance Leads to GAIC Defeat".

HEIDELBERG LEADER

February 9, 2010 - Beware the freeways 
THE general manager of corporate affairs, ConnectEast Group, James Tonkin, vigorously defended the now totally entrenched system that all Victorian State Governments have adopted. He intimates: it is perfectly sound judgment to change the creek valley flood plains for the construction of massive freeways now encircling Melbourne.

James Tonkin tells us that the Koonung and Mullum valleys before the freeway extensions were a bit of amess with rubbish piling up everywhere. This is a bit overdone, and he has no understanding of the community groups that worked to constantly keep ahead of the rubbish he highlights. They then worked hard to save these creeks valleys from a greater threat - the bitumen and cement that now covers kilometres to Frankston that James Tonkin applauds. We are warned that yet again a further removal of existing parks and waterways are planned for a further extension into the Mornington Peninsula.

Citizens of Banyule, there will be nothing to be thankful for if the North East Link is built. You will lose your beautiful natural open space that will never return despite how much grass and trees are planted. You will face years of heat-producing cement and steel plus walls that cannot adequately control noise.

I reside and look down on the transparent wall up near Doncaster Rd where noise, heat and dust are my constant champions.
Nina Scott, Balwyn North

February 2, 2010 - A very short-sighted vision
ELIZABETH Jackson is right to be concerned (Opinion, January 19) as to the impact the proposed North East Link Freeway/Tunnel would have on Heide Museum of Modern Art.

Last year Roads Minister Tim Pallas promised the road project would ''avoid impacts'' on Heide, which lies close to the middle of the path of the planned freeway.

Director of Heide Jason Smith has probably been hushed by the State Government not to talk to the media to prevent any further criticism on the project, otherwise he would be more forthcoming on the matter.

The surrounding parkland was a mecca for The Heidelberg School artists from the late 19th century and many significant works were painted in that beautiful area, and many artists have followed in their footsteps to also paint there.

The thought of bulldozers carving through this cultural landmark and the surrounding Banyule wetlands would have to be the plan of a philistine with a very short-sighted
CAROL STOWE, Heidelberg

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MANNINGHAM LEADER

February 24, 2009 - Residents take issue over rail service, freeway congestion
TRANSPORT and roads are the most important issues to the Manningham residents who were surveyed by a state MP. The internet survey, conducted by Doncaster state Liberal MP Mary Wooldridge, asked 348 residents to prioritise and comment on a number of local issues.

The categories included health, education, law and order, transport and roads, environment and water, the economy, community services, seniors and planning. Residents highlighted the need to bring rail to Doncaster and the need to ease congestion on the Eastern Freeway as top priorities.Existing public transport should also be upgraded, many respondents stated.

In second place was environment and water, with the survey showing residents were concerned about Melbourne's long-term water supplies and wanted more water to be captured locally. Local law-and-order issues such as hoons, graffiti and a n t i - s o c i a l behaviour rounded out the top three followed by health. Many residents surveyed said they believed sentences applied by courts were too lenient.
Shaun Turton
 

January 28, 2010 - YOUR SAY: Will the new Public Transport Minister and Parliamentary Secretary help Manningham?

NEW Parliamentary Secretary for Public Transport Brian Tee has been urged to mark the start of his new job by pushing bureaucrats to release the overdue Manningham bus review. The Doncaster-based Eastern Metropolitan state Labor MP, pictured, was elevated to the role last Wednesday by Premier John Brumby. Doncaster-based Labor MP Brian Tee is the new Parliamentary Secretary for Public Transport

>> Do you think Mr Tee's new role will deliver results for Manningham? Have your say below.

"I am looking forward to working with councils and the community to deliver improvements to public transport," Mr Tee said, noting he was pleasantly surprised by his appointment.

Transport lobbyists welcomed Mr Tee's appointment, but hoped Mr Tee would push for the release of the bus review, which is now running 12 months late.

"I hope he becomes a champion for public transport in Manningham," said Public Transport Users Association spokesman and Doncaster resident Chris Trikilis. Mr Trikilis slammed bus review delays as an "absolute disgrace" but said he hoped Mr Tee's new role could achieve some progress.

"I would hope that he, and the new minister (Martin Pakula), are able to use their influence to get the bus review released," Mr Trikilis said.

Eastern Transport Coalition chairwoman Samantha Dunn said the community had waited too long for the review.

"The consultation process built up an expectation in the community that there would be a significant improvement to public transport, but the community is still in the dark," she said.

Mr Tee said he would "look into where the review is at".

Department of Transport spokeswoman Kirsten Harvey-Taylor would not say when the report, which was first promised to be released in January last year, would be made public.

"The Manningham/Monash/Whitehorse bus review report is almost finalised and we look forward to announcing the outcomes of the review shortly," she said.
Bryan Allchin

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HERALD SUN

Swallow this one people: 
' "We understand people are concerned about trucks on our roads, which is why the Brumby Labor Government is taking action to build a better transport system and move trucks away from residential streets," Mr Pallas said.' http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/noise-cameras-to-target-trucks-on-victorias-roads/story-e6frf7kx-1225833383414

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  In the Press 2009

THE AGE :  Transport in the spotlight

December 31, 2009
Fill 'em up
REGARDLESS of any other arguments for or against building the ''missing'' freeway link, I am surprised to see people still writing on this page that freeway building eases congestion. It doesn't. The more freeway space there is, the more cars will use it. If we have one congested road and build nine more, we do notget t he original volume of traffic spread out across 10 roads, we get 10 congested roads. Ask anyone who has studied traffic engineering or transport policy, and they will tell you this is a fact.

In light of this, road building seems like quite a waste of money, energy and space cherished by residents and non-human occupants,for little discernible gain.
Becky Chanock, Brunswick

December 30, 2009
A disaster, no matter whose backyard
THE road lobby will have a quiet laugh at Nola Solly's letter 26/12). Her not-in-my-backyard-but-my-neighbour's approach to the north-east link freeway is precisely what Tony Morton was referring to in his letter of the same date. Ms Solly suggests returning the ''missing link'' to its original route via Eltham. But as Montmorency residents, adjacent to Eltham and part of Banyule, we don't want this $6 billion highway to hell through here or Banyule Flats. The proposed freeway and tunnel would go through the home of the Heidelberg School painters and a key conservation area. It would also go past Heide, home of the Australian modernists, with little concern for our cultural history or the environment.

Ms Solly suggests that a light rail link to Doncaster and Bulleen has no relevance. But the idea of more freeways funnelling more cars through an iconic green wedge on to an already choked Eastern Freeway means that getting cars off the road and providing low-cost public transport is relevant. I don't want this freeway disaster in anybody's backyard.
Dennis O'Connell, Montmorency

The Age, December 29, 2009
RE THE north-east link. Yes, there is a missing link. It's called public transport.
Michael Galea, Gembrook

The Age,  December 26, 2009 - Local bickering masks real debate
I can still remember Craig Langdon, in 2002, getting up in front of 1000 people in Banyule Town Hall and swearing there would be no freeway through Heidelberg and Bulleen as long as he was an MP.

The Age - December 26, 2009 - Who can we trust?
WHEN local MP Craig Langdon promised that Labor would not build a Yarra Flats freeway, he referred to then minister for transport Peter Batchelor, who declared in Parliament: ''There is a very wrong suggestion that the Government has a proposal to build a freeway through the Yarra Flats ... It is a tragic and sleazy attempt by a conspiracy of the deluded to try to frighten people living and workingin this area ... these people will have no basis for making the suggestions in the future.'' I feel betrayed by the Government. Come the2010 election, who should I trust?
Kevin Biaggini, Ivanhoe

The Age, December 18, 2009 - The cars that ate Melbourne
While our Prime Minister is in Copenhagen pledging that Australia will reduce its carbon footprint, the Victorian Government is blithely proceeding with projects that will further blow out Victoria's...

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The Age, Decembe 17, 2009 - Quick fixes won't end traffic woes
The city's roads need an over-arching vision, not simply more underpasses... 

Einstein's theory
THE Age (17/12) informs the long-suffering public of the "Underpass plan to ease gridlock on Hoddle". We heard a few weeks ago that the monumental WestLink project through Footscray and Seddon is to proceed; then we learnt this week that the $6 billion North East Link from Bulleen to Greensborough is under way; and now we find that a $750 million plan for construction of Hoddle Street intersection interchanges has suddenly materialised.

EASTLINK has proven not to reduce congestion, merely moving it somewhere else (''Suburban streets clog up as truckies turn off tollway'', The Age, 16/12). Now the Government is proposing a $6 billion motorway to move this congestion somewhere else. Wasn't it Einstein who said ''the problems of today cannot be solved with the same thinking that gave us the problems in the first place''?
Michael Galea, Gembrook

Mayor has it wrong
MY FRIENDS in Templestowe were horrified to read about the proposed north-east link. The new Banyule Mayor says there is a growing traffic problem and he wants the Government to rethink the proposed freeway's route, and run it through Templestowe. If ever there was case of ''not in my backyard'', this is it. The Mayor, Wayne Phillips, can henceforth have ''NIMBY Award 2009'' added to his name.

Transport engineers have already surveyed the Templestowe route and found that it was geographically impossible.

Why can't the good councillors of Banyule tell the State Government straight out: Put a halt to tunnel building; act now on Banyule Council's recommendations to rationalise and improve local traffic; protect Victoria's heritage sites, including those in Banyule; and pump our billions into public transport, such as a rail line down the Eastern Freeway - for starters.
Elizabeth Jackson, Fitzroy

The cars that ate Melbourne
While our Prime Minister is in Copenhagen pledging that Australia will reduce its carbon footprint, the Victorian Government is blithely proceeding with projects that will further blow out Victoria's greenhouse gas emissions.

How can we persuade the State Government to invest in sustainable public transport and abandon polluting freeway construction?
Lewis Prichard, Hawthorn

Back to the future
PLANS for flyovers and tunnels for one of Melbourne's busiest thoroughfares show the "back to the future" thinking of bureaucratic planning and the desperate need to reduce cars rather than build more expensive infrastructure.

If these planners saw the road in operation, they would see a car park in peak hours caused by single-occupant cars driven by people without a public transport alternative. Part-time bus lanes on the road prove that when public transport is given priority, more people rather than vehicles are being moved per hour, which is the ultimate aim. Of course, giving these Melburnians the desperately needed rail line to Doncaster would solve the problem and save our streetscape and money.
Christopher Trikilis, Doncaster

Suffer the residents
THE residents of Collingwood do not want underpasses, overpasses or tunnels in Hoddle Street creating more havoc and encouraging more cars on to already congested roads.Since Eastlink has opened, the traffic has increased dramatically and so have inner-city bottlenecks. The powerful road lobby has tunnel vision and displays no concern for the environment or the wellbeing of inner-city residents.
Mary Fenelon, Collingwood

Short-term thinking
THE $1.39 billion widening of the M1 and the $2.25 billion widening of the Western Ring Road provide only short-term solutions to traffic problems as initial benefits in travel time savings are eroded as traffic volumes increase. Hence the money spent on such projects is futile in tackling Melbourne's long-term transport needs.

Contrast the difference to Melbourne if those billions were instead invested in rail lines for the Rowville corridor to service Monash University, Chadstone and Waverley, and for the Doncaster corridor linked to the Ringwood line. These two projects would be of long-term benefit for Melbourne's transport network, and vastly reduce congestion on the Monash and Eastern freeways and Hoddle Street.
Cr Jackie Fristacky, City of Yarra, North Carlton

Don't reward pariahs
THE VicRoads proposal seems to tackle the symptom and not the causes of the traffic problem along this route. Large numbers of vehicles clog Hoddle Street because there are no alternatives such as a rail link.

In addition, VicRoads again focuses on moving vehicles, not people. Most traffic causing the problem is the single-occupant car. With 24-hour dedicated T2 lanes in both directions along Hoddle Street, we would move more people and reward those who wish to use their vehicles more efficiently or who choose taxis, buses or bicycles. We should not be rewarding pariahs in single-occupant vehicles with better facilities.
Phil Bourke, Macleod

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The Age, December 16, 2009 - Suburban streets clog up as truckies turn off tollway
See Clay Lucas's article from THE AGE newspaper which describes what is happening on our local roads and discusses issues about the proposed Freeway/Tunnel/Viaduct through Banyule City 

December 11, 2009
Freeway tunnels will increase traffic
IN ARGUING for building the WestLink tunnel and freeway, Roads Minister Tim Pallas (Letters, 10/11) claimed that the CityLink tunnels took traffic off local roads and made surrounding suburbs safer, cleaner and better places to live. This is not true.

A study conducted by Stonnington Council 18 months after the opening of CityLink's southern link found the reality was the complete opposite.

It found that daily traffic volumes in Toorak Road grew by up to 19 per cent. Truck traffic leapt by more than 59 per cent during the middle of the day.

Some local roads had massive growth in traffic, with St Georges Road choked by 4000 more vehicles a day, a 91 per cent increase. Moonga Road, a back street that became a rat run, had to cope with 730 more vehicles a day.

Local residents' concerns identified by the report included worsened pedestrian safety, increased noise and increased air pollution from exhausts. All of which gives the lie to Mr Pallas' mantra that freeways are the solution to ''making our city a better place to live''.
Justin Mansfield, Kensington

Come clean
I WAS amazed to read Tim Pallas' assurances to the people of areas such as Footscray and Seddon that less than half of 1000 homes will need to be acquired for the WestLink freeway and tunnel project.

This contradicts the statement by Jo Weeks of Linking Melbourne Authority (Letters, 5/12 ) that there will not be major property acquisition. Would they care to explain just how many properties are to be acquired, once and for all time? The people of the west deserve an honest answer.
Kevin Biaggini, Ivanhoe

The Age, December 11, 2009 - Privatisation fears over planning

The Age, December 3, 2009 - Expert calls for freeway projects to be scrapped

The Age, November 21, 2009 - Car use driving by lack of trains, buses

The Age, September 9, 2009 - Freeways - no magic time saving bullet : Study 

HEIDELBERG & DIAMOND VALLEY WEEKLY

Heidelberg and Diamond Valley Weekly, December 1, 2009 - Public transport failing

Heidelberg & Diamond Valley Weekly, June 23, 2009 - Protest against road link

Heidelberg & Diamond Valley Weekly, April 28, 2009 - Tunnel will not destroy parkland

Heidelberg & Diamond Valley Weekly, April 14, 2009 - Honesty is the best policy

Heidelberg & Diamond Valley Weekly, March 10, 2009 - Doomsday forecast for Banyule

Heidelberg & Diamond Valley Weekly, February 10, 2009 - Roads more travelled after Eastlink

Heidelberg and Diamond Valley Weekly, January 6, 2009 - Lobby groups limber up for 'missing link' freeway war

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HEIDELBERG LEADER

Heidelberg Leader, December 10, 2009 - Phillips elected Banyule Mayor (see comments section)

Heidelberg Leader, June 30, 2009 - In Brief - Tunnel protest

Heidelberg Leader, March 31, 2009 - Issues with transport

Heidleberg Leader, March 17, 2009 - Protect green belts

Heidelberg Leader, March 10, 2009 - Say 'no' to tunnels

Heidelberg Leader, March 3, 2009 - Preserve the wetlands

Heidleberg Leader, Tuesday, February 10, 2009 - Environmental concerns hamper "missing link" plan

Heidleberg Leader, Tuesday, February 10, 2009 - Heritage drive revs up

Heidelberg Leader, January 13, 2009 - Groups drive hard line against north-east link

Heidelberg Leader, January 27th, 2009 - Fears Link may ruin Banyule Flats

Heidleberg Leader, Tuesday, January 13, 2009 - 'No Way' to freeway link

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RACV ROYAL AUTO MAGAZINE

Royal Auto, May, 2009 - Move People, Not Cars

RACV Royal Auto, February 2009 - congestion Contention

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