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Newly elected Banyule mayor, Tom Melican, on
transport
Friends of Banyule 9 January 2012
Newly elected Mayor of Banyule, Tom Melican, in an interview
published on 20 December in the Banyule & Nillumbik Weekly,
expressed concern about expanded roads infrastructure investment
north of Banyule and its potential to generate more road traffic in
Banyule. The mayor has quite rightly recognised transport as a
major issue that requires major attention by the
Council.
Click here to read the article Heidelberg Diamond Valley Weekly 20 December
2011
Can this number be correct?
Questionable numbers in Victorian government
east west link submission
Friends of Banyule 8 January 2012
As recently reported by Friends of Banyule the submission by the
Baillieu government to Infrastructure Australia for Commonwealth
funding support for the proposed east-west link freeway project
raises serious questions about the Victorian government's
credentials in transport planning.
This multibillion dollar project, purportedly to extend
the Eastern Freeway from Clifton Hill to City Link, the Port of
Melbourne and the Western Ring Road would, if implemented, make
Melbourne even more car dependent than it is now. It would strike a
savage blow against the economic efficiency and liveability of
Melbourne.
It also seems that the Victorian government has relied
upon exaggerated figures to back up its funding bid. It is claimed
in the government's submission that "Currently in excess of 60,000
vehicles travel along the Eastern Freeway in the morning peak."
(1)
The most recent Eastern Freeway traffic figures available to
Friends of Banyule from VicRoads are for the year 2007-08. They
show that only 11,284 vehicles travelled daily in the weekday
morning peak on the western most segment of the Eastern
Freeway, between Chandler Highway and Hoddle Street. The total
average traffic volume on weekdays that year was 125,956.
The morning peak hour traffic figures for the Eastern Freeway
are unlikely to have increased five-fold since 2007-08. Inquiries
made of the Department of Premier and Cabinet show that the
government is sticking to its published version of the facts.
The principles of open government dictate that up to date
traffic count figures should be made available publicly by VicRoads
for everyone to see. However, VicRoads has resisted ready public
access to the traffic data it collects. It publishes very
little of this information on a regular basis and it actually
charges large sums of money to fulfil requests for it. Friends of
Banyule have asked at ministerial level that these figures for the
whole road network be made available publicly without charge - so
far without positive response, but we will continue to push the
issue until we are successful.
(1) Victoria's Submission to Infrastructure Australia (State of
Victoria November 2011) p. 22
You can read the Victorian government's 2011 funding submission
to Infrastructure Australia at
http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/images/stories/documents/mediareleases/2011/000_Victorian_Government_2011_IA_Submission.pdf
Banyule's history in the
making
Nillumbik Banyule Weekly, BY ANNA WHITELAW, 26
Jul, 2011 12:00 AM
BANYULE Council has begun a wide-ranging
heritage review which could have 67 sites granted heritage
protection, including Banyule Flats and Warringal Parklands.
Last year, Banyule began reviewing its 1999 heritage strategy to
identify places with heritage significance not protected by the
Banyule planning scheme. Banyule has identified 67 places that
could be added to the 127 places already in the planning scheme,
Banyule mayor Peter McKenna said.
The council intends to call on the state government to amend the
planning scheme to improve recognition of heritage sites.
Cr McKenna said the council had been "collecting ideas from
residents, landowners and community groups for places where there
may be some heritage importance".
Heritage experts have been brought in to research and assess
suggested sites in keeping with state government and Heritage
Victoria criteria. Those places include public parks, gardens and
trees as well as public buildings, precincts and private
properties.
Cr McKenna said the council would seek to provide more
guidelines for landowners on how to make changes that would be
"sensitive" to the heritage significance.
Friends of Banyule spokesman Marion Ware said the group
supported the review as it enabled the community to identify places
that contributed to the rich heritage of Banyule.
Friends of Banyule and Warringal Conservation Society have
called for natural landscapes - including Banyule Flats, Warringal
Parklands, Yarra Flats, River Gum Walk and Simpson Barracks - to be
listed.
St Andrews, Panton Hill residents speak
out on bus needs
Nillumbik Banyule Weekly, BY ANNA WHITELAW, 26
Jul, 2011 12:00 AM
ST Andrews and Panton Hill residents have renewed calls for a
bus service to Hurstbridge train station, after the Transport
Department began a promised review of transport needs.
Earlier this year, Transport Minister Terry Mulder agreed to
review the St Andrews and Panton Hill proposal, fulfilling a Labor
promise. More than 1500 households in St Andrews, Panton Hill,
Cottles Bridge and Smiths Gully have been asked to participate in a
survey on their transport needs and travel patterns, as part of the
review.
The review follows a campaign by Nillumbik council and residents
for a bus route connecting these suburbs with the Hurstbridge train
line. Last year, residents started their own volunteer-run
community bus on Saturdays, after the department blocked a bid to
start a charter bus service.
St Andrews Hurstbridge Bus steering committee member Jo Emery,
pictured, said the community bus had carried more than 750
passengers since it started. The community bus can only operate on
Saturdays as it relies on volunteer drivers and council buses, she
said. "The makeshift bus is not a long-term solution. We really
need a bus to Hurstbridge every day. Without a bus, parents
have to drive their kids to the station and pick them up."
Elderly residents also need a bus service to get to medical
appointments and shops, she said. Transport Department spokeswoman
Andrea Duckworth said the survey results would be made public once
compiled. She declined to comment on whether the bus was being
considered, but said the survey would inform "future planning".
The survey is available at transport.vic.gov.au and closes Friday, August
5.
Hurstbridge line passengers dumped
On the cold and wet evening of Tuesday 24 May Metro dumped up to
100 passengers at the unstaffed Diamond Creek station. This was
reportedly the consequence of the termination of a
Hurstbridge-bound train due to late running and the need to clear
the single track between Diamond Creek and Greensborough for the
next Hurstbridge-bound service. As a consequence passengers had to
wait half an hour at Diamond Creek to complete the journey to
Wattle Glen and Hurstbridge.
This episode once again underlined the need for track
duplication of the Hurstbridge line north of Heidelberg. It also
demonstrated poor service frequencies generally on the Hurstbridge
line. Evening peak hour services are spaced between 19 and 38
minutes apart and passengers who miss a week night service
scheduled to arrive at Hurstbridge after 8.00 pm have to wait an
hour or more for the next one.
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/commuters-ordered-off-late-train-in-cold-wet-20110525-1f383.html
Manningham Leader |
May 3, 2011 | State Budget : Doncaster & Rowville rail
announcements | Tim Mitchell
Debate surrounding the future of Doncaster & Rowville railway
lines is set to increase... Read more ...>
The AGE | Apr 7,
2011 | Brian Coffey, Fairfield
APPARENTLY no improvements were needed on the Epping and
Hurstbridge lines. It is thus considered acceptable for commuters
in the early evening to wait at Jolimont Station for 30 minutes for
an Epping train, and between 24 and 28 minutes for a Hurstbridge
train. This problem could be tackled by running trains to Epping
and Hurstbridge alternatively, rather than two in a row to each
destination. A new timetable: I wish.
Apr 11, 2011 | Beware private sector spruikers | Ian Hundley,
North Balwyn
Apr 8 - Mar 23, 2011 |
Your Responses to 'Show us the Cash Ted'
Anger and outrage that the NE
Link 'feasibilty study' will be proceeding has incited
residents of Banyule and wider Melbourne
eg. Gary Griffin's response : The ring rooad was designed
to carry heavy freight traffic around Melbourne away from built up
areas and commuter traffic. It was planned to directly link the
current "Eastlink" with the "Western Ring Road". Flaky politicians
now present a proposed route along the Eastern Freeway, Bulleen
Road, Heidi Gallery, the Yarra Flats and built up areas to and
along the Rosanna Road as "The Route". It is outrageous that the
original route has apparently been excluded from investigation. The
Banyule Route apart from its environmental vandalism worsens the
lethal mix of heavy freight and light commuter traffic. Read more
...>
Apr 1, 2011 | Suburban chaos | Darren Peters,,
South Merang & Mernda Rial Alliance, Doreen
THE lack of planning an implementation by the previous government
of metropolitan rail lines has caused Melbourne to grind to a halt.
If Melbourne continues to surpass the population of Sydney
("City's population explosion", The Age, 1/4), the state government
must take action now.
Extending railway lines to suburbs such as Mernda must be
implemented immediately to mitigate the ever-expanding traffic
snarls. If the roads are jammed already with the 10,000 residents
currently living in Mernda, imagine the mess our suburb will be in
when the predicted total of 40,000 have arrived
Apr 1, 2011 | City's
Population Explosion | Tim Colebatch
Melbourne's outer suburbs are growing faster than any other area
of Melbourne - read the AGE's article
Heidelberg Leader - 4 Apr 2011 |
Opinion | Regulate the
traffic flow | Francis G, via online
Heavy traffic along Rosanna Rd should be regulated immediately.
Trucks should be allowed only in the early hours, and banned
for the rest of the day. Logistics needs to be more organised
so that there are less trucks bypassing the tolls on Tullamarine
Freeway. There are alternative routes. Rosanne Rd is being used as
a short-cut, and this is a shopping and residential area.
Heidelberg
Leader - 29 Mar 2011 | Opinion | Wetland logic must win
Heidelberg
Leader - 29 Mar 2011 | Opinion | Ring road for freight, traffic
Heidelberg
Leader - 29 Mar 2011 | Opinion | Act on traffic now
Banyule & Nillumbik Weekly | 29 Mar 2011
04:00 AM | Coalition won't rule out
north-east link | Anna Whitelaw
THE north-east link freeway's fate is uncertain, after Transport
Minister Terry Mulder refused to commit to the controversial $6
billion freeway project.
When proposed by the Brumby government in 2008, north-east link
was billed as ''the missing link'' connecting the Metropolitan Ring
Road at Greensborough with the Eastern Freeway at Bulleen.
North East Link drew fierce opposition from resident group
Friends of Banyule, who organised a rally against the freeway prior
to the state election.
But after scrapping the former Labor government's Victorian
Transport Plan, the Baillieu government has remained tightlipped
about the future of the project.
Earlier this month Mr Mulder told an audience at the
Metropolitan Transport Forum the project had not been ruled out,
despite being knocked back for federal funding.
Mr Mulder said the Coalition would consider rolling out the
project in stages.
A spokeswoman for Mr Mulder said scoping work on the freeway
would conclude in April, with a report due mid-year.
The Coalition would then be able to decide whether to undertake
a full feasability study after the scoping work was completed, she
said.
VicRoads spokesman Robert Freemantle said the north-east link
was one of several projects announced by the former government
under review.
The future of the freeway would be considered as part of the
Baillieu government's own Metropolitan Planning Strategy, Mr
Freemantle said.
Although the freeway proposal was in limbo, there were no plans
for interim measures to ease traffic congestion in the area such as
night-time curfews or load limits for trucks on Rosanna Road, he
said.
Friends of Banyule spokeswoman Marion Ware said the Baillieu
government's refusal to scrap the freeway was worrying, and
''wildly inconsistent'' with the Coalition's pre-election
commitment to public transport.
Ms Ware said the allocated money should be spent on a
sustainable transport package for Banyule.
Heidelberg Leader - 22 Mar 2011 |
Hannah Donnellan | Show
us the cash, Ted : Promise needed to finish vital
projects
pt4me
Key Metropolitan Transport Forum event held on 9
March, 2011 : Economics
of Transport : Smarter Transport - Better
Cities Read more ...>
Mar 1, 2011 | Focus on health costs (scroll down page)
| Dennis O'Connell, Montmorency
TWO incisive letters recently have struck a key chord that
should be running through the debate on climate change and proposed
carbon tax, namely the hidden health costs of continued reliance on
fossil fuels and a carbon economy. Read more ...>
Feb 28, 2011 | More freeways are not resolving the congestion
problem in Melbourne ... as this article in The
AGE shows.
Read more ...>
Feb 28, 2011 | Monash
upgrade 'a waste' | Marika Dobin
MONASH Freeway's extra city-bound lane is a ''huge waste of
money'' because as many commuters could be accommodated by an
upgrade to the adjacent Main Yarra bicycle trail at a fraction of
the cost, a bicycle lobby group says.
VicRoads says the $1.39 billion Monash-CityLink-West Gate (M1)
upgrade will ease congestion and enhance safety on important,
high-volume arterial roads.
But Bicycle Victoria says it recently counted 1772 cars using
the new 3.5-metre lane on the Monash to the CBD between the peak
hours of 7am and 9am ... Read more >
Feb 24, 2011 | Xenophobia or vital concern ?
ROSS Gittins (Comment, 23/2) seems to claim that speaking out on
the subjects of immigration and refugee arrivals is some form of
xenophobia.
It is nothing of the sort. It is surely our civic responsibility
to voice our concern to our political leaders and demand that the
country should not continue its present direction. Our schools are
overflowing, our roads and city centres are congested, our public
transport is overloaded, house prices are going through the roof
and our environment is being eroded by expanding urban boundaries -
that's the reality of Australia today.
Posted 17 Feb, 2011
WILL THE URBAN GROWTH BOUNDARY
REALLY SHRINK?
Not long after joining with the then - Labor government to
expand Melbourne's Urban Growth Boundary by 43,600 hectares, the
Liberal-National Party coalition has now held forth the prospect
that the government might shrink it in future. In announcing a new
biennial review system Planning Minister and Northern Metropolitan
Region MP, Matthew Guy, said that arguments for contracting the
boundary would be considered, not only possible further expansion
(Shane Green, "Minister: I don't know who expanded urban boundary,"
The Saturday Age, 12 February 2011).
Much of the expansion announced in June 2010 is targeted for
Whittlesea, Mitchell and Hume. This is of direct concern because in
the absence of investment in a comprehensive public transport
network it threatens choking road congestion in Banyule and
surrounding municipalities. The Labor government's proposed
North-East Link would worsen rather than lessen any such
congestion.
The expansion of the UGB has been roundly attacked by planning
experts on two major grounds; it will contribute to further urban
sprawl which is environmentally destructive and very expensive to
develop relative to brownfield sites; and that ample sites within
the pre-existing urban growth boundary can be found to meet the
housing needs of the projected future population of
Melbourne. In fact the Coalition has already identified three
areas for urban renewal: in Fisherman's Bend, Footscray Road and
the VicRoads headquarters location at Kew Junction.
One immediate issue worth pondering in the event that the
government were to restore a semblance of sanity in planning policy
would be who carries the loss on land sales effected on the
understanding that land within the new UGB would be available for
urban development? There are reports of significant land sales to
developers both in anticipation and following the expansion of the
UGB. It can be imagined that the eight or nine major outer urban
developers who appeared to run planning policy under the Labor
government would be far less than pleased. However, the smartest of
them probably maintain conditional purchase options on land on the
urban fringe.
In any event, a strong focus on brownfields developments within
Melbourne to cater for future growth would be far and away the best
thing for everyone, and especially the residents of Banyule and
surrounding municipalities.
Heidelberg Leader - 16 Feb 2011 |
Buses desert public
Check out the latest update on the Coalition government's stance
on the proposed North East Link - Friends of Banyule will be
seeking a meeting with the Minister - Terry Mulder for
clarification of timelines and their plans for the proposed
feasibility study...
Banyule & Nillumbik Weekly | 25
Jan 2011 04:00 AM | Coalition coy on north-east link |
Anna Whitelaw
The controversial $6 billion north-east link
freeway project is under a cloud, as the Baillieu government
refuses to commit to the project.
The previous state government announced the north-east link in
2008 as part of its $38 billion Transport Plan, billing it as the
''missing link'' between Melbourne's north-western suburbs and the
eastern suburbs.
The five-kilometre freeway would run from the Metropolitan Ring
Road in Greensborough through Ivanhoe and Bulleen near Heidelberg
to connect with the Eastern Freeway. VicRoads is still in planning
for the project, but the exact route of the freeway is still being
determined, and it is yet to be confirmed whether the freeway would
be toll-free.
But now the north-east link could be scrapped. Transport and
Roads Minister Terry Mulder's spokesman Paul Price said: ''The
previous government allocated some money to planning. This is
proceeding, but the Coalition government is not committing to the
project.''
The project has met with strong resistance from residents.
Friends of Banyule, a group opposed to the freeway, held a packed
public meeting protesting against the freeway in October last
year.
It could be years before the Coalition's big-ticket public
transport projects for the eastern suburbs come to fruition. A $6.5
million study to bring heavy rail to Doncaster is expected to begin
in the next financial year, Mr Price said. However, the ''exact
timing'' of the $180 million grade separation at Mitcham and Rooks
roads, a major election pledge to win the seat of Mitcham, was
still being determined.
Posted Jan 24, 2011
2011 has commenced on a very positive note for Friends of
Banyule with the Baillieu Government dropping the widely
criticised Victorian Transport Plan thus ending the Brumby
government's concentration on unsustainable freeway
building. We can welcome this move and look forward to
the establishment of a much needed Public Transport Authority and a
refocus by government on public transport. These are
positive developments.
Meeting with Public Transport
& Roads Minister Terry Mulder
However notwithstanding the above, we do not have clarity on the
Ballieu government's stand on the North East Link and have
therefore requested a meeting with the new Minister for Public
Transport and Roads, Terry Mulder. We are concerned that the North
East Link is still on the planning board with the new government as
they expressed during their election campaign that they would 'look
at all options and potentially a feasibility study' for the North
East Link. We will keep you updated on any further
news. We would also encourage you to send letters to
the Minister for Public Transport and Roads directly as residents,
outlining your concerns about this potential freeway.
Please find below the relevant address details.
Hon Terry Mulder
Minister for Public Transport and Minister for Roads
Level 16, 121 Exhibition Street
Melbourne, VIC
Meeting with Planning Minister
Matthew Guy
We have also requested a meeting with the new Planning Minister,
Matthew Guy along with Planning Backlash Victoria. Since the
implementation of the Major Transport Projects Facilitations Act in
2009, greater powers have been bestowed upon the Planning Minister.
This results in little or no opportunity for communities to have
any meaningful input or the ability to take any action against
inappropriate development once the project has been declared 'a
major infrastructure project'. It is imperative therefore to also
meet with the Planning Minister on the issue of the North East
Link. We will also keep you informed in relation to this important
meeting.
VEAC Submission
On November 30, 2010 Friends of Banyule attended the
Ivanhoe Community forum on the Metropolitan Melbourne Investigation
Discussion Paper from the Victorian Environment Assessment
Committee (VEAC). The VEAC investigation is one of the most
important reviews of Public Land in Victoria and the future of
Public Land could be decided by this Committee.
On January 10, 2011 Friends of Banyule made a detailed
submission to the Victorian Environmental Assessment
Council as part of their Metropolitan Melbourne investigation for
Public Land. The submission focuses on the proposed North East Link
Freeway, the subsequent destruction of existing public open space
and parklands and their importance for protection of the
environment, flora and fauna, our culture and community well-being.
Click on the following link for a PDF download of the Friends of Banyule
VEAC
Submission.
- 21 Jan 2011 | Funds doubt on Brumbys tunnels says
Mulder | Clay Lucas
- 7 Jan 2011 | Ballieu shelves state transport
plan Along with Protectors of Public Lands,
we are cautiously optimistic that represents the start of an ero in
improvments to public transport, the construction of new railway
lines and increased use of rail for freight transport, not
roads.
Please write to Premier Ted Ballieu and Transport Minister Terry
Mulder welcoming the review.
Progress Leader - 4 Jan 2011 Boroondara mayor joins in fight to reduce
freeway noise | Bianca Carmona
Freeway noise reduction is a top priority for frustrated Balwyn
North residents in 2011.
Sleep deprived residents from Balwyn North Freeway Noise Group
are continuing to demand noise attenuation measures along the
Eastern Freeway. Read more ...>
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