Posts related to 'community concerns'

Partners in Health, Safety and Wellbeing Committee - final meeting for 2008

Published by Alex Makin on Tuesday 18th of November, 2008

This morning marked the final meeting of the bi-monthly Maroondah Partners in Health, Safety and Wellbeing Committee for 2008. The committee includes council and a number of external bodies, including Victoria Police, Connex, Department of Human Services, Outer East Primary Care Partnerships and the Department of Education, to implement a collaborative approach to enhancing the health, safety and wellbeing of Maroondah.

Today’s meeting examined food security within the eastern region, exploring the effects of rising food costs and the level of access to nutritious food. While Maroondah may be relatively well served with supermarkets and fresh food outlets, there are some pockets where there is a lack of access, particularly for people without access to a car.

The rising cost of living has also had an impact, particularly for people on fixed incomes, such as pensions, who are sacrificing food so that they can pay for other living expenses, such as rent, electricity and water.

The Primary Care Partnerships will be finalising a report on their findings in regard to food security with the aim of alerting governments to the food security difficulties experienced within the eastern region.

An update was also provided in regard to the Maroondah Community Wellbeing Plan, where the feedback provided by service providers is currently being considered. Community engagement and discussion over the plan will begin early to mid next year to provide an opportunity for widespread public comment.

I would like to thank the members and organisations who have been a part of the committee over the past three years and also to Cr. Jo-anne Taylor who was the previous chair.

Scoot Wheel n Move October 2008 meeting

Published by Alex Makin on Friday 31st of October, 2008

This morning I attended the October meeting of Scoot Wheel n Move, a group that aims to improve mobility and accessibility for people with mobility aids.

Eastern Access Community Health (EACH) is now the auspice for the Scoot Wheel n Move so that the group can operate with some autonomy to council. This enables Scoot Wheel n Move to openly discuss council’s priorities and to advocate for accessibility improvements.

The group’s priority continues to be the redevelopment of Ringwood Station into an accessible and safe transit interchange, as well as ensuring an accessible town centre. Work on the redevelopment of Ringwood will commence next year and it is imperative that we create an accessible and sustainable urban centre to ensure an inclusive society.

Groups like Scoot Wheel n Move have the expertise and first-hand experience to appraise proposals to ensure that they do achieve a vision of accessibility and inclusiveness.

Glen Park Community Centre - Celebration for the cafe

Published by Alex Makin on Friday 17th of October, 2008

Glen Park Community Centre, based in Bayswater North, has been operating a volunteer run cafe to encourage community participation and development. The cafe provides a welcoming atmosphere and volunteer opportunities, particularly for people with disabilities or people who are socially isolated or experience mental illnesses.

While community houses receive State Government funding to assist in delivering courses and training, community development work does not receive this assistance. As a result there is a shortfall in funding that is jeopardising the future of the cafe.

The cafe was able to operate until mid October and today Glen Park organised a public meeting so that members of the Glen Park community could speak about their personal experience with the cafe and the benefits that this community meeting place provides.

In true Glen Park spirit today’s meeting was not to commiserate the closure of the cafe but to celebrate the opportunities it has provided.

Glen Park is seeking a combination of Local, State, Federal and community funding to enusre that its vital community development activities can continue. For further information on Glen Park please visit www.glenparkcc.com.au.

Media Release: Remember the school road rules

Published by Alex Makin on Wednesday 1st of October, 2008

Maroondah’s schools are back in action from Monday 6 October and Maroondah City Council is reminding drivers to remember the school rules and slow down to the specified speeds in school zones.

Councillor Alex Makin stresses how important it is that all motorists be responsible when approaching school zones, and obey the reduced speed limits.

“Maroondah schools are clearly signed to indicate the appropriate 40km/h speed zone. The reduced speed applies to specified time periods before and after school in some areas whereas others are permanent 40km/h zones,” said Cr Makin.

“The exceptions to these school zones include time based 60km/h speed limits outside schools on 80km/h roads, like Maroondah Highway. Electronic variable signs are used on these roads to indicate the correct speed limits for the particular time of the day,” said Cr Makin.

“The 40km/h school speed zones are in place to reduce the alarming statistics surrounding injuries and deaths of children in and around school areas. Research has indicated reducing speed can dramatically increase the chances of survival for a child involved in an accident,” said Cr Makin.

“Being aware of the location of schools throughout Maroondah and paying attention to the speed zone signs is essential, because even a minor reduction in travelling speed can make the difference in saving a life or reducing injury,” said Cr Makin.

“Although school speed zones have been in effect since 2005, for everyone’s safety motorists are reminded to slow down as we enter a new school term,” said Cr Makin.

In Maroondah each year, on average, there are approximately 310 to 330 casualty accidents (where someone is injured and the Police attend), and out of these approximately 30 involve pedestrians, of which around 7 to 8 are school age children (Source: VicRoads Crash Stats).

For further information about speed limits around schools, contact the VicRoads information hotline on 1300 360 745 or visit www.arrivealive.vic.gov.au

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Delegates’ Report: opportunities for people with disabilities, the upcoming writers festival and the strength of community spirit

Published by Alex Makin on Monday 18th of August, 2008

On the 23rd of July I had the pleasure of attending Titanic - the Untold Story: Resunk by the Monkami Drama Group hosted at the Karralyka Centre. The performance revisited the drama group’s 2007 production through the introduction of new characters and a revised script.

Monkami is a service provider for adults with an intellectual disability and aims to develop skills that will enable them to live with the greatest degree of independence within their own community.

Each performer was given the opportunity to develop their own character drawing upon many popular names such as James Bond, Captain Jack Sparrow, Wolverine and Judge Judy and of course Napoleon who was the villain of the show.

The level of detail in the performance was incredible, not only was the stage decked out as the Titanic, and the costumes extremely thorough, but they even gave Titanic hats to the audience to ensure that they were part of the show. It was all hands on deck, when everyone tried to escape the sinking Titanic, fortunately with the audience joining in on the hokey pokey we were all able to escape to dry land!

After two successful seasons the production is now considering further opportunities to continue the performance, including the potential of a touring show.

The Ringwood Spiders, based in Jubilee Park in Ringwood, is a football team for people with disabilities and on the 27th of July I attended their last home game for the season against the Maribyrnong Bulldogs. Like Monkami, the Ringwood Spiders is another example of how people with disabilities can participate within our community. It was great to see the Spiders playing one of their best games for the season, with the players coming together as one team and playing some extraordinary football.

With such on-field skills the Spiders defeated their opposition, which was a fitting way to end their last home game for the season at Jubilee Park.

Groups like Monkami and the Ringwood Spiders demonstrate that when given the opportunity people with disabilities can participate within our wider community. Perhaps the most wonderful aspect of these two events, was the breadth of the wider community support. Community groups such as the Ringwood Ballet Group and the Ringwood Movie Makers provided immense support to Monkami and the Ringwood Football Club is one of the Spiders biggest supporters, providing the use of training facilities and clubrooms.

On the 5th of August I attended Maroondah’s Forum for People with Disabilities and Carers, which provides an opportunity to raise issues in regard to accessibility so that we can strive for an inclusive community.

The forum provided an opportunity to discuss the feedback from the workshop held earlier this year and it was encouraging to see most of the input being incorporated into the forum. I would like to thank the many departments that are responsible for the forum, including Metro Access, aged and disability services, community planning and development and council’s engineers.

The forum continues to demonstrate the importance of providing dialogue and hearing first-hand the accessibility issues that exist within Maroondah so that as a council we can work towards making a difference through creating an inclusive municipality.

Lastly, this morning I attended a steering group meeting of the Maroondah 2008 Writers and Readers Festival.

The Festival which will be held between the 3rd and 5th of October include writer’s workshops, discussion groups and keynote speakers around the key theme of crime. The event which is funded through a Maroondah City Council grant in partnership with Eastern Regional Libraries will feature a number of prominent writers including John Silvester, the author of the Underbelly.

Once again the community spirit shines through in the preparation for the festival, with North Ringwood Community House offering to manage ticket sales and businesses such as Lakeside Cafe being available as a venue.

For details please visit the Eastern Regional Library website at www.erl.vic.gov.au, otherwise details are also available on my own web site at www.alexmakin.com.au.