Month: May 2006
The Age: Crossing work off target
Amid a State Budget that was simply a disappointment for Melbourne’s public transport system, The Age has reported on the government’s continuation inability to meet its own performance targets: THE State Government will not achieve its target of improving 38 level crossings across the state, saying works are hampered by a skills shortage. Budget papers…
State Budget Burdening Suburbs
Unfortunately the recent State Budget like the Transport and Liveability Statement released before it completely failed to provide Melbourne’s outer suburbs with a reliable and readily available public transport system. In response, the following was issued by the Public Transport Users Association (PTUA):
Yarrunga Retirees Group
The Yarrunga Retirees Group is one of the many community groups that operate through the Yarrunga Community Centre which is located in Croydon Hills within Maroondah. Upon invitation I spoke to the Yarrunga Retirees Group about the need for improved public transport within both Maroondah and Melbourne overall. While areas located close to rail stations…
Footmen Club – 30th Anniversary
Tonight marked the 30th anniversary of The Footmen Club, an association of leading business people who provide assistance to individuals facing severe financial hardship. Weg Green, renowned comic provided caricatures of the public. While Australia is not as strongly regarded for its philanthropic culture as the United States, this does not mean that a culture…
Ringwood Chamber of Commerce: Around Our Town
The Ringwood Chamber of Commerce’s Around Our Town event provides an opportunity for the business community to hear about the latest developments within the fields of business and Maroondah. Tonight’s event focused on the Ringwood Transit City and the potential that Ringwood has to offer for both the business community and for residents. Ringwood is…
Maroondah Journal: Transport plan 'not enough'
The Maroondah Journal has reported on the local effects of the Bracks government’s recently released Transport and Liveability Statement: While eastern suburbs’ Labor MPs, transport agencies and the Victorian Council of Social Services (VCOSS) applauded the strategy, Public Transport Users Association spokesman Alex Makin criticised it. While initiatives such as minimum service standards for bus…
Youth Volunteer Recognition Evening
Tonight I attended Maroondah’s youth volunteer recognition evening. Maroondah’s youth volunteer recognition evening is a key event within national Volunteer Week and was created to acknowledge the many young people that volunteer their time to causes and activities within Maroondah. Held in EV’s, Maroondah’s youth centre, the presentation evening paid tribute to the hard work…
Eastern Transport Coalition (ETC) Meeting – Presentation by Peter Batchelor
Tonight’s Eastern Transport Coalition (ETC) meeting featured a presentation by the current Minister for Transport Peter Batchelor in regard to the Transport and Liveability Statement. While bus services are receiving much needed funding, the government’s minimum service standard are sorely inadequate. Likewise the failure for the government to provide much needed infrastructure investment in new…
Meeting Our Transport Challenges – The Media Verdict
News of the government’s transport and liveability statement featured in both the Herald-Sun and The Age with both papers focused on the poor response the statement had received: Herald-Sun: THE Bracks Government’s election-year transport statement has been met with both praise and disappointment. Winners such as Connex, Metlink and the Bus Association of Victoria were…
Is the Government really Meeting Our Transport Challenges?
The State Government has finally released the much anticipated and over hyped Transport and Liveability Statement. Dubbed Meeting Our Transport Challenges the statement ultimately fails to live up to its name. While the statement claims to contain a 10 year blueprint for Melbourne’s transport needs and includes an outlook for 25 years it fails on…