Month: July 2007

Maroondah Photographic Competition Awards

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This evening marked the presentation of the awards for the 2007 Maroondah Photography Competition. Photographs entered in the competition are showcased at the Maroondah Art Gallery, located at Federation Estate. Entrants can submit up to three photographs in either the Open, Intermediate or Junior categories.

There was a wide array of photographs, including images of sites within Maroondah, current events, such as the construction of EastLink and family photographs. I would like to congratulate all entrants in this year’s competition, as well as the winners within each of the categories.

Maroondah’s Photographic Competition is an annual event and is free to all residents, employees and visitors of Maroondah.

Eastern Transport Coalition: Bus tour with the coordinator general of Infrastructure

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Today the Eastern Transport Coalition (ETC), provided a bus tour for Meredith Sussex, the Coordinator General of Infrastructure, to showcase the outer eastern and southeastern suburbs and to highlight areas that require greater coordination between public transport provision and land-use planning.

The tour began in Dandenong, where the City of Greater Dandenong outlined its vision for the Dandenong Transit City before proceeding to Knox where the need for the Rowville rail line, to facilitate the Stud Park Activity Centre, and the Knox tram extension were highlighted. Travelling through Bayswater the tour then proceeded into Maroondah where I explained the need for bus priority lanes along major bus routes (including Maroondah Highway and Canterbury Road), bus and rail coordination and for the further introduction of bicycle lanes to ensure adequate facilities for cyclists.

There is a need for further bus improvements, particularly along main roads such as Maroondah Highway (route 670), Canterbury Road (route 679), Wonga/Warrandyte Roads (route 364), Dorset Road (route 737) and Bayswater Road (route 664), to provide a network of frequent and readily available bus services throughout Maroondah. The addition of these routes onto the SmartBus network would complement the introduction of the long awaited Stud Road SmartBus (route 665) which is due to begin in early 2008.

The desired principal public transport network in Maroondah (click for larger version)

Map highlighting the desired principal public transport network within Maroondah. The identified bus routes need frequent and readily available services to connect Maroondah and surrounding regions to the Ringwood Transit City and the Croydon Activity Centre (view larger version of this map).

The tour included Croydon Station, to explain the need for more frequent interpeak services. Currently services are half hourly and this needs to be improved to at least a 20 minute frequency, which would provide the same level of service experienced on weekends. The Belgrave/Lilydale line is the only line where weekends are provided a more frequent service than weekdays.

At Ringwood, we provided the opportunity for Meredith to cross Maroondah Highway to demonstrate first-hand the delays and inconvenience caused to pedestrians due to lengthy delays and the minimal walking time provided at this crossing. The case to upgrade Ringwood Station into an accessible and safe transport interchange was also highlighted as this would allow the State Government to support the vision that is unfolding within the Ringwood Transit City. It is imperative that the State Government acts to reduce Maroondah Highway to four lanes once EastLink is opened to allow the creation of a pedestrian friendly town centre and to help breathe new life into the centre of Ringwood.

The tour then continued into Whitehorse and Manningham, where the need for improvements to the Box Hill Interchange and the Doncaster Road tram were explored. Through Monash the case for bus priority was detailed to prevent lengthy delays for bus travellers along Springvale Road. Several examples of poor coordination were demonstrated, particularly where the Wellington Road and Springvale Road SmartBuses missed each other.

The bus tour provided an opportunity to highlight the areas of action required by the State Government to facilitate improved sustainability within Melbourne’s outer east. It is hoped that the State Government and its Departments will act upon these requirements.

Eastern Transport Coalition July 2007 meeting

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Tonight’s Eastern Transport Coalition provided further discussion on a series of factsheets that being produced to highlight the need for public transport improvements within the eastern region. These factsheets will highlight the priorities of the Eastern Transport Coalition, as well as the expected actions required by the Government.

Tomorrow, the Eastern Transport Coalition will be taking Meredith Sussex, the Coordinator General of Infrastructure, on a tour of eastern Melbourne, to highlight the transport priorities of the region. It is hoped that this tour will directly highlight the need for new rail lines and improved bus services. The need for public transport improvements was recently demonstrated in the Environmental Commissioner’s report into Melbourne’s sustainability and recommended urgent action to provide reliable public transport for Melbourne’s outer suburbs.

MAV TIAG meeting – increasing collaboration across local government

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This month the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) Transport and Infrastructure Advisory Group (TIAG) meeting focused on further developing its three core themes including infrastructure needs in growth areas, rail freight issues and federal funding for sustainable transport.

While the State Government seems more than able to set ‘aspirational’ targets, the government has demonstrated very little compulsion to actually such goals. This is clearly evident in regard to the State Government goal of increasing the proportion of rail freight to and from ports to 30% by the year 2010. While it is laudable to have such goals and thus ensure the efficient movement of goods and the mitigation of traffic congestion, the State Government appears to be dismally failing in achieving this target. In fact Appendix B of the 2007-2008 State Budget Papers clearly show that rail freight usage fell over the past twelve months.

Proportion of freight transported to and from ports via rail (source: Appendix B - State Budget Papers 2007-2008)

The State Government has likewise shown similar contempt for its goal of increasing public transport modal share to 20% by the year 2020. While modal share is currently increasing, it is becomingly unlikely that the government will achieve this goal, unless it substantially boosts the level of public transport services.

Public transport modal share (source: Appendix B - State Budget Papers 2007-2008)

This lack of commitment places both the community and local government in a precarious position due to worsening levels of traffic congestion and greenhouse emissions. The creation of a public transport and freight network that achieves significant modal shift is justified on economic, social and environmental grounds and yet the State Government has still been unable to coordinate its response to such targets.

With this continued State Government inaction, one of the key outcomes from the meeting was the need for greater collaboration between the many council advocacy groupings, including the Metropolitan Transport Forum and the Eastern Transport Coalition. Increased collaboration between these groups will lead to a concerted advocacy campaign and hopefully encourage the government to finally get its act together.

Media Release: Maidstone Street Park – not for sale

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Maroondah City Council agreed to abandon the proposed sale of land at 47A Maidstone Street, Ringwood at its meeting held on Monday 16 July, 2007.

Councillor Alex Makin said that before selling any Council owned land, a range of community consultation measures must be followed.

“Council takes its role as steward of land assets seriously and has an ongoing review process in place to ensure all Council assets are being used to the best of their ability for community purposes,” said Cr Makin.

“With any proposed sale of land, the community are consulted and their feedback is encouraged and welcomed. In some instances these sales are supported by the community, however, there are times when the community are against the proposal,” said Cr Makin.

“This is the reason why we have the community consultation period, to allow the community to have their say before any decisions are made,” said Cr Makin.

Council received 55 written submissions, including a petition bearing 121 signatures, regarding the proposed sale of 47A Maidstone Street, Ringwood. All submissions were against the sale of land.

“Council has listened to the community and will not be taking any further action regarding the proposed sale of this property. A new playground will be installed on the land in the coming weeks,” said Cr Makin.

Delegates' report: Peak Oil and Climate Change

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On the 27th of June I attended the Peak Oil, Petrol Prices and Climate Change Conference convened by the Victorian Council of Social Services, Environment Victoria and in partnership with the Victorian Government.

Peak Oil is the situation that occurs when the supply of oil is unable to meet demand. It was first hypothesised by Marion King Hubbert who successfully predicted the peaking of US oil supplies in the 1970s.

This conference provided a wealth of information on the repercussions of rising petrol prices and therefore the implications of peak oil on Melbourne and Victoria more broadly. This has a number of consequences for Maroondah since rising petrol prices can create increasing financial strain on household budgets.

In fact one of the speakers at the conference, Dr. Jago Dodson, has investigated the vulnerability of Australia’s cities in regard to rising petrol prices. The report found that outer eastern Melbourne, including Maroondah is definitely susceptible to the resulting increased financial strain, due mainly to the under provision of public transport services.

The conference on peak oil reinforced the need for strong advocacy in regard to public transport. It is therefore encouraging that Maroondah has recently appointed a full-time sustainable transport officer to strengthen our advocacy for public transport improvements.

There were a number of sustainability related events over the course of the past month, including the Croydon Conservation Society Film night on the 28th of June. This film night included screenings of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth and the End of Suburbia, a film that further explores the concept of peak oil.

An Inconvenient Truth which features former US Vice-President Al Gore, explores the growing evidence surrounding climate change and the growing need for worldwide consensus and action. The film draws an interesting comparison between the controversy surrounding climate change and the debate that surrounded CFCs approximately two decades ago.

At the time there was much controversy surrounding the environmentally harmful effects of CFCs, however a worldwide treaty banning their production was signed in 1987. As a result of this definitive action the ozone hole over the Antarctic improved, demonstrating the merit of effective worldwide action. It would appear that similar action is required in regard to climate change. While there is still much debate surrounding the magnitude of climate change, effective action is required to mitigate its increasingly dire effects.

Ringwood Eisteddfod 2007 Grand Final Evening

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This evening I attended the Grand Final of the Ringwood Eisteddfod, held at the Karralyka Theatre in Ringwood East. The grand evening includes a range of performances that were presented during the during the Eisteddfod, including piano, violin, ensemble and vocals.

This year’s Eisteddfod included six finalists performing for the Ringwood Eisteddfod Aria, which each vocalist performing two musicial pieces. The Ringwood Eisteddfod now in its 53rd year has continued to draw upon immense talent and all performers must be congratulated for harnessing their musical abilities.

Media Release: Putting some financial controls into Small Business

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Owners of small businesses in Maroondah should put aside the morning of Thursday 2 August, to attend a seminar that is sure to assist their long term financial future.

Councillor Alex Makin said the latest subject in Council’s business seminar program will be presented by the Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development.

“The Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development (DIIRD) is the Victorian Government’s lead agency for economic and regional development. Their information seminars are designed to assist businesses to be thriving, innovative and successful,” said Cr Makin.

“This seminar will concentrate on the financial controls that businesses use, providing an understanding of even the most basic financial terms and concepts to ensure small business owners are able to manage their financial affairs successfully,” said Cr Makin.

“It is a sad fact that poor financial control is accountable for over one third of failed small businesses, with financial illiteracy and a lack of sound advice the key reason many ailing businesses become bankrupt ones,” said Cr Makin.

The Financial Controls for Small Business seminar will assist small business owners to:

  • look critically at their business;
  • examine procedures;
  • minimise financial risks;
  • promote best practice.

The Financial Controls for Small Business seminar will run from 9.00am to 11.00am on Thursday 2 August at Maroondah City Council Offices, Braeside Avenue, Ringwood.

The cost is $20 per person and bookings are essential. To make a booking for the Financial Controls for Small Business seminar please visit www.bizmaroondah.com.au or for further information call Maroondah City Council on 9298 4320.

– ENDS –

Ringwood Chamber of Commerce 2007 AGM

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The Ringwood Chamber of Commerce held its AGM tonight to elect its committee for the next twelve months. Entertainment was provided by Ron Blaskett, a ventriloquist who with his puppet Gerry Gee, starred as an entertainer from the early years of Melbourne television.

The Ringwood Chamber of Commerce has remained pivotal in representing the business interests of Ringwood, providing a crucial advocacy role into the future of Ringwood. The need for such voices will only grow stronger as the transformation of Ringwood finally begins to take place.

I look forward to working with the newly appointed committee of the Ringwood Chamber of Commerce over the next twelve months and beyond.

Maroondah Journal: Recycling company bought by industry giant

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The Maroondah Journal has reported on the recent acquisition of Southern Rocycling by CMA Corporation, a publicly listed company initially based in Western Australia.

Cr Alex Makin said he hoped CMA would be approachable in address resident and council concerns.

Maroondah Council is still pursuing the noise issues relating to Southern Rocycling, with the matter to be heard before the Magistrates’ Court on the 23rd of August.

It is hoped that CMA Corporation will resolve these ongoing and substantiated concerns trhough being approachable and willing to meet both Council and the Heatherdale Community.