Month: September 2010

Delegates’ Report: Disability Services and Community Partnerships

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On the 3rd of September I had the pleasure of attending the Ringwood Spiders Trophy Presentation Evening, a football team for people with disabilities, which competes in the Football Integration Development Association (FIDA) league comprising of teams across Victoria.

The Trophy Presentation Evening provides an opportunity to reflect on the Spiders achievements throughout the year, including the formation of a second team and the continuation of their Junior Development Squad, which has seen new members over the past season. In addition, the Ringwood Spiders Cheerleader Squad continues to provide an opportunity for people unable to play football to still support and be a part of the team.

The Ringwood Spiders are eagerly awaiting the 2011 Football Season but have a range of activities planned over the summer months, including lawn bowls organised in partnership with the Ringwood Bowls Club. The Ringwood Bowls Club is one of the many organisations that have formed partnerships with the Ringwood Spiders and it was great to see the Trophy Presentation Evening held once again at the Bowls Club.

On the 9th of September I attended the Spring Formal of the Croydon Special Development School. The school specialises in education for people with disabilities while providing connections with the wider community. The Spring Formal demonstrated the strength of the school’s connections to the wider community, with several students from local high schools being partners to participants in the formal.

It was fantastic to see students from local high schools supporting students from the Croydon Special Development School and I commend each of them for their involvement in the Spring Formal.

On the 15th of September I attended the Eastern Volunteer Business Booster Breakfast, a new initiative of Eastern Volunteers designed to create mutually beneficial partnerships between the business and community sectors. The breakfast included the launch of Friends of EV, a new program which will create partnerships between Eastern Volunteers and the business community. It is worth noting that Eastern Volunteers is a stable organisation that has existed for 30 years, demonstrating its commitment to sustainable and positive outcomes for the community.

Lastly, on the 20th of September I participated in the filming of Monkami’s Drama Group, “Hey Hey It’s Monkami”, the fourth production from the Group. Hey Hey It’s Monkami, is the fourth performance of the group and will be performed on Thursday the 28th of September at the Karralyka Centre.

Filming for the Monkami Drama Production – Hey Hey Its Monkami

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Monkami is a not-for-profit disability service provider in Croydon, which provides educational, employment and lifestyle opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities.  Monkami has developed a strong arts based program to encourage confidence and expression with their participants, including the Monkami Drama Group, which is now in its fourth year of productions.

This afternoon I volunteered to be part of the filming for the Monkami Drama Groups, “Hey Hey Its Monkami”, the title and theme of this year’s production.  A scene takes place at the Council Chamber and will form part of the production that will be performed at the Karralyka Centre on the 28th of October.

Ringwood Diving Club – 2010 Annual General Meeting

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The Ringwood Diving Club is based at Ringwood Aquatic Centre in Jubilee Park, Ringwood and has over 100 members. The Club has a strong history within diving, including having four members who will be competing at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

Today’s annual general meeting provided an opportunity to elect committee members for the upcoming year and to present trophies to competition winners. In addition I spoke about the proposed Maroondah Aquatic and Leisure Centre, which would provide new facilities for the community including vastly improved diving capabilities, as well as wellness and gym components which are currently lacking at the existing Ringwood Aquatic Centre.

The Ringwood Diving Club has undertaken extensive planning for the future, including expanding its coaching capacity, providing coaching for people with hearing impairments and forming alliances with the Whitehorse Diving Club. For further details please visit www.ringwooddivingclub.com.au

Enjoying Planned Retirement – The Final Spotlighters Performance

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Enjoying Planned Retirement is a community group, based at Norwood Hall in Ringwood North, that provides a range of activities for seniors. One of these activities is Spotlighters, an annual musical performance, which is organised by members.

This afternoon I attended the final Spotlighers Performance, which featured a range of musical talents, including tap dancing, musical acts and solo singing performances. All aspects of the performance, including the stage and costumes, are made by members of EPR over the 20 years of Spotlighters Performers.

While this years marks the final performance for Spotlighters, Enjoying Planned Retirement will be providing further performance activities over 2011 and beyond.

Eastern Football League – Division One 2010 Grand Finals

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The Eastern Football League covers Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, includes 43 teams, of which 12 are in division one, stretching from Balwyn through to Noble Park in the south.

This afternoon I attended the EFL’s Division One Grand Final against Noble and Scoresby at Bayswater Oval in Knox. The game attracted close to 10,000 spectators and was the first time since 1987 that Vermont were not in the finals. While Scoresby had an early lead, Noble Park eventually secured victory with a lead of 42 points.

The Eastern Football League has a formed a number of community partnerships, including support for Blue Ribbon Day to recognise Police Officers killed in the line of duty. The EFL contributed financially to Blue Ribbon Day and it is fantastic to see the League supporting such a worthwhile cause.

Eastern Transport Coalition – September 2010 meeting

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The Eastern Transport Coalition is a regional based council advocacy group, which includes Melbourne’s seven outer eastern Councils. I attended tonight’s meeting to provide members with an update on Council’s campaign to secure the redevelopment of Ringwood Station into an accessible, safe and integrated interchange.

The Eastern Transport Coalition is planning a series of candidate forums across each Council to provide the community with an opportunity to discuss public transport issues in the lead up to the State Election. Maroondah’s Candidate Forum will be held on Wednesday the 13th of October at 6.30 pm at the Karralyka Centre in Ringwood East.

This date will coincide with Maroondah City Council’s launch of its Ringwood Station – the missing piece campaign, where we will be calling on all political parties to commit to delivering an accessible, safe and integrated transit interchange for Ringwood. The current station, which fails disability compliance standards, is an essential part of Ringwood and must be upgraded to ensure the creation of a vibrant urban centre.

The Ringwood Station – the missing piece campaign will be held at 6pm at the Karralyka Centre on Wednesday the 13th of October.

Second Meeting with Central Activities District Mayors

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This afternoon the Mayors of Melbourne’s six Central Activity Districts; Dandenong, Frankston, Footscray, Hume, Maroondah and Whitehorse discussed the need for increased dialogue between each Council. The Central Activities Districts are six urban centres, that have been nominated for intensification and mixed use development, providing a range of housing, employment and community opportunities.

While senior Council Officers have regular discussions across these Councils, there has been little interaction between respective Mayors despite each municipality experiencing similar challenges in regard to public transport infrastructure and long-term commitments to the Central Activities Districts.

Today’s meeting furthered these discussions, with Councils working together to secure a long-term funding commitment and implementation plan from the State Government for each Central Activities District. This will ensure that all levels of government are working towards common goals and ensuring a strategic vision for each of these urban centres.

Opening the mecu Eastland service centre

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mecu is a credit union, which encompassed several other organisations including Maroondah Credit Union. As an organisation, mecu has a strong focus on sustainability, with expert advice provided to their board in regard to sustainability initiatives.

This morning I was invited to open their new Eastland Service Centre, mecu’s flagship store for the eastern suburbs. The Service Centre incorporates sustainable building materials and it is encouraging to see mecu’s commitment to sustainability. The Eastland Service Centre recognises Ringwood’s position as a regional centre, with mecu offering a full range of financial services as this flagship store.

The Age: State failing to act on bus reviews

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Over the past several years the State Government progressively undertook a review of bus services across metropolitan Melbourne, examining network coverage, route configuration, operating span and frequency.  The reviews were conducted along council boundaries, with Maroondah’s being undertaken last year, with the final report and recommendations not being made available until this year.

Unfortunately the implementation of these recommendations, which largely consisted of more frequent and longer running services, has been mixed. The Age has reported on the implementation of these reviews:

Maroondah mayor Alex Makin said his council had staged a public meeting in January last year, and later hosted two state government workshops. Many of the recommendations made by consultants after the review had not happened.

The bus service reviews identified short, medium and long-term priorities, with a series of recommendations that aim to improve bus services. While the short and medium term priorities had identifiable timeframes, the long-term initiatives, many of which included new routes to serve areas of Maroondah without bus services, lack an implementation plan.

Furthermore some of the short-term initiatives, including proposed frequency improvements, for route 670 along Maroondah Highway, one of Maroondah’s most highly patronised services, have not yet been delivered despite the review stating that this would begin in the middle of this year.

The State Government must deliver improvements to bus services to ensure that the bus network is a competitive form of transport.

Media Release: Ringwood Station petition well supported

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Maroondah City Council’s petition calling on all state political parties to commit to a redevelopment of Ringwood Station in the next term of government has received generous support from the community.

Maroondah Mayor Alex Makin said to date more than 150 people had signed the petition, some choosing to leave comments on Council’s website.

“It has been great to hear how strongly the community feel about the need for an upgrade to the station. Last week Council released a video on our website which highlights the difficulties people who rely on a mobility device have in accessing the station,” Cr Makin said.

“The amount of community support our campaign has received to date speaks for itself. People are fed up with the current state of the station and are willing to speak out to campaign for change,” Cr Makin said.

“I urge those who haven’t already signed the petition to visit one of Council’s service centres or website and support our campaign. The more community support we can generate the greater the impact it will have when we present the petition to the political parties,” Cr Makin said.

Some of the comments posted on Council’s online petition:

“Every time I walk up or down this station I wonder how people with disabilities, pregnant women or mums with prams get up and down the walkway to go over the tracks. It’s a big worry, and I feel unsafe walking there and nothing is even wrong with me.” Georgia, Mount Evelyn

“Ringwood Station needs to be more user friendly for all Maroondah residents. More and more residents are relying on Ringwood Station than ever before. It is time to invest.” Emily, Ringwood.

“This is discrimination, clear and simple.” Aidan, Bayswater North

“I use Ringwood Station daily for commuting to work in the city and the Ringwood Station is a joke….. The ramps are quite steep and falling over on icy conditions is not uncommon, I have done it a couple of times. We need action fast.” Sandy, Ringwood.

“The sooner the better, waited too long,” Ringwood East couple

“I have a 19-year-old intellectually and physically disabled daughter. It is IMPOSSIBLE for us to use Ringwood Station due to the appalling lack of disabled facilities. Is it not part of the State Disability Plan to ensure ALL Government sites have disabled access? Surely the Department of Transport is remiss in its responsibility to ensure that Ringwood Station (as a major transport hub) is accessible for all people, not just the able bodied. Karen, Ringwood East.

“It is appalling that people who use public transport should be subjected to an unsafe and intimidating environment at their local station. Ringwood Station is an anachronism that the Government should be ashamed of, and improve if it has any sense of social conscious.” Nick

Go online to watch the video, to complete an online submission or to download a copy of the petition:
Maroondah Council website – www.maroondah.vic.gov.au
Maroondah Youth Services website www.maroondahyouthservices.com.au

To sign the petition or find out more about the campaign:
Visit one of Council’s service centres:
City Offices Service Centre
Braeside Avenue, Ringwood

Eastland Service Centre
Level 2, Eastland Shopping Centre, Ringwood
Croydon Service Centre
Civic Square, Croydon

Visit one of Council’s facilities:
Arrabri Community Centre
Allambanan Drive, Bayswater North.

Croydon Library
Civic Square, Mount Dandenong Road, Croydon.

Karralyka Centre
Mines Road, Ringwood.

Maroondah Federation Estate
Greenwood Avenue, Ringwood.

Ringwood Library
4 Ringwood Street Mall, Ringwood
(Adjacent to Eastland Shopping Centre).

Wyreena Community Arts Centre
13-23 Hull Road, Croydon.

– ENDS –