Tag: ceda

Delegates' Report: 2008 has begun

Posted on by alex

Thank you, there are several events that I wish to comment upon to keep council and the community informed.

On the 24th of January I attended the first Eastern Transport Coalition meeting for 2008 as the delegated Maroondah representative. This meeting included a workshop to determine the ETC’s priorities for this year. The ETC has had a tremendous success over the past few years and Maroondah has been front and centre in the advocacy for public transport improvements. In 2006 the ETC successfully advocated for the abolition of zone three, saving outer eastern residents, including people in Maroondah up to a $1000 per annum. Last year the ETC was focused on the need for federal funding of urban public transport. While the Federal Government still has not accepted its role in the provision of urban public transport infrastructure; the calls for national leadership in urban sustainability are growing stronger, with the ETC joined by other transport and planning groups, the business community and the local governments across Australia.

This year the ETC will be focusing on both the Federal and State Governments, particularly since the Ringwood to Frankston SmartBus will begin operating in late March. This improvement, which will provide a fast, frequent and direct service between Ringwood, Knox, Dandenong and Frankston provides the ideal foundation for further public transport improvements.

The need for federal leadership in urban sustainability was recently conveyed in a recent Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) discussion on national priorities for transport. This forum, which was also attended by Cr. Naylor, expressed the need for a national transport strategy that encompasses people and freight across all modes, including public transport.

As the two well renowned speakers explained, Australia is currently unsustainable with the continued major road building not being economically viable or environmentally prudent. If Australia is serious about meeting greenhouse reduction targets we need Federal leadership to curb rising pollution due to the transport sector, the fastest growing source of greenhouse emissions.

On, the 12th of February I was invited to Enjoying Planned Retirement’s bocce afternoon. EPR organises a number of activities and provides bocce and a barbecue at Norwood Park in Ringwood North, every second and fourth Tuesday from January through to March. Unfortunately the occasion was marred by the theft of EPR’s barbecue. It is dismaying that someone would choose to steal from one of our community groups, particularly since the barbecue was dedicated to Ron Ginger, a former President and committed EPR member who unfortunately passed away a few years ago. While EPR, in their typical jovial fashion, made the best of the afternoon it is disappointing that this theft occurred.

On a lighter note, I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate the many community stall holders and the dedicated council staff at Sunday’s Maroondah Festival. I did not receive a single negative comment about this year’s festival and council staff must be commended for organising such an awesome event.

CEDA Transport Infrastructure: National Priorities

Posted on by alex

In between my new role at Mycause, I attended a Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) discussion on transport infrastructure.

The program included two guest speakers, Eric Keys, Principal of the consultants Booz Allen Hamilton and Nick Dimopoloulos, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Transport Commission. Both speakers discussed the need for an integrated and national approach to transport through federal leadership in the creation of a strategy that looks across all transport modes and incorporates freight and passenger movements with a nationwide perspective.

While the Federal Government has created Infrastructure Australia to examine transport bottlenecks, there is still a failure to recognise the need for federal leadership in regard to public transport infrastructure. This despite the economic and inflationary repercussions of congestion, the negative impacts on housing affordability due to a lack of infrastructure and the greenhouse emissions caused by car dependency.

A national transport strategy followed by the availability of Federal funding for public transport infrastructure is urgently required to ensure the future sustainability of not just our local communities but of the entire country.

State of the Victorian Economy

Posted on by alex

This afternoon I attended a Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) function on the State of the Victorian economy, presented by the Victorian State Treasurer John Lenders.

Treasurer Lenders highlighted a range of figures, such as gross state product, population growth and building construction, which demonstrated the continued growth of the Victorian economy and provided the context of Victoria’s future direction. In this regard the following priorities will have a direct impact on Maroondah:

  • Accelerating public transport improvements;
  • Improving urban development and planning;
  • Strengthening the delivery of major projects;

While the Treasurer remarked that Commonwealth grants to Victoria were decreasing in real terms, he failed to highlight Victoria’s role in shifting costs to local government.

With continued strong economic growth it is an opportune time to invest in the future needs of Melbourne and Victoria. In this regard, the State Government needs to include urgent public transport projects, such as the redevelopment of Ringwood station in the next State Budget.

Transport Infrastructure for Victoria: The Challenges

Posted on by alex

This afternoon I attended a CEDA lunch featuring a presentation from Howard Ronaldson, the Secretary of the Department of Infrastructure (DOI). The Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) is an independent think tank, which aims to promote the economic development of Australia in a sustainable and socially balanced way.

As part of its series of topics critical to the success of Victoria, CEDA organised the lunch presentation as an opportunity to explore the infrastructure issues facing Melbourne and Victoria. As Secretary of the DOI, Howard Ronaldson, has responsibility for ports, as well as the road and rail network.

Howard’s presentation largely included content from the State Government’s Meeting Our Transport Challenges, but did discuss the need for further integration between transport and planning particularly given the goals of Melbourne 2030 in encouraging public transport usage and the development of activity centres.

After the presentation I discussed the needs of Ringwood and Maroondah directly with Howard as an opportunity to reiterate the need for State Government action over Ringwood Station, particularly given that major projects, such as the new town centre, are likely to be delayed until a commitment to the redevelopment is made.

I also discussed the need for more frequent services beyond Ringwood, given Ringwood’s status as transit city and the high proportion of trips taken between Ringwood and Croydon, as well as from further east. The Belgrave and Lilydale lines currently have just a half-hourly service beyond Ringwood from 10am to 4pm during weekdays, despite the fact that services operate on a 20 minute frequency on weekends.

Given the desire to help shift peak hour travel demand to other times of the day and that more frequent services are clearly possible, it seems absurd that the State Government has not acted to provide at least a 20 minute frequency along the Belgrave / Lilydale line during weekdays.

Hopefully, progress will be made on these issues now that they have been raised directly with the Secretary of the Department of Infrastructure.

The Climate Group: Weekly Greenhouse Indicator for Victoria

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The Age has reported on a new indicator developed by the Climate Group, a non profit organisation, which in a world first will allow weekly measurements of Victoria’s contribution to climate change.

The first set of publicly available data, states that Victoria contributed a total 1.919 million tonnes of greenhouse gasses. While coal based electricity remains the largest contributor (65%), emissions caused by petrol consumption come second (28%).

Any indicator or benchmark is only useful if the results are translated into action. While the usage of coal can be reduced through the purchase of green electricity, not all of Melbourne is equally able to reduce its vehicle emissions. This is due to the fact that two thirds of Melbourne lacks readily available public transport.

The effects of a lack of public transport and, as a consequence, car dependence, are clearly reflected in the data for total vehicle kilometres for the years 2005/06 (source: VicRoads).

For inner Melbourne (which is relatively well-served with a comprehensive train and tram network) overall total vehicle kilometres travelled fell by 1.9%. In contrast however, total vehicle kilometres travelled fell by just 0.3% in the outer suburbs.

This fall occurred during a time of high petrol prices, where people were readily pursuing alternatives to driving. The fact is, while alternatives to driving, such as public transport, are readily available in the inner suburbs such transport choice is sorely lacking in outer Melbourne.

Greater usage of public transport, through the increased provision of services, complemented by other forms such as walking and cycling, will be the only way to reduce petrol based greenhouse emissions.

While alternative fuels have some potential to reduce overall greenhouse emissions. The fact is that these alternatives cannot simply replace our existing dependence on oil. As I reported through the Committee of Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) conference on peak oil, alternative fuels cannot be produced in the large quantities required to replace oil:

Unfortunately no single alternative exists to replace our dependence on oil. Simply replacing our dependence on oil with biodiesels, such as ethanol, would require all the land that is currently for agricultural within the world to be diverted into producing ethanol. This would obviously leave no arable land available for the harvesting of food thus not being a practical alternative. Hydrogen, another potential replacement for oil, requires more energy to produce than it actually provides as a fuel making the mass usage of hydrogen incredibly inefficient.

Melbourne will not be able to drastically reduce its petrol based greenhouse emissions while the Government neglects to provide all of metropolitan Melbourne with fast, frequent and readily available public transport.

The current policy of delaying all rail and tram extensions for at least fifteen years and providing nothing more than tokenistic hourly bus services will do little to actually mitigate our rising contribution to greenhouse emissions. The onus is on the Bracks Government to match its rhetoric about climate change to action. The government can begin by providing a public transport network that provides real transport choice for metropolitan Melbourne.

  • The weekly greenhouse indicator is available from the Climate Group at www.theclimategroup.org and will be featured exclusively in The Age each Monday.

Delegates' Report: Marlborough Primary and CEDA on Peak Oil

Posted on by alex

On the 28th of August I had the pleasure of speaking to grade 5 and 6 students at my former primary school, Marlborough located in Heathmont on the role of local government. It was great to see the students take such a keen interest in the operations of council and asking so many questions. I remember the former Mayor of Ringwood speaking when I was in grade 6, so perhaps in years to come another student of Marlborough Primary will find themselves on Maroondah City Council.

I also wish to discuss is an event I attended last Monday organised by the Committee of Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) on the issue of peak oil.

CEDA is a not-for-profit independent think tank that aims to promote Australia’s economic development in a sustainable and socially balanced way. As a result CEDA invited Chris Skrebowski, a leading oil analyst to discuss the reasons behind rising oil and rising petrol prices.

Chris Skrebowski spoke about peak oil, which is when global oil production begins an inevitable decline causing a gap in supply and demand, ultimately resulting in rising petrol prices as the supply of oil becomes more and more scarce.

The concept of peak oil is not new; it was first suggested in 1956 by American geophysicist Marion King Hubbert who, despite being criticised at the time, successfully predicted the year that oil production in the United States would peak.

In recent years, the debate surrounding peak oil has shifted from being a question of IF to WHEN it will occur. There is now general consensus that peak oil is real and will generally occur sooner rather than later.

Chris Skrebowski’s research, as well as several other leading commentators, suggested that the production of oil would peak at the very latest in 2010, or possibly even earlier, depending on the true state of oil reserves in the Middle East. After 2010 the cost of oil and hence the cost of petrol will rapidly increase as the supply of oil will no longer be able to meet increasing demand.

This will have serious repercussions for Melbourne, the world, and of course Maroondah and as a result several alternatives have been suggested.

Unfortunately no single alternative exists to replace our dependence on oil. Simply replacing our dependence on oil with biodiesels, such as ethanol, would require all the land that is currently for agricultural within the world to be diverted into producing ethanol. This would obviously leave no arable land available for the harvesting of food thus not being a practical alternative. Hydrogen, another potential replacement for oil, requires more energy to produce than it actually provides as a fuel making the mass usage of hydrogen incredibly inefficient.

Ultimately rising petrol prices and the advent of peak oil will affect the very concepts of transportation and mobility. With cars being one of the major users of oil it is clear that an alternative to excessive car dependence is required, such the provision of more frequent and more readily available public transport.

People cannot use public transport when no or poor public transport is available and it is clear that this requires urgent redress.

While debate still surrounds peak oil, it is increasingly becoming obvious that the thinking of old, of cheap and never-ending oil is a relic of the very dinosaurs that were fossilized to create the very fuels we have blindly grown dependent upon.

I will be tabling the rest of my delegates’ report with a written report on the CEDA conference.

Written Report for CEDA on Peak Oil

Posted on by alex

Accompanying my verbal report on the CEDA conference, I also tabled the following written report in conjunction with my delegates’ report:

CEDA on Peak Oil

Attended Monday 28th August 2006
Location: Zinc at Federation Square

Seminar cost: $187

Introduction:

CEDA is a not-for-profit independent think tank that aims to promote Australia’s economic development in a sustainable and socially balanced way. CEDA holds regular briefing lunches on issues relevant to their scope.

As a result CEDA in conjunction with the Australian Society of Peak Oil (ASPO) organised Chris Skrebowski, a leading oil analyst, to discuss the reasons behind rising oil and rising petrol prices

The issues raised are directly relevant to Maroondah City Council as identified within the Maroondah Integrated Transport Strategy of 2006 and Council Plan which seek public transport improvements for the municipality.

Content:

Chirs Skrebowski spoke about peak oil, which is when global oil production begins an inevitable decline because new oil fields cannot offset declining production from ageing fields ultimately resulting in rising petrol prices as the supply of oil becomes more and more scarce.

The concept of peak oil is not new; it was first suggested in 1956 by American geophysicist Marion King Hubbert who despite being criticised at the time successfully the year that oil production in the United States would peak.

In recent years the debate surrounding peak oil has shifted from being a question of if to when. There is now general consensus that peak oil is real and will occur generally sooner rather than later.

Chirs Skrebowski’s research, as well as several other leading commentators, suggested that the production of oil will peak at the very latest in 2010, or possibly even earlier depending on the true state of oil reserves in the Middle East. In recent years there has been a shortfall between the consumption and production of oil and this gap is excepted to widen significantly after 2010, where the cost of oil and hence the cost of petrol will rapidly increase.

The conference made it clear that there is no ‘magic bullet’ solution to peak oil since no single alternative exists to simply replace our dependence on oil. For example, simply replacing our dependence on oil with biodiesels, such as ethanol, would require all land used for agricultural within the world, obviously leaving nothing available for the harvesting of food. Hydrogen, another potential replacement for oil, requires more energy to produce than it actually provides as a fuel making the mass usage of hydrogen incredibly inefficient and raising issues in regard to global warming.

Local Context:

Individuals and families are doing it tough with rising petrol prices eating into budgets and this will ultimately affect our economy as people spend less due to the rising cost of petrol.

This will of have serious repercussions for Maroondah as a largely car dependant outer eastern municipality in Melbourne.

Ringwood, which has been identified as a Transit City, and Croydon, earmarked as an Activity Centre, are planned to undergo increased urban densities and mixed use development in an attempt to locate residents close to employment, recreation and educational opportunities. This form of urban development, known as New Urbanism, is being touted as a planning methodology that is able to partly mitigate the need for car dependence.

This is consistent with local planning policies and the State framework as identified within Melbourne 2030.

Ultimately however rising petrol prices and the advent of peak oil will affect the very concepts of transportation and mobility. With cars being one of the major users of oil it is clear that an alternative to excessive car dependence is required and this will require the increased provision of public transport to municipalities such as Maroondah.

The State Government’s Bus Plan clearly stated that a fifteen-minute frequency for direct bus services along Melbourne’s major roads was required to encourage a modal shift towards public transport and to provide service levels comparable with the tram network. This was consistent with the plans developed for the Outer Eastern Public Transport Plan that was developed by the State Government in consultation with the eastern municipalities.

Currently the State Government has committed itself to delivering little more than minimum service levels of an hourly frequency for Melbourne’s outer suburbs, including Maroondah, demonstrating that continued advocacy for public transport is required.

Conclusion:

While debate still surrounds peak oil, it is increasingly becoming obvious that the thinking of old, of cheap and never-ending oil is a relic of the very dinosaurs that were fossilized to create the very fuels we have blindly grown dependent upon.

Maroondah through its involvement within the Eastern Transport Coalition and in its Integrated Transport Strategy has the capabilities to continue advocating for improved public transport to ensure that an alternative to rising petrol prices exists for the people of Maroondah.

CEDA on Peak Oil

Posted on by alex

The Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) is a not-for-profit independent think tank that aims to promote Australia’s economic development in a sustainable and socially balanced way.

Amid the growing concern of rising petrol prices CEDA organised a seminar with Chris Skrebowski, a leading oil analyst who has a background as an oil journalist and a planner and analyst within the industry.

Chirs Skrebowski spoke about peak oil, which is when global oil production begins an inevitable decline because new oil fields cannot offset declining production from ageing fields. Chris Skrebowski’s research has indicated that peak oil is likely to occur in 2010 and possibly sooner depending on the accuracy of oil supplies within the Middle East.

The debate surrounding peak oil has shifted from being a question of IF to WHEN. There is now general consensus that peak oil is real and will occur generally sooner rather than later. This will of course have serious repercussions for Melbourne, Australia and the world.

While alternative fuels obviously have a role to play, it is clear that alternatives such as bio-diesel or hydrogen will not be able to directly replace oil. It will therefore be imperative that fuel sources are used as efficiency as possible requiring increased prominence for public transport.

With no major rail extensions and inadequate bus services, the State Government has failed to adequately respond to the questions surrounding petrol prices. People, particularly in the outer suburbs, are already experiencing increasing financial hardship due to rising petrol prices and yet the government has failed to provide frequent, direct and readily available bus services to the two-thirds of Melbourne located beyond the rail network.

The State Government’s Bus Plan (which was never officially released despite being a key document of Melbourne 2030) clearly stated that a fifteen-minute frequency for direct bus services along Melbourne’s major roads was required to encourage a modal shift towards public transport. Unfortunately the State Government has provided Melbourne’s outer suburbs with nothing more than minimum service levels of an hourly frequency.

The State Government has had ample opportunity to plan for Melbourne’s future transport needs and yet time and time Melbourne has continually been disappointed. With predictions of ever increasing petrol prices the time to act is quickly running out.