The Ringwood Spiders, based at Jubilee Park, is a football club for people with disabilities and is part of a 14 team league organised through the Football Integration Development Association (FIDA).
With a total of ten rounds, the Ringwood Spiders are playing four games this season at their home ground of Jubilee Park in Greenwood Avenue, Ringwood. All games commence at 11am.
The MAV Transport and Infrastructure Advisory Group provides policy advice to the MAV board in matters relating to transport and infrastructure.
Today’s meeting focused on discussing the continued efforts for federal funding of public transport, as well as the MAV’s submissions into the Transport and Liveability Inquiry and the Transport Legislative Review. The MAV submissions have focused heavily on the need for stronger integration between planning and transport and for the increased provision of public transport services and infrastructure.
I also had the opportunity of providing an update on the Eastern Transport Coalition’s activities including its priorities over the next year. It is imperative that collaboration continues between the various transport groups to ensure a cohesive approach to the campaign for public transport improvements.
Tonight’s Eastern Transport Coalition covered a range of topics as the focus of the group begins to explore key issues that will be relevant for 2008.
The meeting included presentations from the Australian Greens and the Australian Democrats, both of whom are supportive of the need for federal involvement in urban public transport. While Family First, chose not to attend the meeting, I am aware that the Party has announced a policy supporting federal funding for public transport infrastructure.
This is significant, since each of the minor parties represented in Federal Parliament, support the notion of federal involvement in urban public transport. The discussions with the Greens and Democrats were fruitful, with both parties recognising the social, environmental and economic benefits of public transport improvements in the eastern suburbs and suggesting the use of the Senate as a method to raise awareness of the issue within Federal Parliament.
Regardless of the Federal election outcome, announcements such as the $80 million for the grade separation of Springvale Road Nunawading, provide a framework to advocate for partnerships between federal and local governments. This will allow public transport infrastructure to be included within such projects and allow both local and federal governments to hold the State government accountable for much needed public transport improvements.
The Eastern Transport Coalition has also continued its focus on the State Government with a presentation provided in regard to the Transport Legislation Review. The ETC will be authoring a submission that calls on the State Government to prioritise sustainable transport, as well as officially recognise the Government’s own target of increasing public transport modal share to 20% by the year 2020.
The current transport legislation review also draws into question the current lack of integration between VicRoads and the Public Transport Division of the Department of Infrastructure. While legislation may assist in improving outcomes, it will be hampered until physical integration between the Roads Authority (VicRoads) and the Public Transport Division is accomplished. VicRoads, as a statutory authority, enjoys a number of benefits that are not available to the public transport division which sits within the broader Department of Infrastructure.
This is clearly demonstrated in regard to the Maroondah Highway pedestrian crossing between Ringwood Station and Eastland. Despite the fact that the crossing is the most widely used within Maroondah, with over 5000 pedestrians daily, and links the Station with the retail and residential precincts of the Ringwood Transit City, VicRoads has currently been reluctant to improve the crossing.
Physical integration of government departments would follow examples in both Western Australia, with its integrated transport and planning department, and Queensland, which has a Coordinator-General’s department that as a statutory authority provides a whole of government referral authority.
The need for not just legislative integration but departmental integration is clear, with the Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability stating that “A more streamlined approach to land use and transport integration in Victoria would be possible if a single strategic authority were established.”
It is anticipated that both the Legislation Review and the VCEC Inquiry to Melbourne’s Liveability will be a significant focus for the Eastern Transport Coalition in 2008, as we continue to call on the State Government to improve public transport in the eastern suburbs.
The State Government has announced a number of legislative changes in regard to the prevention of graffiti and the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) organised a workshop to explain how these changes would effect local government.
The workshop began with a presentation from the Department of Justice who explained that the State Government was focused on the principles of prevention, removal and enforcement. As such the legislation aims to create a number of new offences relating to graffiti, including fines for carrying graffiti implements on or near public transport and harsher penalties for perpetrators of graffiti.
A number of grants have been announced by the State Government to enable Councils and community groups to remove the presence of graffiti. The grants will be favouring projects that can demonstrate an ongoing focus on the removal of graffiti.
The Victorian Police has improved their ability to enforce crimes relating to graffiti, through the procurement of a Victoria wide database, which will categorise graffiti. The database will allow Police to match tags against perpetrators and follows the success of a localised database established for the Maroondah, Knox and Yarra Ranges region.
The new legislative changes will take effect by September 2008 and should complement the anti-graffiti policies of Maroondah City Council through ensuring closer integration with Police and State Government agencies.
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.
Tonight’s Eastern Transport Coalition meeting provided a debriefing on the recent Canberra delegation, with the group resolving to develop a position paper to identify potential roles for Federal involvement in urban public transport.
The ETC will also issue a submission into the Melbourne 2030 audit, to highlight the current lack of integration between public transport provision within activity centres and the failure on the part of the State Government to provide much needed public transport infrastructure for Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.
Lynne Kosky, the Minister for Public Transport, has accepted an invitation to address the Eastern Transport Coalition and will be speaking at our next meeting.
This afternoon I was invited to deliver a presentation exploring the linkages between urban sustainability and public transport to the 41st Annual Geography Conference organised by the Geography Teachers Association of Victoria (GTAV).
The hour-long presentation provided a synopsis on the economic, social and environmental benefits of public transport, investigated current urban policies and examined Ringwood as a case study to demonstrate the interdependence between urban sustainability and public transport.
While the State Government appears to have neglected its goal of increasing public transport modal share to 20% by the year 2020, this target is required to mitigate rising congestion. With an annual cost of $4 billion annually, congestion is currently outpacing Melbourne’s population growth. Likewise the provision of public transport will provide transport choice to the many outer suburban households that are struggling due to rising petrol prices and the fact that private transport consumes up to 20% of budgets within these households.
The lack of public transport in Melbourne’s outer suburbs can also place non-car households at a significant disadvantage and limit the ability to participate in employment, educational, community and recreational opportunities. Similarly, obesity and health issues such as diabetes, can be symptomatic of car dependent suburbs where the potential to exercise is diminished.
In regard to environmental sustainability, transport accounts for 17% of Australia’s national greenhouse emissions and is the fastest growing sector of emissions. The figures are even more stark for individual households, where due to car dependence, transport is responsible for up to 49% of greenhouse emissions and is the largest contributing source of emissions within households.
These and other costs mean that car dependence is not sustainable and that urban sustainability cannot be achieved under current practices. While it may be claimed that excessive car usage contributes to the economy, when equating the economic, social and environmental impacts of car dependence there is an annual deficit of $16.3 billion.
Melbourne 2030, the State Government’s urban planning strategy was supposed to achieve a more sustainable future for Melbourne. While the plan identified numerous activity centres, each of which are earmarked for urban development, the public transport network that was supposed to cater to these urban centres remains underdeveloped.
This is even more apparent in the purpose-built activity centres that were initially designed to showcase the integration that was to result between transport and planning. Activity centres such as South Morang, Cranbourne East and Wyndham Vale have been denied much needed rail extensions despite their location within the rapidly developing growth corridors.
The problems experienced with Melbourne’s public transport system, such as unreliable train services, infrequent and poorly connected bus services and trams that terminate short of logical destinations can be resolved, but it requires Government will. Within Australia, Perth has proven to be an example of the improvements that can result from an integration between transport and planning and a commitment to urban sustainability. As an example, Perth recently doubled the size of its rail network, including the construction of a new 70km rail line (twice the distance of the CBD to Dandenong) and new stations are built simultaneously with urban development.
The integration that has borne results in Perth needs to be implemented in Melbourne, particularly for designated transit cities such as Ringwood. The suburb of Ringwood, located 27km east of Melbourne’s CBD, has been designated an area of higher density development but the State Government has been lacklustre in its commitment to improving public transport.
Ringwood currently suffers due to a disjointed retail precinct and transport hub which requires pedestrians to cross a six lane highway. Despite the goals of creating a sustainable community, the State Government and VicRoads have currently refused requests to make it easier to cross Maroondah Highway. Coupled with poor public transport, which includes making public transport users wait up to half an hour to travel between Ringwood and Croydon, the current culture of car dependence is exacerbated and potentially jeopardises the ability to create green open space and a new heart for Ringwood. Furthermore the lack of commitment over the redevelopment of Ringwood Station has created uncertainty for major developers resulting in unnecessary delays.
Each of these issues are interrelated, since due to poor public transport there is less open space which creates a pedestrian hostile environment and investment delays as developers wait for these issues to be rectified. While 40% of land in Melbourne used for roads and carparks, a staggering 62% of land within Ringwood is used for these purposes, leaving less land available for residential, commercial and community purposes.
While new developments, such as three storey residential buildings, are occurring the investment in public transport and hence the investor confidence in larger commercial developments is not. In particular, while residents within these new developments are encouraged to use public transport, walking and cycling as a form of travel this will not be sustainable if public transport is not improved.
Poor public transport connectivity and a lack of frequent bus services along main roads, such as Maroondah Highway, Canterbury and Wonga Roads, means that public transport usage will remain limited due to the fact that these poor levels of service fail to provide a real transport choice. The State Government must deliver significant public transport improvements to demonstrate that it is committed to creating a sustainable community within Ringwood.
The provision of sustainable transport is a key component of creating a sustainable community and increasing economic, social and environmental pressures means that action is required.
It’s winter, it’s footy season and football teams everywhere are out there kicking goals trying to achieve the ultimate prize.
But, for one football team in Maroondah, the ultimate prize is simply getting together each week and enjoying a good game of footy, no matter the score.
“The Ringwood Spiders football club (formerly the Ringwood Blues) began in 1992, and for fifteen years they’ve provided an opportunity for people with an intellectual disability to enjoy the camaraderie and sheer joy of playing footy,” said Councillor Alex Makin.
“Based at Jubilee Park, the Ringwood Spiders play on a regular basis as part of the state-wide Football Integration Development Association (FIDA) league, which includes teams from right across Victoria,” said Cr Makin.
“Council is very pleased to be able to provide funding assistance through the annual Community Grants program to assist the Ringwood Spiders with their activities – the latest match was against Moonee Ponds on Sunday 1 July at Jubilee Park, and the players were the winners,” said Cr Makin.
“The matches always attract a large crowd of local people, including members of our community who are living in assisted residential homes nearby. It becomes a big social event, one that the spectators can relate to easily and one where they can relax and simply enjoy themselves,” said Cr Makin.
“This is what Council’s Community Grants program is all about, providing funding to assist community organisations to develop and increase opportunities that increase access for Maroondah residents who have limited options due to special needs, low income, social isolation or ethnic background,” said Cr Makin.
Applications for Community Grants can be made from April each year, with applications closing in June.
For more information on Community Grants please contact Council on 1300 88 22 33 or visit the website at www.maroondah.vic.gov.au.
This month’s Transport and Infrastructure Group included presentations from the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) who discussed the Federal Government’s AusLink program and Meredith Sussex, the Coordinator General of Infrastructure, who spoke about her role within the Department of Infrastructure.
The Melbourne 2030 review process, which is expected to formally include community input in the latter half of the year will be the key testament as to how seriously the government views the need to integrate land-use planning and transport. While Melbourne 2030 and the Government’s Meeting Our Transport Challenges both claimed to provide such integration, reality has demonstrated that this is still sorely lacking.
The Eastern Transport Coalition’s campaign for federal involvement in urban transport infrastructure is continuing with an invitation being extended to MPs and Candidates to discuss these needs. There is a need for the Federal Government to formally respond to the 2004 Sustainable Cities Inquiry, which cited a number of concerns in regard to Australia’s urban centres, including the lack of readily available public transport.
Discussions are also continuing at a State level to ensure a renewed focus on the transport needs of the eastern region. The ETC has recently met with a number of Ministers and senior officials to state the need for action in improving sustainable transport. It is hoped that the Melbourne 2030 review process will finally ensure stronger integration between land use planning and the transport needs for Melbourne.